Jazz Part II - Stride Piano, Scat Signing, and the Begining of Sound Recording

Verse 1.) What Stride Piano Looks Like & Fats Waller



Stride piano is highly rhythmic and somewhat percussive in nature because of the "oom-pah" sound of the left hand. This is where the term, "stride" came from. Pianist James P. Johnson, known as the "Father of Stride", created this unique style of jazz along with fellow pianists, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Fats Waller, and Luckey Roberts. The pianist usually plays one to three single notes (or walking bass) followed by a chord with the left hand, while the right hand plays the melody. Players may sometimes choose to play octaves instead of single notes to modify the sound of the left hand accompaniment. "James P. Johnson's greatest contribution was to recast the rhythm of ragtime into a more swinging, steadier beat."[2] He discovered and employed the tenth or "broken tenth" interval to introduce more swing in his left hand. This can be heard in his famous composition "Carolina Shout". The pianist can not only substitute tenths for single bass notes and triad chords, but can also play the interval up and down the keyboard.[citation needed]

The stride style originated in Harlem during World War I, fathered by James P. Johnson, and developed with fellow "Ticklers" Willie "The Lion" Smith, Luckey Roberts, and Fats Waller, reaping piano devices from other contemporary pianists. It was influenced by ragtime, and as a jazz piano idiom, features improvisation, blue notes, and swing rhythms. The practitioners of "stride" practiced a full jazz piano style that made use of Classical music devices such as arpeggios, musical scales, and flourishes. They often engaged in cutting contests to show off their skills.



Verse 2.) Scat singing

In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.





Verse 3.) The Ever Exciting History of Recording Video!