> >Well I think they are essentially self taught.
> >
> >They may have a teacher for learning how to actually play their
> >instrument but I think that in general they are putting it all
> >together on their own as far being a jazz musician.
> >
> >On a sad note, I've witnessed the apparent loss of the ability of some
> >players when they finally got hooked into "jazz education".
> >
> >I think that the external pressure from teachers and their peers will
> >sometimes overwhelm them and they will start doing things "the right way".
> >
> >reed
> >
> >
> To clarify a bit....
>
> I think that the wiz kids learn from records (i.e. some form for
> transcribing) and they compose/improvise things without reference to
> "accpeptable" theory (i.e. they play things that sound good instead of
> being told to play in dorian mode).
>
> When you don't know that D dorian is what you play for Dmi7 , you are
> force to listen to a Dmi7 chord in the context where it appears and
> figure out something that sounds good against it.
>
This is a tricky area. I've had some really talented students over the
years, but it takes more than talent to excel in playing jazz. Just
because a kid figures out a solo on a record doesn't mean they are
prepared for the types of musical challenges they will face in the "real
world". The usual problem I've seen with self-taught wonderkind is that
they don't know how to relate what they do to such mundane tasks as
reading a chord chart and improvising over unfamiliar tunes. I imagine
this was less of a problem in earlier times, because there was a smaller
body of tunes that people played, and everybody knew them. Now it's much
more likely that folks will get together with a Real Book or some other
charts and play tunes at the gig with no rehearsal. In my experience
everyone but the most amazing ear players will have trouble playing
modern tunes without some study of theory and music reading.
The challenge is to come up with a way to teach the necessary theory
without displacing the valuable self-teaching that got the players to
where they are. School environments often subjugate kids to their
"method", or force the kids away in disgust, which may mean that they
will turn up their noses at any kind of formal learning.
-- Clay MooreWe are told that talent creates its own opportunities. Yet, it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents as well. -Bruce Lee