Would you bi tonality? Or aren't you even bi-curious??
Thomas Anfield has the lowdown, and the high up:
Thomas Anfield has the lowdown, and the high up:
-
-
Sounds easy enough - I think I'll have a go. Now where are them black keys he's talking about.
My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson) -
Very disappointed - that wasn't much help.Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostWould you bi tonality? Or aren't you even bi-curious??
Thomas Anfield has the lowdown, and the high up:
Maybe by the end of this course I'll be another Billie Taylor, Thelonious Monk or Billy Mayerl.
My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
-
Comment
-
Pianorak
Shocked to see that the piano course you have kinked to is organised by the Raging Inferno, well known around these parts albeit not too fondly!
I see that Herbie Hancock has been advertising on line lessons , a series of "masterclasses" that also include other subjects my leaders in their field. I have not signed up to this ( a bit pointless if you don't play an instrument anymore!) but I wondered if anyone had subscribed and what the feedback was like. I think it would be difficult to find a more talented and genial teacher than Herbie.
I have always wondered how jazz musicians taught their instruments, especially pianists. There are plenty of examples and I must admit that I have always been keen to learn what Andree Hill learned from studying with Earl Hines - probably the most intriguing master and pupil relationship I have come across. However, there are examples of this right back into the 1920s and I would be fascinated to find out just how ideas and theories were disseminated when the music first evolved. It is fascinating to consider that there were books in "jazz orchestration" being written as early as about 1924, this being a time when Paul Whiteman first started and prior to the likes of Henderson, Redman and Ellington creating their first arrangements.
Incidentally, my piano teacher used to belong to the Billy Mayerl school back in the 1930s when he was getting in to jazz. It was very interesting to hear his comments because he never considered Mayerl as a jazz musician even if he recognised his forwarding of ideas. Thankfully, Bud Powell eventually became a stronger influence upon his playing!Comment
-
Ian - that's quite funny. Any more laid-back and he'd be comatose! :-) I hadn't been looking for jazz lessons but just chanced across this and curiosity got the better of me.My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
-
My mother (born Middlesbrough 1905) learned Mayerl's well-known ragtime novelty piece Kitten on the Keys in the 1920s, and told me that "even here" (my words not hers) Whiteman's term "symphonic jazz" was common language in the late 1920s.Originally posted by Ian Thumwood View PostComment
-
-
From my experience, the teachers I had varied from an amateur who didn't help much to a "professional" teacher at school who hated jazz and inspired me from the ages of about 11-14 to detest music. Some more orthodox music teachers are absolute scum and whenever I recall my teacher, I am always inclined to think just how many others she put off music. She was easily the very worst kind of teacher and her narrow-mindedness was a marked contrast with others at my school who had enthusiasm for all kinds of music making. Were it not for libel laws, she deserved to be outed for the piece of **** she was. In the end, I got my encouragement from an English teacher as opposed to the music teacher.Originally posted by CGR View Post
Latterly, I studied jazz piano with a bloke called Monty Worlock between about 1990 and 2000. Locally he was a legend, not only insofar that he tended to get the piano gig with musicians like Joe Harriott when he played Southampton but also because if his writing which was done for a wide range of groups from NYJO through to Digby Fairweather. I would have to say that his views were always controversial but I found his advice really useful and his prejudices did influence me. For example, he totally put me off Mozart (because "he only had about two ideas") and made me a bit sceptical of Beethoven's piano work too. The method of teaching was interesting because I was not allowed to play any jazz until I was proficient in scales and could sight read by way through Bach preludes and fugues. Once I improved my technique, I then got to playing jazz and being taught how to use my ears to hear intervals. In the end I ended up having a more enquiring mind about music but developed a distasteful opinion of "establishment" whenever it manifested itself in music. He was often provocative and I think Monty' s opinions had a massive influence on me. I improved when I studied with him but there is no doubt that my "jazz teacher" was far, far superior to the "classical one." He himself was a pupil of one of Lizst's pupils and knew both George Shearing and Colin Davis was he was a Guildhall. It is intriguing that his generation of players ( basically be-bop) had to "find" the music for themselves from records.
The big problem with music education is that it follows a "system" or curriculum. It is probably better to learn how to follow your own route into music whereas I feel Classical teachers have a set agenda and discourage anything that falls outside of this. Although I no longer play these days, I wish I had started with a teacher like Monty Worlock and not had my enthusiasm curbed my the poisoned attitude of the teacher at my comprehensive.
On the subject of Billy Mayerl, the tune "Kitten on the keys" actually predates him and was composed by the American pianist Zez Confrey around 1921. However, it still is not jazz.Comment
-
Yes you're quite right Ian - excuse my "senior moment" there!Originally posted by Ian Thumwood View Post
Comment
-
.....................next lesson - left hand plays blues, right hand soul???.................Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostWould you bi tonality? Or aren't you even bi-curious??
Thomas Anfield has the lowdown, and the high up:
Comment
-
How to play jazz , or not......
This review makes an interesting read.Comment
-
How depressing! Tears before breakfast? :-)Originally posted by Ian Thumwood View PostHow to play jazz , or not......
This review makes an interesting read.My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
-
One answer to the question: how helpful are you being by writing a review of something you don't like (or understand)?Originally posted by Pianorak View PostComment
-
Not helpful at all. But than I wasn't writing a review (which indeed I couldn't), just giving my spontaneous impression before breakfast.Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostMy life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
Comment