Re: [Harp-L] A Music Lesson to PONDER

[Bob Cohen <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jul 26, 2011, at 3:26 PM, Joseph Leone wrote:

> We learn to walk. We don't need a book, a lesson plan, or mathematics. There are no 5ths, 7ths, diminished. Someone holds us up a little and we do it. We learn to talk. We listen to others. First babbling. Eventually we too make sense. So, put in the road time. Say what you feel. Some people have something to say, some don't. Like Mr. Baker said in his interview. To paraphrase: Some very accomplished technicians have nothing to say while some regular average people do. Learn to communicate. You don't have to be William F. Buckley jr. 

You're right Joe, except you're not accounting for environment.  I rather suspect William F. Buckley's kids speak very differently than the kids who grew up households with less educated parents.  Can they both get a coke at McDonalds?  Sure.  

If you notice, Victor Wooten grew up in a household with many musicians.  He started his instrument as a kid and received input from people educated in music.  The rest of us need to be educated in other ways to become competent musicians.  

Advocating the "anti-intellectual" route is like saying the many smart scientists who followed Albert Einstein should have drawn the theory of relativity out of thin air before going further.  Why reinvent the wheel?

Obviously, practicing technique and learning theory for its own sake are creative dead ends but in my opinion, it's a mistake to avoid both in their entirety.

Bob