#14 - Although early jazz music featured a great deal of

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[nrpandolfo]

Why is E correct? I chose B because it mentioned that early jazz was based on melodies so later jazz could be based on early jazz?

[Alex Bodaken]

nrpandolfo,

Thanks for the question! This is a weaken question, with the author's conclusion being that "later music featuring improvisation that strays far from the melody ought not to be classified as jazz." So we are looking for the answer that most weakens this conclusion - in other words, an answer that suggests that later music with straying improvisation should be categorized as jazz.

Answer choice (B) states "The later music featuring improvisation was heavily influenced by early jazz." If that were true, would it weaken the conclusion. Honestly...yeah, a little bit! It suggests that there are elements of jazz that influenced the later music, and so one could reasonably conclude that this makes it more likely that the later music should be classified as jazz.

However, this is simply a case of another answer being better. Answer choice (E) states: "The later music featuring improvisation has much more in common with early jazz than with any other type of music." If this were true, it significantly weakens the answer as it not only connects the later music with jazz, but crucially, rules out the possibility that it could more readily been categorized as a different type of music. With answer choice (B), for instance, a piece of music could be heavily influenced by early jazz yet still be even more heavily influenced by, say, bluegrass, meaning that it should be classified as bluegrass. But with answer choice (E), that isn't possible. If (E) is true, there is very good reason to believe that the later music described in the question stem should be classified as jazz and nothing else. Therefore, (E) is our credited answer.

Hope that helps!
Alex

[lsatstudying11]

Hi!

My immediate counter to E was, okay, maybe it is most common with early jazz as opposed to any other genre, but what if this music is a new genre of its own?

I think that this is one of the most difficult questions I have encountered so far on LR because I feel like an argument can be made in favor of nearly all of the answer choices!

Ultimately, I guess I am wondering how E squares with the idea that just because it was most similar to early jazz this does not then seem to preclude the possibility that this music represents a totally new genre of music. And, if it was a new genre of music, then wouldn't this support the conclusion?

Thanks so much for your help

[leahaddad]

I had the same concern as lsatstudying11, I thought that answer E still left open the possibility that it was nothing like any other music category, but it was a wholly new category of music, and thus I chose B because I felt it was the strongest option. How can I go about answering a similar question without making this same error in the future? What's the give away that it is not its own genre?

Thanks so much!

[Paul Marsh]

Hi leahaddad!

I thought that answer E still left open the possibility that it was nothing like any other music category, but it was a wholly new category of music

I think you are correct that it potentially does leave that possibility open. However, a good Weaken answer choice doesn't necessarily need to totally close all doors (in other words, it doesn't need to completely destroy everything about the conclusion of the stimulus's argument). Rather, as long as it damages the conclusion, that can be good enough. Here, (E) effectively rules out categorizing later jazz as any other type of music. By ruling out all other classifications of music, it has weakened the argument's claim that it should be classified as a different type of music, even if it leaves open one small possibility (that it should be categorized as an entirely new genre).

Hope that helps!

[Albertlyu]

nrpandolfo,

Thanks for the question! This is a weaken question, with the author's conclusion being that "later music featuring improvisation that strays far from the melody ought not to be classified as jazz." So we are looking for the answer that most weakens this conclusion - in other words, an answer that suggests that later music with straying improvisation should be categorized as jazz.

Answer choice (B) states "The later music featuring improvisation was heavily influenced by early jazz." If that were true, would it weaken the conclusion. Honestly...yeah, a little bit! It suggests that there are elements of jazz that influenced the later music, and so one could reasonably conclude that this makes it more likely that the later music should be classified as jazz.

However, this is simply a case of another answer being better. Answer choice (E) states: "The later music featuring improvisation has much more in common with early jazz than with any other type of music." If this were true, it significantly weakens the answer as it not only connects the later music with jazz, but crucially, rules out the possibility that it could more readily been categorized as a different type of music. With answer choice (B), for instance, a piece of music could be heavily influenced by early jazz yet still be even more heavily influenced by, say, bluegrass, meaning that it should be classified as bluegrass. But with answer choice (E), that isn't possible. If (E) is true, there is very good reason to believe that the later music described in the question stem should be classified as jazz and nothing else. Therefore, (E) is our credited answer.

Hope that helps!
Alex

hi Alex, thanks, may I ask how did you establish the connection between "having more in common" with the "categorizing of the music", from the evidence, there was nothing mentioned about what should or should not be classified as Jazz. By choosing E, we have to assume that having more in common at least is a contributor to being a certain type of music, ie. we need to assume something additional for E to be a weakener. can you please clarify. thanks.

[Albertlyu]

hi, could anyone please help me understand this: any conclusion from two things being different can be weakened by bringing up more similarities?

Is this assessment even solid? if so, why is this true? LSAT is about certainty, I am not sure if there is anything certain about E that gives me the satisfaction i need to move on.

very much appreciated!

Albert Lyu

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Albert!

One way to think of the reasoning in the stimulus argument is this:

Premise: Later music featuring improvisation that strays far from the melody does not have this in common with early jazz music in which improvisation stayed close to the melody.
Conclusion: This later music should not be classified as jazz music.

So the argument is basically that since this later music doesn't have this one thing in common with earlier jazz music, then is should not be classified jazz music.

You are correct that often times when a conclusion is that two things are different, we can weaken it by showing how they are similar. In this case, answer choice (E) weakens this argument by stating that, even though it may not have this one thing (improvisation that sticks close to the melody) in common with early jazz music, it still has more in common with early jazz music than with any other type of music and is, therefore, more similar to jazz than any other type of music.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[eleanor.williams117]

Hello!

I was able to pick E on my second try with this question and can see why it is the most correct, but I would like some clarity on why A is absolutely wrong so I know what to look for going forward. Thanks!