Category: Editions

It is because of the notes that aren’t depicted, that the context, choreography, and hierarchy of importance can be defined within the succinct clarity of a rigid diatonicism. A myriad of harmonic movements may be the ever changing sea that these notes might be undulating with, against; purposefully or by intuition or happenstance; afloat or…

The entirety of twelve-tone chromaticism is not represented within the harmonic series until the 25th ratio? This pitch is identified diatonically as the submediant, la’. or the relative minor in relation to the fundamental. This is, of course, if you consider the harmonic series’ seventh ratio to be a lowered 7th (not a raised 6th).…

There is only one type of Education; Self Education. We learn through Repetition. Memorization is Internalization. Coming to an Understanding is Always Innovative. Editions

People who “study” jazz often train within the confines of a canal…with locks, and protocol, and tolls, and predictability. and “necessary” engineered structures…run by uniformed “accredited” Lock Keepers; Canal Operator “pedagogues” raising and lowering boats with their gates and culverts. Or worse yet, within the false security of curricula, a philanthropic “play-along” commerce; float the…

In the beginning, the Quality of your Intention Objectifies your Developing Technique. Impartial Observation affords the opportunity to collect data from countless repetitions. Is it easier? Is my Vivid Aural Imagination coherently arresting my performance? Once an accurate technique is coordinated, then practice can commence. Editions

If you train like everyone else, you will sound like everyone else. Literacy. Technique. Artistry. aesthetic Editions

FAIL till you Make it. Never Fake Anything. Editions

“The body is simply the heavy part of the mind.” “If my background thoughts are, “Oh, this is really difficult, this is one of the most difficult studies in the world and double thirds are hard”, even if I’m not completely aware of that thought, maybe it’s an unconscious thought, maybe somebody’s told me, maybe…

Your students are not your students. They are students of the music. They don’t really need you, they need the music. They don’t need to understand you, they need to understand the music. They don’t need to understand your relationship with the music, they need to understand their own music. Stop calling them students. They…

A society that teaches to the test, gets what it deserves. The Arts are always a means to a BEGINNING; NOT an “entertaining” end… If you are not pursuing a lifetime of deepening literacy within the arts, you have missed the entire point… of EVERYTHING. Editions

The Experience of Tonic and Dominant can be Defined Melodically at a Very Early Stage of Musical Development, as it is innate to our hearing essence. FIRST: Teach how to hear the cadences of the major scale; not to read. Teach WITHOUT words; how to hear. Sing. Solfège. SONGS. They need to Encounter the Beauty…

On having to repeat a formula to obtain insight, coordination, and skill. Some musicians say that without constant repetition their art cannot be realized; believing not to be fully awakened, needing to repeat something constantly in order to be able to realize themselves. A caring teacher can be a guide, encouraging you through ways to…

You cannot “GRADE” artistic creation or aesthetic. You CANNOT accredit art… …unless you want to “produce” arrogant automatons who are subject to the ignorant subjections of, “The Board”. Editions

The Metric by which you are critiqued: All students should want feedback and critique. Your teacher is not an audience member. 1. I could not hear you,hearing your own music, in your own imagination. 2. This musical encounter has highlighted your own unique technical difficulties and challenges, that you have not yet solved. 3. You…

Learning Jazz 1) Play an album that makes you smile; one that really makes you genuinely happy. 2) Learn the melodies and solos. 3) Design your own melodies. 4) Play with the album. 5) Repeat 1-4. 6) Perform for an audience with true players. Editions