The originators of jazz were African-Americans in the early 20th century who fused African rhythms with European ideas of harmony and melody. Jazz's use of rhythm is unique in that it is “syncopated”; that is, the rhythm is irregular. Jazz is also polyrhythmic, which means many rhythms revolve around one basic one.

爵士乐的创始人是20世纪初期的非洲裔美国人，他们将非洲的节奏融入欧洲的和声和旋律的概念中去。爵士乐采用“切分”的演奏是很独特的；也就是说，节奏是不规则的。爵士乐也是多重节奏的，即多种节奏围绕一个基本节奏而进行。

(短文节选,本篇始于：“爵”代风华 )