Professional Documents
Culture Documents
influential jazz composer of all time. Duke was born on April 29, 1899, in
Washington, D.C. Duke is of African American descent with both of his parent’s
being pianists. His dad being James Ellington and his mom Daisy Kennedy.
Probably with some influence from his parents, Duke started receiving piano lessons
in 1906 from Marietta Clinkscales. His true love though would be with baseball,
getting his first job selling peanuts at baseball games! Since his mom was a civilized
and elegant woman, Duke naturally learned these traits. When he would be around
his friends they would notice his actions and that is how he came to his nickname,
Duke.
As he grew older so did his passion for music. He worked as a soda jerker, a
“soda bartender ” , and would simultaneously compose his first composition, in his
head. Since he did not have the knowledge to write or read music Duke would just
play his first composition “Soda Fountain Rag.” Even though he did compose his first
piece, he was still not the stereotypic composer pouring hours over scales. It wasn’t
until that he started hearing pianists play did he really grow a love for the piano.
“I would play the ‘Soda Fountain Rag’ as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot,” Ellington
As his passion for music grew, he started watching ragtime pianists. Ragtime
repeatedly then you will start imitating it and it was no different with Ellington. As he
grew older he was influenced by these ragtime pianists. Over time he would
understand that he would need a more formal education of music and would seek
help of high school teacher, Henry Lee Grant. He would learn to read music, and
Over the course of his life he would compose many different pieces of music.
Duke Ellington would become one of the most influential jazz composers to have
lived. It is no coincidence that the jazz genre peaked during the life of Duke
Ellington. Unfortunately, Duke would die at the age of 75 from the filling of fluid in the
lungs, or pneumonia.
C Jam Blues
is strong and you can easily tap to it. The tempo is generally fast and has a certain
swing to it. At times when the saxophone, trombone, clarinet and drum set come in
Melody: C-Jam Blues is definitely lyrical because you will go out of a room humming
to the rhythm. The piece generally moves by skips. When the song begins there is
only a piano but as the song progresses it incorporates different instruments. The
piece does have its staccatos, giving some phrases punches in the song.
Harmony: The music is consonant. The piece is tonal. It is also in a major key, C
Dynamics: Throughout the piece the dynamic level is well around the forte level
Tone Color: There is a variety of instruments used in the piece. Piano, bass,
saxophone introduce the beginning. The violin then comes in with a solo. The
trumpet gets its solo. Then the tenor saxophone. The trombone follows with its mute.
Clarinet has a solo as well. To top it all off the drums have a solo as well.
Time: The piece is written in cut time, doubling the speed of common time, or 4/4
time. The tempo is generally fast. The pulse is strong that you can dance or tap your
foot to.
Melody: It is definitely lyrical and moves mostly by step. Over the course of the piece
the song becomes progressively more alive. You can feel more of a dance at the end
tonal.
Texture: This piece is generally homophonic. Again with the various solos there is
Dynamics: The song is in the forte range. Some parts get really loud into a
Tone Color: This jazz band has its basic instruments. Piano, violin, trumpets,
trombone, saxophones, clarinets and bass. The trombone, violin, saxophone and
composer probably influenced other composers because of all these new elements
being introduced and being shown in such a manner that was both appealing and
somewhat sophisticated. His music is so fun to play and challenging that in the end
you feel accomplished for learning a new phrase or a solo, from his music. I loved
his music having a strong driving rhythm that you just need to play because it is fun
to play. However, his music is not the easiest grasp, needing hours on end to get that
last staccato in place or hitting the note just right to get the sound you want, is really