Here's a bit of a take on your opening point in the big thread in the off-topic forum....

You mentioned lyricism as being necessary. I fully agree with this. Key part of the word being 'Lyric'.

Why do Jazz and other 'wordless' forms command such a little portion of overall CD sales?

It's my opinion that for many, the purpose of music is in support of lyrics. Making this statement may offend some, but it is only intended to provoke some thoughts:

Spoken word CDs probably account for even less of overall CD sales as Jazz.

There is undeniable power and magic in the proper coupling of a turn of word coupled with music that strengthens and seeds the words in the mind.

I participate in the monthly music contests over at KVRaudio.com I have placed in the prize-winner-worthy vote totals about 10 percent of my particpation, and each time it was with songs that had lyrics. Participation in those contests are from primarily instrumental composers; and to narrow it even further, they are what would be considered 'electronic' artists. One of the months that I placed was a very simple two track song - acoustic guitar and vocals. Much more 'talented' songs were submitted and didn't make into the top three. My voice is not what won the votes - I can assure you of that! But the power of the words and the simple backing of a single acoustic guitar track grabbed the attention of the voters, I believe.

I am currently listening through all of your Soundcloud tracks. In the list is "On Luna Street", where RT soloist on trumpet has some lyricism, and then large chunks of the solo are what seem to be a mere technical exercise to show how many notes can be shoved into a short amount of time eg. 2:30-2:50 in the track time indicator. So many notes, that their rhythm; the timing between notes; is significantly shorter than the typical timing of syllables of spoken word even for languages that have a fairly rapid cadence. I think this is one of the 'boundaries' of a couple things as it pertains to any music:

1. The average listener's ears 'glaze over' when presented with something so difficult to 'track'. They simply lose interest. They can't hear the lyricism. Trumpet players that are jazzers might really like that section. To me, it's the most tedious, and if I was listening to it on the radio, would have me changing stations - no matter how talented the musician was. One of my favorite trumpet solos is Freddie Hubbard in "Maiden Voyage" to give you an idea of my 'speed' when it comes to tracking with a musician in a jazz tune. It's why I like 'Naima' better than Coltrane's other stuff.

2. The average musician probably loses interest when he/she can't necessarily 'transcribe' live while listening due to speed and lack of a modal or scale structure.

3. Perhaps coupled to this is the ability to hum along - to internalize the song. Most people, even talented vocalists can't hum along with the solo section I highlighted above. I think this is why smooth jazz is the most popular of forms that get thrown into the jazz category - you can normally hum along with it.

But I suspect, it's the lack of pairing of lyrics with hook-laden melody that causes Jazz to be relatively unpopular.

I recently completed a shortened version of Pat Pattison's songwriting course online (6 weeks vs. several classes longer than that), and at least 4 weeks of the lectures were about writing and phrasing of lyrics. It's almost as if the music aspect was secondary.

Enough lunchtime rambling! But I think this observation might couple well with the inability to play chords at such rapid speed as individual note soloing like the trumpet stuff in "On Luna Street". Allow people to follow where you are taking them, unless, that is, you don't want them to follow!

-Scott

Last edited by rockstar_not; 05/23/13 11:43 AM.
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