time and the melodic riffs of the blues were not easily notated. Also, early Jazz musicians were not formally trained; they usually learned by ear. Some songs were transcribed and written down, but not in precise ways. Jazz music became more of a passed on tradition that a musician learned throughinteraction with other players. In a similar way, the modern Jazz musician must rely on previous recordings to get a feel for thestyle and technique which he desires to learn from. But in classical music, one composer can learn from an older composer by looking at and analyzing the music that the previous composer wrote down. Likewise, classical musicians can master the parts they must play by practicing the music that has been written or published beforehand. These two approaches to passing on tradition are both valid. However, without the recording medium Jazz music might have developed much differently than it has. The cohesive element that keeps a musical group together is also an interesting contrast. In Classical music, the conductor uses a baton and plays the orchestra as if it were his instrument; he looks at a complete score of all the events happening in the composition and interprets these events based on his knowledge and intuition of what the composer intended. Jazz groups rarely utilize conductors. The swing era employed them for the sake of keeping the larger sized group together but other jazz styles did not and do not to this day. The drummer of the Jazz ensemble provides the beat that keeps the group together but even he is interacting with the other soloists as the song is performed. Perhaps the most interesting point of comparison between the two types of music is in improvisation. Improvisation is the ability to play and compose spontaneously "on the spot" while the music is playing. This has been an important element of Jazz from it's inception. Although improvisation was less prominent during the swing era, it r...
