How society creates musical styles: jazz and ritual insults

Many of the ways in which music can be used to create meaning for its consumers have been the subject of existing social semiotic literature. However, less is known about how social and cultural environments impact the development of musical sounds. This study uses Tagg’s sign typology as a framework for identifying meaningful signs such as form, responsoriality, and melodic complexity in three jazz bebop recordings by Charlie Parker. It is argued that the values of individuality, communication, and competition expressed by bebop music may be reflections of a sociolinguistic phenomenon known as ritual insults, thus demonstrating one way in which culture affects the creation of musical styles.