>Joey Goldstein writes:
>Richard Tabnik's post from a few days ago expressed sentiments that aren't
>heard enough in jazz educational institutions one of which (Mohawk College
>in Hamilton ON) I am a teacher at. I don't have time to say as much as I
>would like to right now but I will have more later this evening.
>
>There is nothing in Richard's post that I disagree with. He is correct that
>the emphasis from teachers is placed more on improvising over
>pre-determined chord progressions than on improvising around a melodic
>theme and that technique is stressed over feeling
>
>My problem as a teacher is that I really can't teach someone how to feel.
...This is part of the problem, I feel. What you are saying is that you
can't do something that you've never seen done or never experienced; but
you don't really seem to get what it is I'm saying. I don't claim that
Lennie taught anyone how to feel; but a great teacher will guide a student
to find their artistic feeling on their own, and a core method is singing
with, not analyzing, solos. this is my experience; I've tried both ways...
>I
>personally have never felt comfortable as someone else's spiritual mentor.
...I'm not talking about that either. I'm just talking about being the
best teacher *for the student* as possible! I would never imagine to be
someone's spiritual mentor, however...nor would I ever wish to grade
them...
>I try to stay away from philosophical approaches as a teacher but some
>philosophy is always unavoidable because music really is a branch of
>philosophy.
...The way one teaches is a result of one's philosophy, even if one's
philosophy. To me, in the 27 years that I've been studying jazz
improvising, I have been consciously checking out all the pedagogical
approaches/philosophies I could, wherever they were...books, schools,
magazines, etc.
I just always felt that, for me, Lennie had a whole different, and more
relevant, take on becoming an artist. BTW, I've never felt happy in a
school, and I've been in a few...Freedom of choice, right?
>Technique can be taught (at least by me) feeling can't (at
>least by me).
...The reason for that is that you have had no direct contact [study] with
someone who can. But feeling can't be taught per se; an artist stretches
out with their own feeling by coming into contact with the feeling of
another great artist [singing with solos...]; and technique is approached
in a much different and much more comprehensive way that gives the artist a
chance to really get in contact with the instrument!
BTW, Tristano had one of the greatest techniques ever! And he developed as
an artist over the course of his lifetime.
>I try to concentrate on what can be taught (at least by me).
...Well, that is your choice. But be open...I try to concentrate on
stretching out as an artist and a teacher...
>I've read some interviews with people who have studied with Lenny Tristano
>and they always say more about what they didn't talk about which is hip but
>these same students must have learned the technical material somewhere
>also.
...It is a mistake to assume that a few interviews can give you an
understanding of something. And yes, Lennie's scene stretched out with
material but not in a technical way. It transcended the typical 'chops'
scene. This is my experience after studying with Connie Crothers over 17
years.
>This type of teaching is only appropriate for a student who is real
>serious about being a jazz artist of the first order.
...I respectfully challenge that statement: I personally have worked with
students as young as 5 as well as adults. I know that Connie has students
that she has first showed middle C. People just get into something on many
different levels. For example, people study martial arts on many different
levels and they all get something from it, see?
While it is most certainly *not* the dispensing of a certain amount of
information in a restricted amount of time for the purpose of easy grading,
it is about the student:
1.] being taken seriously as an individual
2.] finding out what they love...self discovery, artistic awareness
and development.
3.] learning that fun is a potent learning force.
>A lot of my students
>have an interest in using jazz techniques to become better improvisers
>without necessarily becoming jazz musicians.
...Great music enriches the lives of those who hear it. I have had
students use the techniques and awareness in classical, rock... even there
lives!
>
>Regarding using melody as the starting point for thematic variation: I
>think that most good jazz players would agree that this is what *should* be
>going on. Ideally, the changes just serve as a backdrop for melodic
>exposition and create the setting whereby two or more instruments can
>automatically harmonize with each other.
...See, the problems with that is the "automatic" Why can't the musicians
really hear and respond on all musical levels? I don't want an automatic
scene on any level. And the harmony is *intrinsic* to the scene, not a mere
backdrop.
...Furthermore, the chordal scheme tends to be formulaic, while the melody
really tells the human story. It is not abstract and is loose! I know that
many struggle to play a solo.
Try this:
With a metronome on quarter notes, play the melody for a tune you dig like
"What is this Thing called love". Just relax into the melody, hearing and
feeling it for as long as you are into it every day. See what happens, but
let it happen.
BTW, a great way to learn a tune is to find a vocal version of it, Like
Sinatra and sing with that...
>
>Wouldn't it be interesting if a group of musicians devised a way to
>improvise using melodic development as the starting point and the harmony
>and form or lack of it arising out of the melodic interplay and
>developmental techniques being used? This might be part of what Ornette
>Coleman was/is trying to do but I don't know his music well.
...Actually, Tristano did this years before Ornette, recording it in 1949
after playing it in clubs and stretching out with it for years. I hope
you'll check out my web site for writings on this ...
The final unasked question is:
Can an institution allow what is best for the student?
I don't think it's impossible...
Thanks
>
>Regards
>
>Joey Goldstein
>Guitarist/Composer/Bandleader/Teacher
>joegold@idirect.com
>Check out:
>http://www.icom.ca/~freeflt/
Thanks for writing.
Keep in touch...
Best wishes for a happy life in a peaceful world.
Sincerely,
Richard Tabnik, Jazz Alto Saxophonist
e-mail: <rctabnik@inch.com>
WWW Page: <http://www.inch.com/~rctabnik>
"The jazz musician's function is to feel." -Lennie Tristano