Different Types of Reactions to Jazz Music
[I’M CURRENTLY TAKING A MUSIC PSYCHOLOGY UNDERGRADUATE CLASS, AND THIS ESSAY WAS MY FINAL SUBMISSION. I FELT LIKE THIS WAS THE SAME TYPE OF TOPICS THAT I TALK ABOUT, SO THIS IS JUST A COPY AND PASTE OF WHAT I WROTE FOR THE CLASS. ITS A LITTLE BIT MORE LENGTHY AND FORMAL THAN WHAT I USUALLY WRITE, BUT IT’S STILL PRETTY PRETTY INTERESTING]
Jazz music is considered to be one of the most popular forms of music here in America. Many would agree with the statement that jazz is “America’s classical music” (Wildridge, 2020). Due to its cultural significance, there are bound to be some reactions to jazz music, which is what this research paper is going to cover.
Music psychology is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary study of music in the human experience. In the spirit of the core tenets of music psychology, this paper is going to cover three different reactions to jazz music. The first is the sociological reaction or going over the history of public reactions to jazz music as it was becoming popular. The second is the physical reaction to jazz music, mainly dealing with the body and brain. Lastly is the psychological reaction to jazz, because you can not have psychology of music paper without talking about the psychological reactions to jazz music.
Sociological
To get a good understanding of the sociological response to jazz music, one must start with the history of jazz music. When jazz music was first getting popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s, it was regarded in the sociological field as a “low brow culture”. Low brow culture is music that is associated with lower-class individuals. There are hundreds of newspaper clips in the existence of journalists who express their negative reactions to the influence of jazz as it grew in New Orleans. Maureen Anderson documents and reviews these negative reactions in her paper “The White Reception to Jazz in America”. Most interestingly, one journalist uses disease-like language when describing jazz, saying: “So far many parts of the East have been spared. Washington is almost free, New York is rent in spots. Boston is only slightly Jazz. But the Middle West is in the throes-it may never know it until consciousness returns.”(Anderson, 2004). As shocking as descriptions like this were used, this was the norm back then.
Today, jazz music is regarded in the sociological field as a “high brow culture”. High brow culture is the opposite of low brow culture in the respect that it is associated with higher class individuals. It is apparent today that jazz music is mostly used in high-class scenarios, whether that be background music for important black-tie events to elevator music in fancy hotels. Jazz music has even spawned a few legitimate magazine publications, from the famous Downbeat magazine that covered jazz music as it was coming up in the early to mid-1030s (Morgenstern, 2012) to the popular Jazzwise magazine today that covers the current state of jazz. Along with the publications, there are large festivals centered around jazz music, such as the historical Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, CA, to the famous New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (more well-known as “Jazzfest:). It can not be denied that jazz is at the forefront of American high-brow culture.
What is responsible for this major shift in public perception? The first theory is that pop culture, especially music, is ever-changing. New trends catch on and fade away gradually over time, jazz music was no stranger to the formula. The second theory is that younger musicians are in charge of the direction of the way music goes. As something gets popular, there are a group of young musicians that tweak the formula, making something fresh and it slowly gains popularity. This is true with many jazz subgenres as people today argue about what “real jazz” is and is not. The final theory on the switch is cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is a controversial concept that has gained steam over the past several years. In a nutshell, cultural appropriation is when the dominant culture takes an aspect of a foreign or less popular culture and claims it as its original creator. Jazz music was created by the African-American underclass in the most prominent time of Jim Crow (early 1920s). As soon as the White dominant class saw the popularity of jazz grow in America, they claimed it as their own to make it more palatable for the majority of Americans at the time. That is why a large portion of the most famous jazz musicians/bands of the 30s and 40s were white, with obvious exceptions. Put in summary, from the sociological perspective, jazz in America made a huge shift from low-brow culture to high-brow culture in under a century.
