Jazz musicians performing in an ensemble often achieve remarkable unity despite the improvisational nature of their art. When the lead...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Jazz musicians performing in an ensemble often achieve remarkable unity despite the improvisational nature of their art. When the lead soloist begins to shift toward a new musical phrase, the accompanying musicians instinctively adjust their playing to maintain harmonic coherence. This seamless _____ occurs because experienced performers have developed the ability to recognize subtle musical cues and respond instantaneously to changes in tempo, key, or rhythmic emphasis.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
modulation
coordination
improvisation
interpretation
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Jazz musicians performing in an ensemble often achieve remarkable unity despite the improvisational nature of their art.' |
|
| 'When the lead soloist begins to shift toward a new musical phrase, the accompanying musicians instinctively adjust their playing to maintain harmonic coherence.' |
|
| 'This seamless _____' |
|
| 'occurs because experienced performers have developed the ability to recognize subtle musical cues and respond instantaneously to changes in tempo, key, or rhythmic emphasis.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Jazz musicians can work together seamlessly in ensembles because experienced players instinctively respond to musical cues to maintain harmony.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes that jazz musicians achieve remarkable unity, then provides a specific example of how musicians adjust to changes from the lead soloist. It identifies this as a seamless process (the blank), then explains this works because experienced musicians can recognize and respond to subtle cues instantly.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The blank needs to describe the process where musicians instinctively adjust their playing when the lead soloist changes to maintain harmonic coherence
- The word should capture the essence of musicians working together in harmony, adjusting to each other's changes as a unified whole
modulation
- In music, 'modulation' refers to changing from one key to another
- While this might happen during jazz performance, it doesn't describe the process of musicians working together
coordination
- Perfectly captures the idea of musicians working together seamlessly
- 'Seamless coordination' describes exactly what's happening - different musicians adjusting their playing in sync to maintain harmony
improvisation
- While the passage mentions jazz's 'improvisational nature,' the blank isn't describing improvisation itself
- The focus is on how musicians work together, not on the spontaneous creation of music
interpretation
- 'Interpretation' refers to how musicians understand or express music
- Doesn't capture the collaborative, responsive nature of what's being described