Key Terms
Composer
The musician who writes the music. Receives inspiration, hears sounds internally, or improvises at an instrument to crea
Performer
The musician who takes the composer's ideas and brings them to life in sound. Can inject their own imagination and creat
Producer
The person responsible for overseeing the technical elements of a recording. Emerged as a distinct musical role with the
Improvising
Making up a musical part in the moment of performance. It combines the process of composing and performing into one simu
Standard
A popular song that has been performed and recorded by many different artists. Jazz musicians use standards as the found
Louis Armstrong
Jazz trumpeter, 1901-1971.
General understanding
Commercial music that appeals to large numbers of people.
Standard definition
Music of unknown authorship passed down from generation to generation in a particular region. Tends to be simple, stylis
What the course uses instead
Categories based on the ROLES music plays in society — the purposes for which music was created and continues to be cons