Physical
Music medicine is the concept of using music as treatment for medical procedures, such as surgery. Jazz music has been used in the music medicine process as well according to a 2015 study. Lorenzo Lafer et al detailed a study in collaboration with the American Society of Anesthesiologists using jazz music to combat postoperative pain and stress. This study was done with 56 patients, aged 18–75 years, all of whom were going through some type of hysterectomy (Laefer, 2015). The objective of this study was to see if jazz music or silence lead to a decrease in “heart rate, blood pressure, pain, or anxiety in patients undergoing a hysterectomy.”(Laefer, 2015). The outcome showed that both silence and jazz music negatively impacted stress and pain. With the use of jazz music, there was a noticeable decrease in opioid administration, an easier promotion of relaxation, and an improvement in patient satisfaction. This study helps the legitimacy of both music medicine and the physical healing properties of jazz music.
Along with music medicine, there is the idea of music therapy. Music therapy is the use of music to achieve certain therapeutic goals (Musicians Institute, 2021). This is the logical step down from music medicine, but still equally as important. (Vink, 2001)Music therapy is a growing movement in the therapy field as new evidence comes in to further legitimize it. Music therapy is dependent on one’s relation to a certain music genre, much like regular therapy in its relation to one’s therapist. For those who favor jazz music, jazz can play a major role in the music therapy process.
Along with general mood and outlook on life, jazz music can also affect the brain, specifically the brain waves. Music patterning and neuroscience specialist Dee Coulter says that jazz music affects theta waves. There are five types of brain waves, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and theta waves. Each of these waves is responsible for a certain few brain functions. Theta waves, specifically, are responsible for both deep rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and high creative functioning. Formally paraphrased by Dr. Robyn McMaster, Coulter says that “Theta waves are slower compared to the more active beta and relaxed alpha waves. In deeper theta consciousness, people reach slowed activity, where highly creative states occur. While in theta, people’s brains shuffle down information and reshuffle it in new directions. During such flow states, people can experience sudden intuitions providing ready-made insights and new solutions to unresolved problems (Eureka moments)” (McMaster, 2007). In other words, listening to jazz music raises your potential for creativity. In summary, jazz music can affect two parts of the human body: the pain/stress tolerance and the brain, specifically, the waves.
Psychological
The range of psychological reactions to jazz music is vague, but a good starting point is musical identities. A Musical identity is a self-image of what a musician believes they are. There was a 2005 study done in the UK about the musical identities of Scottish jazz musicians. Dr. Graene B Wilson and Dr. Raymond A R MacDonald ran a focus group study on several jazz musicians from Glasgow Caledonian University. The musicians were mostly early adulthood to middle-aged men and were asked questions that pertained to what jazz was and what jazz life was. (Wilson & MacDonald, 2005) The responses to what jazz was were narrowed down into four responses: swing, improvising and composing, collective process, and instrument differences. More interestingly, the responses for what jazz life is were: social context, professional context, being in a group, and self and others. (Wilson & MacDonald, 2005). For social context, the problems that were raised included fatigue, hectic schedules, and financial demands keeping one from practicing and playing the music one wanted to. In the professional context, what counts as being a professional means the ability to switch between any genres with ease. Jazz is a diverse genre with many different sounds, so the professionals need to be able to quickly adapt. Dealing with being in a group, in order for a successful jazz band to be formed, one needs to work with people they like/can agree with. One cannot be “just coworkers” with a band member, due to the emotionally and creatively demanding nature of the job. Lastly, with self and others, many of the jazz musicians interviewed rarely referred to themselves when talking about what jazz life is. The greater majority of them would refer to others or some abstract idea of what a jazz musician should be. It would appear that there is some sort of archetype of a jazz musician out there, but it either is unattainable, or many believe that they are not one.
