Paul Desmond, a master mind and wit: some thoughts for a New Year

A poet of the music, Paul Desmond was both self-deprecating and deeply insightful. This medley of quotes might tickle and provoke us…
“I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast… I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness”.
Regarding his tone:“I honestly don’t know! It has something to do with the fact that I play illegally.”
On why he changed his name: “Breitenfeld sounded too Irish.”

More seriously, Paul Desmond challenges students and teachers of the music: “Complexity can be a trap. You can have a ball developing a phrase, inverting it, playing it in different keys and times and all. But it’s really more introspective than communicative. Like a crossword puzzle compared to a poem.”
And most telling… “Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can’t be taught.”
Sadly his perception about the jazz audience appears to remain pretty much spot on…”Our basic audience begins with creaking elderly types of twenty-three and above.”

For more Paul Desmond, click here:
www.jazzquotations.com/2010/05/paul-desmond-quotes_24.html
thinkexist.com/quotes/paul_desmond/
www.gandalfe.net/paul_desmond.htm

For a transcription of Paul Desmond’s solo on “Samba with some Bar-B-Q” click here…

The Improvisational Brain – new article

Musicians and students are prone to a bit ranting as to how improvisation occurs and whether or not the analogy with language acquisition is appropriate. In supervising students’ (and their own) personal practice, teachers of improvisation can encounter blocks to progression and development, spending a lot of time untangling a student’s perception of their learning experience.

Those moments hit us all!

While Improvising is fun, once studied or practiced, it is my experience that inexperienced students and some seasoned musicians can mistake the sensations associated with play or the “flow state” with the slower and “creaky” mind that learns the initial stages of concrete skills. You  might say confusing the self-expressive state is confused with the learning state.

“Watching a musician in the throes of an improvisational solo can be like witnessing an act of divine intervention, but embedded memories and conspiring brain regions, scientists now believe, are the source of ad-hoc creativity” So suggests Amanda Rose Martinez … see her article in SEED MAGAZINE – click here.

I suggest that our experiences as students of improvisation will be easier if we undertstand the learning process, so thank you Ms Rose… but now the community of jazz educators will be well advised to consider precisely how the research can be applied to enhance schemes of work, learning strategies and practice in general – and to be fair, the findings of this research have been alluded to for at least 30 years through applied (as distinct to cognitive) psychology. This is where the work of figures such as Guy Claxton et al, George Odam and the tried and tested Inner Game authors is useful.

What’s stopping us?

The Curriculum – all that is taught and learnt…

The Curriculum – all that is taught and learnt…
Core and hidden…
Planned and received…
Formal and informal…

 

Can we have an informed debate please?

We find ourselves in an historic time when education is about to the redefined by the course of political determination, we would be well advised to be mindful of the purpose of education and how teaching and learning occurs. While the nature and content of learning experiences have already changed due to the technological revolution, for whatever reason and whatever political persuasion suits you or I, the presence and provision for a range of subjects and learning processes are possibly about to change through a course of action that will be described as progressive, radical, essential, urgent… or reactive, dangerous and without educational rationale – depending upon your perspective.

Would it not be prudent to be informed? Even if a radical reassessment is necessary, all parties would be better served through deep consideration and evidence-based understanding of the core issues. Vic Kelly understood the curriculum and engages us in a thorough consideration of the psychological, philosophical, political and operational drivers that form the learning culture of schools and colleges. Derived form a latin word referring to a race track, perhaps we should prefer curriculum is less of a race to acquire information, and more a consideration of “all that is taught and learnt”, built upon values as much as operational mechanics and transient values.

A.V.Kelly’s “The Curriculum: Theory and Practice” – click here.

Robert Duke – Why students don’t learn what we think we teach

I was fortunate enough to find this marvellous video at howtopractice.com (great resource) today. Robert Duke is Professor in Music and Human Learning at the University of Texas. This video/lecture could not be more important to all educators and all learners – click here if the video is not visible (and thank you to Cornell University for distributing their resources so freely).

Serious about practice? Do we really want to improve?

It seems that my work is mainly about helping students practice effectively. There’s not much to say except that if we are really serious, why not find out more about it!

Check out these indispensible web links for effective practice.
1) intentionalpractice.wordpress.com: Jonathan Harnum is a practicing musician (30+ years on trumpet, and others), and has published 3 previous music-related books. This site shares research from his current Ph.D research into practice.
2) www.howtopractice.com – website related to the above.
3) www.musiciansway.com/practice.shtml – excellent site about practice, related to the recent publication “The Musician’s Way”. See also this article about memorisation. musiciansway.com/blog/?p=2138

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe”. H. G. Wells

“Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe”, so said H. G. Wells.
Is Education no longer a human right, or a visible symptom of a mature society?

Do we want to see this?

In the face of impending and stringent cuts in education (as well as all public services), it is worth remembering that many people continue to believe that education is a human right, not a privilege:

“Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty... click here for more from the UNESCO website.

The UK Human Rights Act (1998) states:
Article 2
Right to education
“No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.” For more from the Office of Public Sector Information, click here…

For the galling face of corporate of education, see the Guardian on May 18th…click here…

See the Guardian, May 18th 2010

If you are interested in the value that great minds have placed on education, see some of these excerpts on this very accessible site, click here…

First, God created idiots. That was just for practice. Then He created school boards. Mark Twain

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. John Dewey

I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform. John Dewey

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it. Marion Wright Edelman

There is no greater crime than to stand between a man and his development; to take any law or institution and put it around him like a collar, and fasten it there, so that as he grows and enlarges, he presses against it till he suffocates and dies. Henry Ward Beecher

Remember that our nation’s first great leaders were also our first great scholars. John F Kennedy

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Thomas Jefferson

Education: a debt due from present to future generations. George Peabody

What are your favourite quotations about education?

Take the lid off jazz education

Take the lid of jazz education and what do you find? Thought provoking thoughts from Branford Marsalis….

Now there’s a debate brewing on Ronan Guilfoyle’s site. All jazz students and teachers should read this! Click here for Ronan, and here (for Branford’s original YouTube interview that sparked all of this).

What’s your view?

Jazz Education Research

Why research? In brief… The Jazz Education community possesses abundant subject matter, play-alongs and an unstoppable harvest of reissues and new music available through the internet. However, while educators are better resourced, informed discourse about teaching and learning is comparatively undeveloped. Click here for more… Jazz Education Research.

This will eventually replace www.simonpurcell.com

Hi…
Welcome to what will eventually become my main website. For now, you can still access everything (music, charts and learning resources at www.simonpurcell.com).
Cheerio
Simon