Jazz tap is a dance form that was first developed in African American communities. Jazz tap was heavily influenced by jazz music, which became widely popular in the United States in the 1920s. Tap dancers were inspired by jazz music’s quick rhythms and by the way jazz musicians would make up melodies as they played. As jazz music continued to develop in the 1930s and 1940s, jazz tap evolved with it. Because of jazz music’s influence, jazz tap quickly developed into a dance form that was very different from earlier kinds of tap dance.