Originally Posted by
Mark Kleinhaut
Thanks for dialing in and for your feedback. When you’re new to jazz, or any genre for that matter, you really have a mountain of material to climb and so much to absorb. There’s a tendency among jazz educators to push the dogma that you must master the forms and repertoire, learn the vocabulary BEFORE you go off on your own with these kinds of experiments. They may insist this is a distraction from your musical education, takes time away from “real” practicing and won’t help you reach your goals. I’ve heard it called wanking, self-indulgence, fucking around and any number of things. Now, I’ve been playing for more than 50 years, have a music degree from Rutgers, know hundreds of jazz standards by heart and can play them in any key, but I’ve ALWAYS incorporated this sort of Freeform work into my practice time since the very beginning. Always on parallel tracks with formal study and always as a way to connect with the inner voice, the sound, inspiration and very motivation for playing. My best advice is to always question authority and pay attention to what feels right for you.
Grant Green, What is This Thing
Today, 01:59 PM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading