Re: Should a Serious Mandolin Player Learn Classical?
JonZ often posts thought provoking questions but I'm not sure what he's getting at here. All he really said in his OP was if you're going to be any good at any genre of violin then you need classical training and learn "everything". If you're going to play mandolin, forgetaboutit.
Then he mentions Thile and Marshall and asks for thoughts thus provoking a interesting but convoluted discussion thread on the M/C, which is great. I like it. But JonZ never said anything. He's providing fodder for discussion.
I've never taking any training and play by ear and read tabs. All my learning is from watching others in real life or videos with the rare occasion gleaning something out of books. I play in a Contradance band and everyone is classically trained and reads music except me. In rehearsals I sit amazed in wonderment by 10 different people playing 10 different instruments, all taking a solo, and all playing each note exactly the same, note for note.
Then comes my turn.
I play the first time through "straight" just like them but, often, on the 2nd time through I improvise the melody slightly and sweeten it up. The first time doing this there were 10 people searching their sheet music desperately trying to figure out where I got those notes and where I was in the music.
I thought I did something wrong but started laughing when it came to me. They can't improvise. One of them tried a song or two later, got scared after ONE measure and went back to reading. She's a really talented violinist who is graduating the masters music program at the University of Houston. I know she got scared b/c we laughed about it afterwards.
One thing classical training doesn't do is teach improve.
I think we put too much emphasis on certifications and correct technique and this approach and that approach. To think one must have learned everything in every genre to be anything in one genre is absurd. B.B. King plays single notes. Elvis Presley was a bubblegum pop star. Lady GahGah actually knows piano and sings. Justin Bieber...err...makes my point even clearer that you don't have to know it all to make it professionally and to succeed and make money.
Although there is a world of competition out there, music shouldn't be about competition. The business of music is something else entirely. It should be about the art of expressing emotion through sound. Connection. Unicorns, puppy dogs and bunny rabbits.
So, now I'm rambling...
Originally Posted by
JonZ
It is interesting to compare pedagogy for mandolin and violin. As my son has encountered various violin teachers in many genres, it has been a constant that if you are going to be a serious player in any genre, you have to develop good classical technique. They all say, basically, keep your classical teacher, and add another teacher for the genre that interests you. Most recently, a pianist who is teaching him jazz theory said, "You have to learn everything: sight reading, theory, technique. The days of guys who just played by ear are pretty much over."
In mandolin, not so much.
On the other hand, you have people like Thiele and Marshall who appear to embody this "all encompassing" approach.
Thoughts?
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