[Dixielandjazz] MUSIC TEACHERS -- GIVE 'EM A BREAK

Tue Feb 7 12:10:39 PST 2006

Hi Pat:

I hear you mate:
and I understand your disagreement, however, here we DO have specialist 
teachers for almost everything, except the basic principles of 
education seem to be being glossed over rather quickly.  We are more 
intent upon putting a computer in front of every kid in the class room 
today than to teach them how to count and add and subtract.   Along 
with teaching him the fine art of playing sports which has long 
overshadowed and controlled the educational institutions here.   
Society has chosen ( or maybe it has just been forced upon them) a 
different path for their enjoyments of the ARTS no doubt.    Dancing on 
a football field is as important as dancing in the ballet and for most 
folks even more enjoyable,  I guess you could call it the ROCK AND ROLL 
OF BALLET.

Consequently we have several generations of them that can play video 
games that you and I can't even find the start button on, but most of 
them have no idea that you can't buy a  new Porsche or BMW  on a fast 
food clerks salary or that you can't have it repaired and pay $85.00 
dollars an hour for a mechanic to change the oil or fix it when it 
breaks.

No matter what they try to do in life after school they just can't make 
2 & 2 = 4   DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Nowhere in the working world of earning a living is this situation more 
visible than in the life of musicians, they have mostly never been 
taught the simple economics of our industry and there for many of them 
just run blindly thru life asking that one big question over and over 
again:   Can you Help Me ?    Can you help me get a gig ?  can you give 
me a lead sheet ?  Can I borrow your axe man?  I had to pawn mine to 
eat last month, and I haven't got a good paying gig yet to bail it out.

And then there is the big hit song !    "where have all the Good Gigs 
Gone?  Long time passing "

While I agree in principle that the teachers are there to provide the 
kids the tools. I do believe that the system fell far short by not 
actually showing and teaching them how to go out and find a way to 
actually use them and discover how valuable they were and why the hell 
they were being taught the subjects in the first place.

As I sight the words of a Paul Simon tune "All the Crap I learned in 
High School"  which translated to why did I have to study and learn all 
this totally useless stuff, when I could have been taught how to make a 
photograph and make a living :))

Now who was to know that there would be life and careers after sports 
players were too old or crippled up to play any longer, and that they 
could get great paying gigs as sports announcers,  humm I remember when 
they could only get jobs as Insurance salesmen and Car salesmen  :))   
But what is a dumb ass musician supposed supposed to do when all the 
Doctors and Lawyers, Politicians,  and other professionals get bored 
and go play music on their days off ( usually weekends)  I am not 
saying these guys should not be able to play music, but hell they 
should only be allowed to play on Mondays and Tuesdays  when all the 
professional musicians are not gigging and could come out and hear them 
or even sit in with them.  :))

I am simply saying that the system was flawed a long time ago and 
nobody fixed it's short comings and we just unleashed a few generations 
of kids into the world hodge podge with a basic attitude of we well 
taught them enough to satisfy our bosses and get our pay checks, let em 
go out and figure it out for themselves.   Well that back fired because 
they did not learn how to go about it and many of them took the only 
route left for them and that was to turn around and go teach what they 
had been taught to another generation or two.   Hence the saying those 
who can't or didn't go back and teach others how to do what they did 
not do or could not do, and once again History repeats itself.

It has long ago been proven that if you don't learn how to make a 
living then you certainly will not learn how to LIVE VERY WELL or long 
for that matter.   The best things in life may be Free but nobody is 
giving any of them to musicians.

In the olden days they gave the explorers supplies and money and ships 
and such to go exploring, but that is not usually an option for new 
graduates these days unless they happen to be born to the wealthy set 
who can afford to give them go have fun money and don't worry about it 
if you fail you will always get your trust fund so long as you don't 
embarrass the old man too much.

My contention is not with your idea about seeking out the specialist, 
but rather that they never gave that option to the musicians as if they 
did not believe anybody would want to pursue it as a career anyway, and 
perhaps they should all just enjoy it for arts sake, and that to make 
it art it really should be played by starving artists.

Going off to cut off one of me ears now :))

Cheers,

Tom huh? Wiggins

-----Original Message-----
From: pat ladd <pj.ladd at btinternet.com>
To: tcashwigg at aol.com
Cc: jazz <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 19:06:00 -0000
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] MUSIC TEACHERS -- GIVE 'EM A BREAK

    classes about how to go market your talent and services and earn a 
living>> 

 Hi Tom, 
    sorry , but I shall have to disagree with you there. I dont think 
that is what education is about. I remember a teacher at my school 
saying `You are not here to learn how to make a living. You are here to 
learn how to live` 

  School should give you the basic tools to open doors. Pushing on them 
and exploring what is in the next room is YOUR responsibilty.Teaching 
you to play an instrument to a certain level is the schools 
responsibilty. Introducing you to various sorts of music, again the 
schools job. Should you wish to learn composition, arranging, marketing 
if you will, become a world expert on Hadyn, or Armstrong, that is a 
specialists job, not that of a general musical education. 

 I would certainly agree with you that the system is breaking down. 
  I would deplore, as I am sure you would, an educational system which 
fails to provide pupils with basic numeracy and literacy and has not 
introduced them to the idea that there is a big world out there to 
explore. Our system in the UK at the moment is failing even in that. 
Employers are having to set up basic maths lessons for graduates before 
they can be put to work. The sort of stuff that everyone in my 
generation knew at the age of fourteen. 
  Luckily we do not have the added complication that a pupil is given 
passing marks because they can run/jump/play games etc.It doesn`t work 
that way here. 

 Musical content (Just). 

 Its a Wonderful World.... 

 Pat  

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