Introduction
Writing a historical research is very challenging irrespective of the topic of the research. It is usually not enough for the person who is writing the research to have certain knowledge in history and politics to write a good research. To do this one must possess a good command of methodology used in this sphere of writing, as well as the ability to think logically, process information and make right conclusions from it. That is why before the conduct of any kind of such researches one must make up a draft, or a proposal or the research study, in which all the aims of the research, its objectives, methods of its conduct, research questions and the ways of the processing and evaluation of the information should be indicated (Rampolla, 2007).
Goals
This very paper is the proposal for the historical research study of one of the musical genres that is very popular and influential nowadays. This very music genre is jazz, and the current proposal is developed in order to outline the main ideas of the research, i. e. its aims, objectives, questions and methodology (Cox, 2006). The importance of this topic nowadays can not be underestimated because the modern world is greatly influenced by the culture of entertainment, and the very musical direction of jazz is a part of that culture, although it is not very popular among the youth it is still very important.
So, the research will allow us to take a closer look at this music genre and understand its main principles and basic ideas. Besides, the jazz genre is a reflection of various social problems of today. It depicts the issues of racism, sexism, racial and social inequalities, as well as all drawbacks of the modern society, thus giving us the chance to change them for better. All this is reflected in a light musical form which is sometimes hard to understand but which is relaxing and pleasant for people’s ears.
Historical Background
The direction in music that was later called jazz has its roots deep in the history of nations from Africa and the Caribbean. Although, the majority of historians call the beginning of the 20th century as the date of its birth, there are different opinions according to which jazz takes its roots long ago, in the epoch of colonial wars of Great Britain, France, Spain, etc. People from the countries conquered by these empires were turned into slaves and brought either to Europe or to the United States of America.
They were suppressed in different ways and expressed their anger and wish of freedom by means of armed rebellions, and by some peaceful means like music. That is when jazz appeared as the expression of social interests of the oppressed people. With the course of time, the music transformed into more skillful performances, and only in the late 19th – early 20th century came to the USA together with immigrants from West Africa who looked for the better living in America.
The fathers of the jazz in the USA are considered to be the African American entertainers Ernest Hogan, Vess Ossman and Scott Joplin. They promoted their songs performing them during meeting with his friends and also made performances in different clubs in the USA. Under his influence, this kind of music became interesting for the wider circle of people, and already the majority of African Americans were absorbed by jazz. In the early 1900s the New Orleans jazz was developing with the wide use of instrumental music.
With its development jazz gradually conquered all other cities of the USA, especially Chicago and New York. With the activity of such masters as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown jazz acquired more and more popularity, and nowadays jazz is very popular among wide circles of people around the world. In the current research study we are going to consider the reasons that helped jazz to achieve such popularity in the world of music (Gioia, 1998).
Objectives of the Research
The objectives of the research are the following points:
- to disclose the essence of jazz as a musical genre;
- to examine the jazz as the reflection of social processes in the world;
- to trace the usage of certain musical instruments in jazz in different periods of its history;
- to understand the effect of jazz upon the modern world.
These objectives will help us to understand the essence of jazz better. They will be reached by means of answering the following research questions and by means of usage of the following methodology of the historical research.
Research Questions
To achieve the above mentioned objectives of the current research study the following questions on this topic should be answered:
- What are the origins of jazz as culture and genre of music?
- What are the basic principles and features of the genre?
- How did jazz develop from a regional music to the world wide popular genre?
All these questions are directed at the reaching of the goals of the research study and touch the basic features of jazz music genre. Answers to these questions are not very easy to find, that is why it will be necessary to conduct a skillful search of relevant information in various sources. To assure that the information is relevant for the topic of the research certain methodology is needed for the conduct of this very research. The following strategies and techniques will let us carry out the work at the highest level of accuracy.
Research Methods
Methods of the historical research are numerous but not all of them will be of help when the matter of the research is the musical genre in all its aspects and development. As it is widely known, historical research involves a lot of analysis that must be done to get the most accurate data about the present state of things with the subject of the research. There are two main types of analysis in the methodology of the historical research. They are dynamic analysis and static analysis. The dynamic analysis (or anthropological analysis) presupposes the study of a phenomenon in its development beginning from its appearance up to the latest stage of its existence.
This method is purely historical in its nature, but it would be incomplete without the static analysis of the phenomenon, i. e. its analysis in the current stage of its development. The comparison of the data received from both analyses gives a clear view of the past events, explains the present state of things and can predict possible ways of their development in the future (Phelps, 2005).
Among the potential sources of information for the research study of jazz, such can be used as numerous literary works dedicated to this topic, scientific articles and case studies that were conducted before and present reach sources of information for further development of work in this direction. The Internet present also a great amount of information about jazz, the instruments used in this genre of music and the history of different trends that were present in this genre at different stages of its development.
Works Cited
Cox, Gordon. 2006. “Transforming Research in Music Education History.” In MENC Handbook of Research Methodologies, edited by Richard Colwell, 73-94. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Gioia, T. 1998. The History of Jazz. Oxford University Press, USA.
Phelps, Roger P., Ronald H. Sadoff, Edward C. Warburton, and Lawrence Ferrara. 2005. “Historical Research: Concepts and Techniques.” In A Guide to Research in Music Education, 205-38. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, INC.
Rampolla, Mary Lynn. 2007. A Pocket Guide to Writing History. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.