[Dixielandjazz] Students in Jazz Schools

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Jim:


-----Original Message-----
From: jobriant at garlic.com
To: tcashwigg at aol.com
Sent: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 10:03 PM
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Students in Jazz Schools

  tcashwigg at aol.com wrote:

> ... Does that mean that ALL Music teachers are
> bad or idiots ? certainly not, but far too many
> of them have taken the easy road out by becoming
> teachers ...

And you think that's an EASY road??????

As a matter of fact I do especially compared with starting, operating 
and marketing a successful band full of those types. :))

> ... rather than striking out and actually trying
> to make a living as a Professional Gigging musician. ...

And you think that one of those roads is innately inferior to the 
other?
Why?

Yes, because of the often lack of real experience as a Performing 
musician, many of whom can't play without charts in front of them,

Jim , (in my opinion) they become machines and music technicians, and 
the DJML  & some Jazz schools  are  full of those kinds of players.


> ... Why because nobody ever taught them how to go
> find gigs or create them in the marketplace,  or even how to be a 
band member in a working band...

And so you believe that skill, which you happen to have and use

successfully, is more important or more valuable than the skill of 
imparting
knowledge and a love of learning in students?

Not entirely, however as it has been mentioned in this thread before I 
jumped into it, the Top performing Musicians of yesteryear taught the 
new ones on the GIGS and gave them practical experience.   And it has 
also now been eluded to in this thread again, that there are more ways 
then a classroom to learn Jazz.  I personally think there are better 
ways than the classrooms but again that is my opinion, I learned it on 
the streets and in the clubs and going out searching for what I never 
found in class.   I happen to come form that old school of hard knocks 
and find it very difficult to follow the direction of anyone telling me 
what to do if they have never done it themselves and know what they are 
teaching to be fact.

> ... therefore they went back and
> retreated into the Music education business ...

Many of the music teachers that I have met over my career were more 
intent upon getting a bunch of high school kids to play their
arrangements and "original compositions" at their semester's end to 
bolster their own egos.


Here's a radical thought. Perhaps they WANTED to be teachers rather 
than
full time gigging musicians.


I seriously doubt that to be the case with 99% of them, unless they 
come from that section of the class that NEVER PLAYED A LIVE GIG.
It also stems Jim, from so many of them having stage or career fright 
and the fear of failing, I have seen countless musicians shoot 
themselves in the foot over and over again and sabotage their careers 
time and time again just at the point of success.



I'm very new to the OKOM scene in California, and right off the top of 
my
head I can think of more than half a dozen music educators who are 
teaching
because they WANT to be teaching, but who are also very accomplished 
jazz
musicians. It should be obvious that some of their students will be 
less
accomplished players than others, but that certainly doesn't mean that 
the
teacher took the lazy way out or is incompetent or as a teacher or 
player.

I have several Music educators in my band Jim, and have watched them 
waste valuable time for many many years dreaming about being a full 
time professional players and touring and seeing the world, but would 
never give up that steady pay check from the school system to
do it even when the opportunity presented itself. What generally 
happens is that finally one sweet day when they get a retirement check 
they then want to launch a new Career as a Touring Professional Player 
and feel that their teaching credentials and resume should be
impressive enough to get them a top level job in a touring band. Sadly 
it rarely does, and I have watched many of them wither and die on the 
vine soon after retirement.

I happen to have a Father and son Teacher team in my band right now, 
and I will tell you the only reason the kid is in the band is because 
of his Dad who can play, but not only can't the kid play he was handed 
over his Dad's Professor of Jazz studies gig when his Dad retired
last year.  His Dad thinks he can play because he taught him, :)) but I 
have the tapes to prove otherwise :))

 God help the next generation.   He wants to teach them Hip Hop. :))



I suggest that you before you publicly criticize music educators as a 
class,
you try walking a few miles in their shoes.


I am not criticizing all music educators as a class, I am however 
criticizing the system and how it relates to teaching Jazz, These are 
certainly  not the only ones I have known, I was once also a member of 
the California Teachers Association for several years.   And I would 
suggest they try walking a few miles in my shoes.


I quit to go become a Professional Band leader and never looked back. 
Nobody taught me how to do it either, I had to go out there on my own 
and do it. And I am still doing it and hiring guys who couldn't ever do 
it or can't yet do it and I am not overly impressed with what I have 
seen coming out of the system in the past 30 years either.


Sorry if you are music educator, and I touched a nerve, you may well be 
one of those better ones, if you are then wonderful, but in my opinion 
you could very well be in the minority.



Cheers,


Tom

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