Jazz's Influence on Modern Society

By: I. Mizne

Ella Fitzgerald. Frank Sinatra. Louis Armstrong. 

You may be wondering, what is the connection between these musicians? Well, the answer is: they all became famous through the music genre known as Jazz. Though nobody knows exactly who created the popular genre, it began to gain traction in the early 20th century, and continues to heavily influence and can even benefit our lives today. 

According to psychology experts, your stress levels can be reduced by listening to jazz music. For those of you who get stressed while studying, this type of music can not only prevent stress but it can also help you study or learn a new skill. Plus, it’s a fun, calming way to unwind after a long day’s work. It was often heard as an emotional relief for American slaves during the 19th century. Often, musicians listen to or play jazz to stimulate their brains. So it not only relieved anxiety, but it also influenced other music genres, pieces of literature, fashion and society itself.

Because of the popularity of jazz, overtime, it was absorbed into other genres as well, including: pop, rock, hip hop, and freestyle rap. Some singers may also perform along with jazz musicians, like Beyonce does.

Poetry was developing at the same time as jazz’s popularity was increasing, so the two art forms came together to form jazz poetry which not only involved literal references to jazz but also mimicked the style of the music as well. 

Furthermore, young women of the 1920s used jazz as a way to rebel against society. Since the music has very "danceable" rhythm and melody, women had to be able to move around freely, and the clothes they usually wore, such as Victorian War clothes, were too restricting. So, the uprise of jazz consequently led to an uprise of fashion, which caused a change in hair-styles as well.

Normally when most people think of jazz, they think of calm, sometimes boring music- but if you stop to think about it, it has changed very important things in modern society. Would you ever have thought that jazz had such a big impact on how you live today? Did you think that all jazz was, was a genre of music? Did you know about any of these changes that happened because of jazz?