top of page

LSAT Preptest 154, Section 1, Question 14

"Although early jazz music featured…"

Explanation

The argument presented suggests a criterion for classifying music as jazz based on the relationship between improvisation and the underlying melody. We are asked to identify the option that, if true, most weakens this argument.

A. This option does not weaken the argument; it presents a criterion that might be used to classify music as jazz, which doesn't address the relationship between melody and improvisation. 


B. Even if later music with improvisation was influenced by early jazz, this does not address the argument's specific claim about the relationship between improvisation and the melody. 


C. The past careers of the artists performing the music are irrelevant to the argument about how the music should be classified based on its melodic structure and improvisation. 


D. The presence of improvisation in many types of music does not directly weaken the argument about how jazz should be classified based on how closely improvisation adheres to the melody. 


E. (Correct Response) If the later music with improvisation has much more in common with early jazz than with any other type of music, this directly challenges the argument's criterion for jazz classification. It suggests that a close relationship to early jazz characteristics, including potentially its melodic base, might be a stronger basis for classification than the degree of deviation in improvisation.

The statement that most weakens the argument is option E, as it contradicts the premise that straying far from the melody disqualifies music from being classified as jazz. If later music is very similar to early jazz, then the degree of improvisational departure from the melody might not be a valid criterion for its classification.

bottom of page