In
music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
and
jazz harmony
Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorporation of the major and mi ...
, the Stomp progression is an eight-bar
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
named for its use in the "stomp" section of the composition "
King Porter Stomp" (1923) by
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a ge ...
. The composition was later arranged by
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black mus ...
, adding greater emphasis on the Trio section, containing a highly similar harmonic loop to that found in the Stomp section.
[Magee, Jeffrey (2004). ''The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz'', np. Oxford. .] It was one of the most popular tunes of the
swing era
The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been aroun ...
, and the Stomp progression was often used.
Following the success of "King Porter Stomp", many other compositions were named after the tune, although many of these "stomps" did not necessarily employ the stomp progression.
Harmonic progression
Magee (2014) describes a two-measure three-chord harmonic loop: F–
F7—C
7–C
7.
The progression () is based on the last section of the piece,
bars 57 to 64 in the original
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, A ...
for piano
[Magee (2001), 28, cites: ] or the ''Fake Book''
lead sheet
A lead sheet or fake sheet is a form of musical notation that specifies the essential elements of a popular song: the melody, lyrics and harmony. The melody is written in modern Western music notation, the lyric is written as text below the st ...
, where the chords for the last ten bars of the piece are:
:
In pieces where the progression is repeated, this becomes something like:
:
which is, ignoring the temporary
tonicization
In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall tonic (the "home note" of a piece) as a temporary tonic in a composition. In Western music that is tonal, the piece is heard by the listener as being in a certain key. ...
of G, and treating the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (ma ...
as that of the
trio and stomp sections, D:
[Magee (2001), p.27. ]
:
The last two measures contain the
ragtime progression
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
.
Influence
Many bands and composers have used the Stomp chord progression to write new compositions, writing new
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...
tunes or
melodies
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...
, but using the chord changes to, as Morton phrased it, "make great tunes of themselves".
[Magee, Jeffrey. , p.46, ''Current Musicology'', 71-73 (Spring 2001-Spring 2002), p. 22-53.] Examples include
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...
's "
Everybody Shuffle
Everybody may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Everybody'' (Chris Janson album) or the title song, 2017
* ''Everybody'' (Gods Child album), 1994
* ''Everybody'' (Hear'Say album), 2001
* ''Everybody'' (Ingrid Michaelson album) or the title song, 2009
* ...
" (1934).
See
contrafact
A contrafact is a musical work based on a prior work. The term comes from classical music and has only since the 1940s been applied to jazz, where it is still not standard. In classical music, contrafacts have been used as early as the parody ma ...
.
Other examples include:
*
Larry Clinton
Larry Clinton (August 17, 1909 – May 2, 1985) was an American musician, best known as a trumpeter who became a prominent American bandleader and arranger.
Biography
Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He became a ver ...
and
Bunny Berigan
Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...
's "
Study in Brown
''Study in Brown'' ( EmArcy Records, 1955) is a Clifford Brown and Max Roach album. The album consists predominantly of originals by members of the band. The songs "Lands End", by tenor saxophonist Harold Land, and "Sandu", by Brown, have gone ...
"
[Magee (2002), cites: Schuller, Gunther and Martin Williams (1983). "Liner notes to ''Big Band Jazz: From the Beginnings to the Fifties''", p.14. Smithsonian RD 030.]
*
Fats Waller's "
Soothin' Syrup Stomp"
*
Cab Calloway
Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocali ...
's "
At the Clambake Carnival"
*
Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...
's "
Jump Town" and "
Call the Porter"
*
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conce ...
's "
Slipped Disc"
*
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...
's "
Bojangles (A Portrait of Bill Robinson) Bojangles may refer to:
People nicknamed "Bojangles"
* Bill Robinson (1877–1949), American dancer and actor
* Ron Atkinson (born 1939), former British football player and manager
Media
* ''Bojangles'' (film), a 2001 TV-movie about Robinson a ...
" (1940) chorus riff
*
Sy Oliver
Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader.
Life
Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his ...
's "
Well, Git It!" for
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...
's ''Orchestra'' (1942)
*
Willie Bryant Orchestra
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and sc ...
's 1935 recording of
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's "
Liza Liza may refer to
* Liza (name), including a list of people named Liza
* ''Liza'' (fish), a genus of mullets
* ''Liza'' (1972 film), a 1972 Italian film
* ''Liza'' (1978 film), a 1978 Malayalam horror film
* Hurricane Liza (disambiguation), the ...
", eight-bar tag ending
Sources
{{Chord progressions
Chord progressions