What is Jazz Music and Classical/ differences ?
Regardless of genre, ensemble size, or skill level, all musicians strive to play in tune and play in time; from experiences as a listener and a player it seems to me that classical music and musicians have the strictest criteria regarding these parameters. Jazz musicians will vary their interpretation of eighth notes between straight and swung; many jazz musicians treat both time and intonation as variables to be altered for additional expressive devices. Classical music and musicians tend to think of harmonic constructions within one octave; jazz musicians borrow from Impressionists and 20th century composers whose output is largely based on harmonies extending into a second octave or even beyond. I’ll agree with Greg R’s assertion that jazz musicians improvise and classical musicians do not in this day and time; this is sad given that by historical accounts Bach, Mozart, and other Baroque and Classical composers were strong improvisers whose best improvisations wound up being themes
