tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post3899328284299586984..comments2023-12-21T03:13:11.317-08:00Comments on jazztruth: Thoughts On Sight Reading and So ForthGeorge Colliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277569607502834278noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-47865217037998602012012-07-13T18:57:16.444-07:002012-07-13T18:57:16.444-07:00Regarding "4. Look as far ahead as you can wh...Regarding "4. Look as far ahead as you can while you play." When I was at San Diego State I witnessed one of the most incredible exhibitions in sight-reading I have ever seen, possibly on par with Geroge's experience with Kenny Drew Jr. Dr. David Ward-Steinman (a former composition student of Nadia Boulanger) challenged some of the faculty to try and stump him with some piano sight-reading. Tom Stauffer brought up some ridiculous new piece and Ward-Steinman just crushed it out of the ballpark. Not only that, Ward-Steinman was nodding his head to the page turner nearly a page ahead of the where he was at in playing the music. This guy could memorize nearly a full page of music ahead of time and play it flawlessly. Now THAT is robotic.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10236110832790072600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-969777356841286142012-05-15T05:52:47.574-07:002012-05-15T05:52:47.574-07:00Great advice as well as thought and chuckle-provok...Great advice as well as thought and chuckle-provoking insights, thank you!Andrewhttp://clefpalette.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-12959350010587711342012-05-12T19:33:17.524-07:002012-05-12T19:33:17.524-07:00Good post - I think the 6 points George has listed...Good post - I think the 6 points George has listed are right on the money. For interest's sake here's a couple of anecdotes about classical musicians and memorizing. In a doco on Richter I think called "The Enigma", he claims so have learned and memorized the entire Well Tempered Clavier Book 2 in a month.... In a book I read by Yehudi Menuhin, he recalled an incident when he was at the home of Georges Enesco his violin teacher. Ravel dropped by to get Enesco to try out a new piece. After he had sight read it through, Ravel expressed his satisfaction with how well Enesco had done and prepared to leave. Enesco said "No wait, let's do it again" and then played it flawlessly without the music!Timothy Bruernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-40542971473461386962012-05-12T09:14:22.334-07:002012-05-12T09:14:22.334-07:00ha ha Paul, you "remembered" that! Hope ...ha ha Paul, you "remembered" that! Hope you are doing wellGeorge Colliganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11277569607502834278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-39112823980226770012012-05-12T03:30:18.528-07:002012-05-12T03:30:18.528-07:00Good post, George. This reminds me of a few things...Good post, George. This reminds me of a few things. A trombone teacher that I knew in college had a story about playing in an orchestra that was accompanying the Moody Blues on a concert (they were performing the album "Days of Future Passed"). The percussionist who had to play a gong part was stressing out every time he read his music to make sure he came in at the right place. The trombone player and I laughed--"Why didn't he just listen to the record?" we thought.<br /><br />When I was in college I played in a Steel Drum Band, and at one point we had a visiting artist who led the band for a week or two (the great pan player and builder, Cliff Alexis). After we had been rehearsing for a few days, Cliff insisted (in fairly colorful language) that we dispense with our sheet music and play the tunes from memory. At first this was tough, but it showed us how much we were using the sheet music as a crutch; in reality, most of us found that we had about 80-90% of the tunes memorized anyway, so it took surprisingly little effort to memorize the remaining 10-20%.<br />Last story--I remember reading an interview with Fred Below, the great Chicago blues drummer, in which he talked about playing a festival in Europe in the 60's or 70's. A musical director for one of the groups handed out music to everyone except him, assuming (either because he was a blues musician, a drummer, or an African-American, or perhaps because he was all three) that he didn't know how to read music. Below actually had studied at the Roy Knapp School of Percussion in Chicago (in the 1940s), and was a trained percussionist, so he was none too happy with people automatically assuming that he didn't know how to read!Ed Piercehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16660513977428598030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-30713043105837672402012-05-11T16:14:29.319-07:002012-05-11T16:14:29.319-07:00PS- I admit to acting pretty goofy in this video, ...PS- I admit to acting pretty goofy in this video, but here's a transcribed, difficult piece. I didn't even finish learning it before posting, but I wanted to show the warts in the process. I listened to the original a few times, then played this- an unfamiliar style on an unfamiliar instrument, and technically challenging as well. There's no sheet music involved in any part of it. http://youtu.be/3CSwyP0cfgcUriahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712276653585239001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-10702971730581633512012-05-11T16:07:01.675-07:002012-05-11T16:07:01.675-07:00I'm not nearly as good of a writer as Jazz Tru...I'm not nearly as good of a writer as Jazz Truth here, but here's my take: It def. wont hurt you as a tool in making music (creating or performing), but realize that it's just ONE tool, and your musical path may not use it. If your success rely's on reading, then you gotta do it. This means you also have to define "Success". <br />My 2¢ below (sorry, it's in a long jpg image). And remember... Stevie can't read. :-) <br /><br />http://www.uriahduffy.com/graphics/EricReadingEmail.jpgUriahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02712276653585239001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-58822080199119052462012-05-11T14:45:27.005-07:002012-05-11T14:45:27.005-07:00Music must be one of the few fields in which memor...Music must be one of the few fields in which memorization is valued. When I was working on my master's degree I had to take an education theory course. "Memorization" was a really bad word there. They want to promote "active learning" and in that debate, "memorization" becomes a byword for "inactive learning." As a musician, I had to disagree, but everyone else in the class (non-musicians) thought I was crazy. It was a very frustrating experience. Memorization can be some of the most active learning there is in the right context.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-1175085639075270832012-05-11T11:28:35.770-07:002012-05-11T11:28:35.770-07:00George, this is great advice for younger AND older...George, this is great advice for younger AND older players alike. And I'm in a similar position to yours. How do you find time to practice everything when balancing a teaching gig, being a Dad, and everything else that finds its way in. I am thankful that I found hours and hours per day to practice when I was younger. Don't know how long those residual benefits will last though.<br /><br />By the way, were you the same George Colligan who played in Mark Miralta's Jazz/Flamenco Reunion? I caught a show of that band in Barcelona by chance and was BLOWN AWAY! 12 years later, that show sticks with me!Jeremy Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17380889907156481296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-86619831130480505652012-05-11T08:45:59.030-07:002012-05-11T08:45:59.030-07:00The anecdote about the U of M student sounds a lit...The anecdote about the U of M student sounds a little familiar...Paul Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-88118046667010710402012-05-11T05:55:46.809-07:002012-05-11T05:55:46.809-07:00nice article .george.
interesting about kenny gr...nice article .george. <br />interesting about kenny grew. i never knew that<br />AAlexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02843256836490168735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-21538254688805428362012-05-11T03:52:01.961-07:002012-05-11T03:52:01.961-07:00Good thoughts! All these skills--ear, memory, read...Good thoughts! All these skills--ear, memory, reading--are so important, but like everything else in life, we tend to "practice" the things we're already inclined to be good at. It's really hard (meaning: unpleasant) to spend focused time on addressing weaknesses...but hey, at least we all know we'll never run out of things to work on. Unless, of course, you're Alex Norris and kind of do it all without even flinching...lol.Sandy Asirvathamhttp://www.sandyasirvatham.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1713397068832099475.post-49380393862911915872012-05-11T02:49:52.583-07:002012-05-11T02:49:52.583-07:00great practical advice!great practical advice!Heather Cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08481095228503049235noreply@blogger.com