[Dixielandjazz] Music theory

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

I can't help but ask here folks:

Anybody know who Taught LOUIS  Armstrong and Buddy Bolden, Kid Ory, and 
Jelly Roll grammar and theory?

Or did they just learn it the same way they and their forefathers who 
gave us this music who by hearing it in bits and pieces and then just 
doing it ?   Enquiring minds want to know.

I know jazz musicians that can't even spell theory or grammar and yet 
they can play their asses off.

my worthless .02 worth again.

Who didn't have that music theory option available to me when I 
attended school, nobody was teaching it at my school.

Therefore I did not learn how to play music from a book but then again 
I didn't learn how to make love from a book either. :))

And I Love to play just as much as the next guy, "It's a Wonderful 
World Indeed"  oops there goes that pesky song a gain :))

Tom Wiggins,

-----Original Message-----
From: Edgerton, Paul A <paul.edgerton at eds.com>
To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:47:13 -0800
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Music theory

    Ken Gates asked, "Can any of you that play well enough to perform 
cite
an example of some aspect of music theory that has enabled you to raise
your skill level?  Especially in the area of improvisation."

Ken, if licks are the vocabulary of jazz, then theory is the grammar.
Skillful use of any language requires both mastery of a sufficient
working vocabulary and a grasp of the basic rules of grammar.

One place where a solid theoretical understanding can help is when
sight-reading changes to an unfamiliar song. For example, you might be
playing a solo spot in a big band chart you've never seen (or heard)
before.  The ability to read and instantly analyze written chord changes
could help get you through the treacherous changes big band writers
sometimes provide, where ears alone might not be enough.

If you want to be fully conversant in the language of jazz, you need to
know both the vocabulary and the grammar.

-- Paul Edgerton

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