Logical Reasoning

PT154 · S1 · Q14 Although early jazz music

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Although early jazz music featured a great deal of improvisation, this improvisation did not stray too far from the rather simple, catchy melodies upon which it was based.

Conclusion

Later music featuring improv that strays far from the melody shouldn't be classified as jazz.

Evidence

In early jazz, the improv didn't stray too far from the melody.

Evaluate

The author seems to think that .

If early basketball did not feature a 3-point shot or a 24-second shot clock, then this later basketball, however interesting it may be, featuring 3-point shots and 24-second shot clocks should not be classified as basketball.

Goal

This is a silly constraint: only the features of early examples of a genre are allowed within that genre.

Look for an answer saying that genres, such as jazz, can evolve. Traits can appear later that didn't appear before, but still exist within what we currently call that genre.

The answer should help us to argue that we CAN classify crazy-improv music as jazz, even when it strays far from the melody.

14.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?

For a piece of music
No Impact
The author would be fine with this rule. She thinks that early "true" jazz had improv. This would only weaken if it said, "for music to be jazz, it must feature some improvisation that strays far from the melody."
14% picked this
The later music featuring improvisation
No Impact
Something can be heavily influenced by early jazz without being jazz itself. Nirvana was heavily influenced by the music of the Beatles, but that doesn't mean we'd say that Nirvana is 60s style Brit-Pop.
18% picked this
Some of the later music
No Impact
Words like "some / can / may / might / not all" are almost always wrong on Strengthen / Weaken / Paradox, since they only convey at least one data point. Similar to (B), saying that the musicians involved in this later music were jazz musicians early in their careers doesn't help us classify the current music. Mariah Carey was a gospel musician early in her career, but that doesn't mean her top-selling records get classified as "gospel" music.
3% picked this
Many types of music other
Strengthens
This could help the author argue that we shouldn't call this heavy-improv music "jazz". She could be like, "This is more like Phish / Grateful Dead jamband stuff than jazz".
2% picked this
Correct
The later music featuring improvisation
Why this is right
Of all the available answers, this helps us the most to argue that this later, improv-heavy music should be classified as "jazz". Even if the improv style has evolved from staying true to the melody to getting more out there, this style still has more in common with early jazz than with any other type of music. Thus, we either create a brand new genre to classify this music, or we lump it in with its closest cousin, "Jazz".
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
64% picked this

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