Klarinet Archive - Posting 000334.txt from 1996/06

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Talent vs hard work
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996 10:11:08 -0400

On Fri, 21 Jun 1996, Neil Leupold wrote:

> concurred, and also offered an example in Charlie Parker, who he
> unabashedly admitted was *not* among the most _talented_ of his
> generation. Parker's rights among the legends of jazz were earned
> through ceaseless toils in the practice room and on the stage, learning,
> developing, experimenting, innovating.

It's very true that at one point in his career, Charlie Parker learned
the syntax and the technique of the music he played by spending
innumerable hours practicing. He had had an experience of trying to play
with some experienced jazz players, and had been jeered off the stage.
He reported that the drummer took the cymbal off its stand and threw it
at him when he started to play.

He stated that he only knew two tunes at that time, and he knew both of
them only in the key of F. At the time he had tried to play, the group
was playing "Body and Soul" in the key of Db. You can imagine what that
must have sounded like. He asked some of the musicians what he had to do
to learn to play better, and one of them tried to explain to him that
there were different keys, and that he couldn't play everything in the
key of F. Parker seems to have misinterpreted that advice to a degree,
and assumed that he had to learn to play many tunes, all of them in
_every_ key. So he did, by practicing many hours every day while playing
a summer engagement in the Ozark mountains. Since that time, jazz
musicians have been expected to be able to play a tune in any key.

Still, if Parker had not been willing to put in that extended period of
meticulous practice, he might have been just a potential musical genius
whose promise was never realized. There are probably many who have a
great deal of innate musical potential who never develop it for any one
of many reasons. But, the fact remains that Parker _was_ a musical
genius. He didn't gain his affinity for the sounds of music by extensive
practice, but he did develop his prodigious technique. He didn't gain
through practice the strong desire within his soul to play music, but he
did develop his hearing acuity.

So, my position remains the same - both talent and hard work are
required. No amount of time spent in a practice room can overcome a lack
of musical perception, and perhaps more to the point, a person without
such innate musicality won't be motivated to do that much practice.
Similarly, a great amount of musical talent won't be sufficient to allow
a person to succeed as well as a he/she might if the hard work of
learning music has not been done.

The only exception to this I have ever heard of would be Mozart.
Apparently, his level of talent and genius was such that he was able to
accomplish almost anything in music instantaneously. After all, he can't
really have had much time to spend a lot of hours in practice before
he began to compose his first symphony at the age of 6 - a work which is
still being performed today.

Ed Lacy
*****************************************************************
Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
*****************************************************************