March 14, 3-9pm at Esplanade… Watching Non-Classical Stuff

I went to Esplanade with my friend yesterday. We wander around to see some free jazz and punk stuff from 3.30 to around 9pm. [Errmm mostly jazz actually.]

Errmm so…  I was, kind of, doing my auntie’s request:

Learn jazz. Find a friend.

[Or something similar.]

What did I find? What did I find?

The first 2 hours were just like career planning lectures.

That time were 2 talks with famous jazz bands in the library. They were, um, interviewed in front of people about how they get along together for a long time until now–and how they are successful, of course.

The answer was, I think, totally similar to one of psychology lectures that I atttend in university. And… oh no… the thing that I didn’t believe is commonly experienced by those bands!

The chemistry is not there.

[My friend said that this means if the chemistry is there, they don't have to 'count' but they can be together.]

This sounds similar to an instructor’s saying to some 2 pianos players in a master class:

You hate each other.

Those two things are actually similar to value incongruence,which can affect mental health. According to the psychology lectures that I’ve attended, value incongruence results in “incompatible decisions, lower satisfaction and commitment, and increased stress and turrnover” (Kant, 2007).

I used to disbelieve such thing because my very first [piano] partner was ok, and that time I did not care about relationship between people. Then… um… this year I experienced a team work that was, kind of, so uncomfortable that I couldn’t explain. So, now I believe it.

It took time for me to appreciate jazz. [No, I'm not saying that I don't like it.]

I found that classical and jazz [I'm talking about improvisation] music are somewhat different, in terms of predictability and structure.

The practice habits are different.

Classical:

Solo:

From the beginning to the end. Bit by bit. Practice problematic parts.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Perform from the begining to the end, as correct as possible.

Group:

somewhat similar but + listening.

 

Jazz [improvisation]:

Solo:

Chords. Progression. Techniques used during progression. Combine.
Repeat, but try something different. Repeat, but try something different. Repeat, but try something different. Repeat, but try something different. Repeat, but try something different.
Improvise a song [get the motives, the rest... just play].

Band:

somewhat similar but + listening.

—————–

I personally like very clear, simple structure that enables me to memorize all the stuff. I can’t bear the frustration of sight reading and hearing unpredictable tones. [Note: this is a very subjective matter!]

Hmm… so… if I make jazz sound predictable and well-structured, I’ll be able to like it. Or, in best case, I may start to learn it.

Learn it. Hmm… it sounds impossible for me. During my teenage years, I was strongly educated like this:

You have to learn as much as possible. Later, you will be tested materials exactly about those. If you learn materials beyond the teacher’s expectation, you can get good result in the future.

They can get A easily because they have learn it before.

This sounds like everything can be retrieved from ‘history’. Yes, that can be true, but I interpret it as…

Get everything from the past. Use as little imagination as possible during the test. It is faster that way.

… rather than…

Learn everything from the past. Later if there are unexpected problems, create some variations from it to get them solved.

So.. My interpretation somewhat fits with learning classical music. If I am to learn improvisation, I will view it the same way. It seems like I’ll never make improvisation; I’ll memorize instead.

 

Punk.. Wow! How did people watch that close to the performers like nothing was happened?

I [and my friend] were watching at the back and… uh oh… I felt my ears getting weird. The punk was good but it was just too strong for my ears. Sorry…

 

So… did I fulfill my auntie’s request?

Yes =P

 

One thing that bugs me…

I like jazz composition more than jazz improvisation. I guess I really like clear and predictable structure. [So... Genre doesn't affect that much.]

o_O