Jazz: The Story of America's Music
Travel through time to discover how a mix of cultures in New Orleans created a brand new sound. Learn to hear the secrets of improvisation and meet the legends who changed music forever.
Like Duolingo, but for Jazz: The Story of America's Music. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A deep dive: 88 levels across 5 sections, about 176 minutes end to end, roughly 35 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Birth of a New Sound, How Jazz Works, The Era of Big Bands, The Great Soloists, and Modern Jazz and Beyond. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Jazz: The Story of America's Music
- New Orleans' diverse population
- Congo Square
- Work songs leader-and-group structure
- Call-and-response in jazz
- The role of Congo Square in cultural preservation
- Why New Orleans' unique social structure allowed jazz to flourish
- The structural influence of work songs on jazz
- The connection between the end of the Civil War and instrument availability
- African rhythms preceded the development of spirituals in America
- The blues emerged as a distinct secular form before merging into jazz
- The blues introduced 'blue notes' (bent pitches) to jazz
- The blues provided a framework for personal expression and struggle
- The evolution from spirituals and blues to early jazz
- The specific musical characteristics the blues contributed to jazz
- New Orleans' location on the Mississippi River facilitated trade and cultural exchange
- New Orleans' unique social structure
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Jazz: The Story of America's Music the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Imagine walking through 19th-century New Orleans; which group of people formed the unique cultural mix that birthed jazz?
Get it right to open this lesson and 87 more in the app.
How to learn Jazz: The Story of America's Music, step by step
Go in order. 88 short levels across 5 sections, about 2 hours 56 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
The Birth of a New Sound
- Where Jazz Started
- Mixing Different Cultures
- The Rhythm of the Streets
- Early Instruments and Bands
- 2
How Jazz Works
- Making It Up as You Go
- Keeping the Beat
- Call and Response
- The Blue Notes
- How to Listen to a Solo
- The Role of the Piano
- 3
The Era of Big Bands
- Music for Dancing
- Leading a Large Group
- The Famous Ballrooms
- 4
The Great Soloists
- The King of the Trumpet
- Singing Without Words
- The First Ladies of Song
- Saxophone Giants
- Piano Masters
- 5
Modern Jazz and Beyond
- Fast and Complex Sounds
- Cool and Relaxed Styles
- Mixing Jazz with Rock
- Jazz Around the World Today
5 sections · 22 units · 88 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about Jazz: The Story of America's Music
How do I learn Jazz: The Story of America's Music?
Go in order: start with The Birth of a New Sound, then How Jazz Works, then The Era of Big Bands, then The Great Soloists, and 1 more section after that. On Tomo that's 88 short levels, about 2 hours 56 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for Jazz: The Story of America's Music?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Jazz: The Story of America's Music is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the Jazz: The Story of America's Music course free?
Yes. Jazz: The Story of America's Music is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn Jazz: The Story of America's Music?
88 levels across 5 sections, about 2 hours 56 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start Jazz: The Story of America's Music?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Jazz: The Story of America's Music is taught in the Storyteller style: every lesson is a story. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Music on Tomo
Classical Music Legends
Meet the famous people behind the world's most beautiful music. Learn about their lives, their struggles, and the songs that changed history forever.
The Birth of Hip-Hop
Travel back to the 1970s Bronx to see how a neighborhood party changed music forever. Learn about the DJs, dancers, and poets who built a global culture from scratch.
Play Your First Song
Skip the boring scales and start making music immediately. This course focuses on the essential shapes and rhythms needed to play thousands of popular songs right away.
The Sound of the Decades: 1950-1989
Trace the electric evolution of music from the birth of Rock 'n' Roll to the neon-soaked synth-pop of the eighties.
The World of Progressive Rock
Journey through the complex time signatures, cosmic synthesizers, and epic storytelling that defined rock's most ambitious genre. From the golden age of the 1970s to the modern metal fusion, learn to listen like a virtuoso.
Marching Tenor Sax Mastery
Stop struggling with sheet music on the field. Learn how to lock complex songs into your memory and master high-speed articulation for a flawless performance.
Start Jazz: The Story of America's Music today.
Download Tomo, search Jazz: The Story of America's Music, and play your first lesson in under a minute.