This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he explains what bebop actually is — using the same explanation he gave his own wife.
My wife asked me, “So what actually is bebop, anyway?” and I gave her this quick answer:
It sounds old-fashioned. It’s fast, built on eighth notes. It’s mostly played on horns.
That’s maybe half-right, but obviously not a complete answer — so here’s the fuller explanation I gave her afterward, shared with everyone else who’s ever wondered the same thing.
Contents
What I Explained to My Wife
Back around 1930, something called “swing jazz” became huge.
It was played by big bands — large ensembles — and it was really popular, crowd-pleasing music, made for people to dance to.
But some musicians got bored of playing “easy-to-follow music meant for dancing,” and started thinking, “let’s get more into the weeds with this.”
After their regular swing-band gigs ended for the night, they’d head to jazz clubs in a neighborhood in New York called Harlem and play there late into the night.
They’d play insanely fast tempos — way too fast to dance to — full of complex improvisation.
That playing style, and the era it came from, is what we now call collectively “bebop.”
The biggest, most charismatic figure within bebop was an alto saxophonist named Charlie Parker — who later became a mentor to Miles Davis, the player who’d go on to be called jazz’s “king.” Worth remembering his name.
That’s roughly what I told her. It’s a pretty rough sketch, but I think it’s basically accurate. (lol)
You can find plenty of this online if you look it up, but knowing a bit of the historical backstory tends to make listening to the music even more interesting.
Finally, here are two well-known recordings — one swing, one bebop:
Swing jazz:
Bebop:
Same broad genre, completely different feel, right? Which one do you like better?
Hearing the difference is one thing — actually getting your own playing to swing like that is another, and that gap is exactly where a teacher’s ear helps most.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.