Comments on: Two Kinds of Musical Minds http://iwassaying.net/2008/07/14/two-kinds-of-musical-minds/ Chatter, memories and rants. Don't stop me if you've heard this one before. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:53:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Mike Nichols http://iwassaying.net/2008/07/14/two-kinds-of-musical-minds/comment-page-1/#comment-407 Mike Nichols Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:24:27 +0000 http://iwassaying.net/?p=114#comment-407 Another difference between jazz and classical musicians is that classical musicians are "stuck" to the notes. They are taught that the notes on the printed page are sacrosanct, never to be changed, only interpreted. That really was a stumbling block for me when I was learning to improvise. I felt like I was doing something wrong by varying from the notes of the tune! There's quite a movement these days to teach classical musicians and kids training classically in the ways of jazz. It started with the Jazz Education section of the American String Teachers Association and spread from there. There are several method books; I used two of them in my teaching. The result is that there are quite a few fiddlers out there playing jazz! Another difference between jazz and classical musicians is that classical musicians are “stuck” to the notes. They are taught that the notes on the printed page are sacrosanct, never to be changed, only interpreted.

That really was a stumbling block for me when I was learning to improvise. I felt like I was doing something wrong by varying from the notes of the tune!

There’s quite a movement these days to teach classical musicians and kids training classically in the ways of jazz. It started with the Jazz Education section of the American String Teachers Association and spread from there. There are several method books; I used two of them in my teaching. The result is that there are quite a few fiddlers out there playing jazz!

]]>