What to Listen For in Jazz

“Double time”is defined by the New Grove Dictionary of Jazzas “the apparent doubling of the tempo [...] achieved by halving the prevailing note-value” (Kernfeld, 2002). In an explanation of the same term written for a popular audience, the book What to Listen for in Jazzclarifies that double time “involves a doubling of tempo in the rhythm section, a doubling of the general speed of the melody line, or both” (Kernfeld, 1997).The Grove’s use of the word “apparent” implies that the tempo has not in fact doubled. To emphasize this point, some authors prefer the more precise term “double-time feel,” reserving the term “double time” for a true doublingof tempo(Levine, 1995).

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