As stated in the Wison and MacDonald article, those interviewed were mostly men from Scotland. Gender is a factor that can often be overlooked in studying certain concepts or constructs. There is a specific study out there that focuses on the gender differences in jazz improvisation. This questionnaire study was done by Dr. Erin Wehr-Flowers from the University of Iowa. Over 300 jazz students were questioned in schools around the University of Iowa area, ranging from middle school students all the way to undergrad (Wehr-Flowers, 2006). In the questionnaire, they tested for three different components: attitude, confidence, and anxiety. From the results section, Dr. Wehr-Flowers states “Results indicate that females are significantly less conf anxious, and have less self-efficacy (attitude) towards improvisation. The mean score for females was a lower score for males on every statement of the three sub[sections] 1–3, which further reinforces the differences between males and females on the dependent variables”(Wehr-Flowers, 2006). Having a lower score means that females on average lower confidence, have a lower attitude, and higher anxiety while improvising jazz. While this is only one study done in a specific part of the country for a specific group of people (students), this study does reinforce the idea that there is a difference in the genders’ reactions to jazz improvisation. While there are many theories on the explanations for the gender differences, Dr. Wehr-Flowers gives the reasoning that there are extraneous “social-psychological factors that influence female participation in jazz improvisation”(Wehr-Flowers, 2006).
Discussing gender differences on any topic can be viewed as a scientific issue, or sometimes a political issue. Speaking of, many view jazz music as an inherently political type of music. Dr. Norman Margolis wrote a scholarly essay on the inherently political nature of jazz music, which he believed to be protest music. The most important quote from his essay comes from the end, in which he says “Jazz’s power as a protest force was enhanced when, through its early associations, jazz came to symbolize the Id drives that are constantly attempting to overcome the controls of the Superego and its social counterpart, the culture. Because of this symbolization, and because as music it allows an extreme regressive satisfaction of these repressed drives, jazz has been, and continues to be, rejected by the cult” (Margolis, 1954). When Margolis refers to the Id, he means the unconscious negative urges that all people have within themselves, but refuse to act on (lust, gluttony, etc). The Superego is the opposite, which are the ideal moral values that people believe and try to follow. The Id and Superego come together to form the Ego, which is an old psychological concept for one’s personality. So, Margolis says that jazz was associated with negative emotions and drives. This could be theorized due to its creation and association with African Americans, who were viewed at the time as people with low morals. Because of these negative associations with the Id, many people tried to not associate with jazz, due to its relation to perceived low morals. Margolis also believed that jazz music was closely tied with adolescence. (Margolis, 1954). The 50s and 60s were major times of civil protest in America, with a great majority of those protesting being young adults. The young adults (adolescents) at the time had a close relationship with jazz music due to its rejection by the masses and its creation by African Americans. These two components helped jazz music receive its “protest” nature, according to Dr. Margolis.
Summary
In this research paper, three different perspectives of reactions to jazz music were covered. The first one was the sociological perspective. This dealt with the concepts of low and high brow culture and the major shift that jazz music as a whole went through in the public consciousness over the years. The second perspective was the physical perspective. This mainly covered two forms of physical reactions to jazz music, the first being pain and stress tolerance. The second reaction was brain waves, mainly theta waves. The third and final perspective was the psychological. This covered musical identities, gender differences, and the inherently political nature of jazz music. Jazz music is a diverse genre with a rich history and it is only fair that one looks at it from multiple perspectives in order to gauge how important it is.
Bibliography
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Laefer, L. (2015). Effects of jazz on postoperative pain and stress in patients undergoing elective hysterectomy. Advances Journal. https://doi.org/25607117
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Vink, A. (2001). Music and Emotion. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 2, 144–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/08098130109478028
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From the abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the gender differences in the social-psychological constructs of confidence, anxiety, and attitude as they relate to jazz improvisation participation. Results suggest that social-psychological issues are influencing female participation in jazz improvisation.
Wildridge, J. (2020, January 7). Why Is Jazz Called America’s Classical Music? — CMUSE. CMUSE; https://www.facebook.com/ClassicalMusicians. https://www.cmuse.org/why-is-jazz-called-americas-classical-music/
Wilson, G. B., & MacDonald, R. A. R. (2005). The meaning of the blues: musical identities in talk about jazz. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 4, 341–363. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp044oa
