Klarinet Archive - Posting 000190.txt from 1996/06

From: "Joie Canada , Jcanada713@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Jazz Clarinetisits?
Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 13:27:48 -0400

Dear Mike,

Yea verily--also see my reply on independent jazz playing by students.
School can't always provide everything to everybody and I admit I have been
away from high school long enough that things there have changed remarkably.

It always seems to me that the things one learns best are the things one
learns out of deep love and independent striving. It is one thing to
carefully fulfill ones teacher's requirements and another to struggle to
learn a new skill by watching and listening. They sure don't teach
skateboarding in school but just look at the beauty and grace of the kids and
their boards, which they mastered by their own determination, with help from
self-chosen mentors. A lot of jazz seems to me to be learned this way, and
while school is one place to get a set bunch of players together to learn, a
lot of music is grown in basements, garages and bedrooms with like-minded
young musicians listening to records, copying and then taking off on their
own. It's more work and more fun at the same time. Kids can surprise
themselves and their teachers with the amount they can learn in this way,
although they need to check in with a mentor to avoid bad habits.

Joie