Y Magazine's video: A Thing of Beauty: Creating Music with BYU Faculty Jazz Quartet Q d Up

“All art is a process of organization,” says BYU music professor Ray Smith. Musicians organize vertical and horizontal “sound colors” as they create. Using just the 12 notes in the scale, they can develop all types of songs as chords, melody, and rhythm combine to form distinctive music. Jazz groups like the BYU faculty ensemble Q’d Up improvise as they organize notes and rhythms to create something new together using piano, bass, saxophone, guitar, and drums. “As creative people trying to be creative, it’s amazing to me that God lets us be a participant in this creative process of organizing,” says Smith. Stick around for the end of the video to watch Q’d Up perform “Bottom Eaves” by Jay Lawrence. Subscribe to Y Magazine—and be sure to hit the bell—for the latest videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/BYUMagazine Read articles from Y Magazine here: https://magazine.byu.edu/ Follow Y Magazine: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ymagazine.byu Twitter: https://twitter.com/ymagazine_byu Instagram: https://instagram.com/ymagazine.byu © Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.