Jazz is a genre of music that is America’s true native art form. It is deeply rooted in the blues and has influenced all other American genres of music that have come since (rock & roll, hip-hop, soul, rhythm and blues, among others). If you are wondering if studying jazz is worth your time, here are a few reasons why it will be well worth it!
Learning jazz will significantly expand your harmonic knowledge. The jazz repertory, particularly jazz standards are rich with harmonic information. If you want to understand how chords and chord progressions work, then studying jazz is right for you. Jazz harmony is also full of richly colored chords. Most jazz standards are packed full of 7th chords with extensions and alterations added on top. These types of chords are strung together in various progressions that will teach you everything that you need to know about voice leading and diatonic harmony. If you want to understand the possibilities of harmony and music theory, you should spend some time studying jazz.
Learning jazz will force you to be proficient on your instrument. Due to the harmonic complexity of jazz, the wide-ranging tempos (fast and slow), and the melodic language itself, jazz musicians have no choice but to be proficient on their instrument. Learning the language of jazz forces you to learn numerous scales and patterns in order to be able to navigate the harmony. As a result, your technique will improve exponentially.
Learning jazz will improve your ears significantly. One of the fundamental aspects of jazz is improvisation. In order to become a great improviser, you need to have a great ear. In the early days of jazz, the language was learned by ear. Since jazz’ infancy, jazz musicians have learned repertoire, solos, and licks by ear. Simply learning jazz standards will help to build your ears due to the harmonic and melodic complexity of these compositions. When you start to adjust your hearing to these sounds, you will hear and understand more.