> Am I only one who think today's musicians are so excellent on things
> that can be taught in school or by books but not so much on things we
>
> have to explore ourselves?
I guess what is the correct meaning of this question. Anyway, there goes
my oppinion...
I think you're completely wrong (IMHO!!!!) on "today's musicians are so
excellent on things that can be taught in school or by books but not so
much on things we have to explore ourselves". Just a couple of examples.
Everyday we hear about "new sounds" or "new styles" or "new kinds of
music". Ok, most of them are neither new nor music at all, but some are.
What I really mean about new is not a radical change in the concept of
music (say change between "western classical music" to "early blues or
jazz") but new approaches to the "same" music we're used to listen to.
Surely grunge is not the better example, but it is a new approach of
some music which could be taugh but there's something new on it. A
better example could be new fussions between different kinds of music
which bring brand new kinds of music. I'd like you to listen to some
records from the label SECRET WORLD or some others with the same aim.
This last idea leds me to my second and most important subject of
discussion. I do believe that the problem is not that we're not as good
in new things (we gotta explore by ourselves) as in old things (taught
things) just because they're new, but because of LAZYNESS. If you've
ever played folk, you may know what I'm talking about. Those last years
we've been witnesses of a new boom of folk music (at least in Europe!).
Celtic music may be a very good example 'cause it's been a
whole-world-traded folk-music, but little communities (counties, nations
into states, etc) have been putting some dust off their old music pages,
re-making old instruments and gone out the street and played the music
which was played since the Baroque in pagan events. I do not play this
kind of music but got some friends which play in two groups, one of
Celtic Music and another one of Catalan Traditional Music. They play
really WELL, and they follow some other groups (do you know GWENDAL?,
surely you do) which also play those musics. So, this music is not
taught quite anywhere. Else, the writings of those musics are often
hidden in old libraries, and there are not much recordings of them. So
there's a huge work of investigation to get that sound out of your
Uillean Pipes (sorry if bad spelling) or your wheel-viola. But,
actually, there are very good players. The problem is, again, lazyness.
Is much easier playing partitures you can find in the shop around the
corner that beeing looking for a "lost" partiture for a year long. By
the way, not all taught music is easy to find. Just following the
example of Baroque, you should ask a Baroque trio (say wooden flute,
clavichord and viola-da-gamba) where did they get they partitures from
or how the hell they could adapt a concerto for orchestra to be played
with a trio. In most cases you'll be amazed!
And a last thing. I do love improvising and jamming with people I know.
And I've never been able to play with, say, a "classical-music-taught"
pianist: "sorry, I can't play what I cannot read". Come on, man! So what
do you call an excellent musician!!! Another thing I've found: "please,
would ya tell me if the fourth note of the third bar of the last part of
the second page of the first movement should be played with a short
vibrato or maybe should I trill it with the major second below?" Well,
surely the composer wrote some notes on how that note should be played,
but, what is then left for feeling? I guess that's the difference
between Karajan and some other creepy director/arranger or Michael
Brecker and me (well, among us there's also a HUUUUUGE difference of
technique and many other things which, to respect my own honor, won't be
told here...).
Well, to summarize:
Not everybody plays as excellent as we could think.
There are good people that plays good enough to be considered as
excellent and were not taught but
self-taught.
Lazyness and self-teaching have never been good friends.
Self-teaching is the essence of progress, but there's no effective
self-teaching without a good
basis (which gotta be learn previously).
Not everybody that plays "taught" music (as you called it) is lazy
just because of this (NO!!!).
Most of them surely like it. I just wouldn't like to be
misunderstood (and or flamed) when I play of
lazyness and lazy people. In Sociology, everybody is, in some
way, lazy because nobody asks
himself why do they put a foot in front of another in order to
walk and they don't do it another
way...
Well, I got something left to say but I just cannot remember it right
now.
So, as far, that's all.
Isma.