Klarinet Archive - Posting 000180.txt from 1995/05

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fredj@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Improvisation
Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 23:28:46 -0400

Sal,
Don't get me wrong now. I never said that listening and learning
were not worthwhile. I just gave the benefit of my experience teaching
people to do jazz improv, which is that those methods are quite
inefficient when used as the chief pedagogical tool for learning to
improvise. If you didn't learn by a book, then bully for you (to use a
quaint English expression). Neither did I. But you probably would have
learned alot quicker had your teacher used my method of instruction. As
for later on, there comes a time when one must, of course, throw away all
the crutches and books and start making music. However, once again, let me
reiterate (now there's overkill for you) that we're talking basic
pedagogical method here, not advanced refinements; how to teach a
beginner to play Jazz. His ideas may not be great to start with but
that's not the point. Once he learns that he CAN improvise he will start
to explore the quality issue. Hope this clarifies my ideas for you. What
a nice, fun exchange of ideas. I much prefer this to "what mouthpiece
sounds 'darker'?"

Fred Jacobowitz

On Thu, 4 May 1995, Sal Lozano wrote:

> To:Fred Jacobowitz
>
> Thanks for responding to my statement. I still think listening to players,
> transcribing, playing through and emulating pharses or inflections is clearly
> a worthwhile process in learning improvisation.
>
> Finding phases that go with chord changes or even taking apart these phrases
> and using only part of them in a solo......telling a story through your horn.
> Learning tunes. I did'nt learn by a book. I learned and played with the
> greatest teachers of all time. The guys on the records. Listen to what they
> do and either copy it or play something like it. When you stand up to blow a
> solo, I don't think you will be able to refer to a book for any ideas on what
> goes where. It takes actual playing to have the ideas come out of your head.-
> Any responses?
> Sal Lozano
>