Building Blocks Of Musical Study

Building Blocks Of Musical Training. No matter what musical tradition you train in, there is a logical sequence to developing your skills: 1) Learn the basic techniques of your instrument, 2) Learn existing material, 3) Develop your own style. This sequence is just the way humans learn things in general. You have to crawl before you walk, etc. Within this sequence of learning there are a lot of different possible paths to take. Some musical traditions emphasize one path over another, some are more rigid than others. High art traditions (schools of training that are very formal) tend to have rigidly prescribed ways to learn, tend to be conservative and discourage innovation or incorporation of new material. European art music, Indian classical music, Japanese traditional music, these are all examples of such formal high art traditions. They are tough traditions, elitist, conservative, but they produce high caliber musicians. Folk music traditions are often contrasted with high art traditions, because it is easy to see major differences. Folk music is taught less formally, usually orally and passed from the older generations to the younger, in social or family situations. There is greater room for part-time, amateur, and individualistic participation in these traditions, so they seem less rigid. But they can produce highly skilled practitioners. Folk music traditions may be more inclusive, but they still have their building blocks, and if an individual invests time and concentration into these building blocks, the result can be highly skilled and artistically deep music. The jazz tradition occupies a unique place in music, I think because it defies definition as a particular type of music. It has characteristics of folk, popular and high art music. It is American, but it is international. Structurally it is linked to traditional African music, but it is also so adaptable that it draws from musical traditions around the world and through the years. But, like every music, it has its building blocks. Let’s look at some specific building blocks. Music can be broken into 4 basic elements: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Timbre/Tone. Different traditions approach these 4 elements differentally. For example, many traditions have only incidental harmony, rather than functional harmony. Some traditions have a very narrow range for acceptable timbre, while others have a broader range. In the European tradition, students learn basic musical skills by practicing scales and arpeggios. These are your building blocks. Once you have the basic elements, you expand them into increasingly complex combinations of patterns. Look at any music method book and you can see this learning sequence laid out. It is logical and it works. But there is another way of thinking about music, and by extension, about life. Learning isn’t merely linear; you don’t just start with simple things and get increasingly complex. Learning is also cyclical. As your knowledge deepens, you gain greater perspective and this influences how you see all music, from the simple to the complex. Thus, you can go back and see the building blocks in new ways, appreciate the possibilities inherent in them in ways that you previously didn’t. I think it is important to emphasize this view of music, and life, because it will make you a more complete musician and human being. Here’s one example: We learn basic music intervals, like a major third, a perfect fourth, and so on. We train our ears to recognize these intervals. Then we can recognize combinations of these intervals which create basic harmonies, major and minor triads, diminished chords, and so on. As we create more extended chords,

with 5 and 6 notes in them, the sound gets thicker, more ambiguous. A jazz pianist hits a complex chord, and we say “Oh, that’s C7 with a flat 13,” or something. But the chord itself is still made up of basic intervals, 3rds and 4ths, and if we listen a certain way, our ears can hear those basic building blocks at the same time as we hear the thick totality of the chord. It is possible to hear the simple components within the complex totality. Likewise it is possible to hear the complex possibilities implicit in simple building blocks. This keeps music fresh, and keeps our outlook on life fresh. Building blocks don’t have to be heard as unchanging, static and formulaic. Of course, they can be used that way, and a lot of the time they are, to produce formulaic music. Music made this way is similar to the other things we surround ourselves with: cubicle offices, fast food huts, treeless parking lots; functional but so much less than they could be. Listen to the musical building blocks in new ways. Your other senses will thank you.