Performers vs Teachers

cbwim

John Jorgensen is one of the top teachers and players in my mind. As to performing I saw him perform a note by note perfect rendition of Minor Swing as recorded by Django (the one where somebody says "Oh Ya" at the end). I don't know of any other performers who have done that. His teaching is clear and lucid, and easy to follow.

Scoredog

While I am aware John is from a family of music educators I was unaware he taught privately.

TheHotClubofLickMyAxe

Jazzaferri wrote: »

All the teachers I have had have all concentrated on technical matters."

Could this be because maybe none of them were actually gypsy, and because they learnt themselves this music from an outsider's view?

"Music is found in the spaces between the notes."

Yeeeeeeesssss... for what we know this was first expressed by French composer Debussy, and also widely known to have been expressed by Miles Davis.
A great illustration of this in Miles's music could be Blue In Green, his 3 notes opening, E, D, C followed by...nothing...gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

"I like to play a phrase several different ways with different articulations and try to figure out which one says what, which one seems to be more to my liking or has more impact on me."

Sounds to me like you are doing the right thing in your practice.

TheHotClubofLickMyAxe

@Bones

Thank you for sharing all of that. Lot of interesting points here.

I would definitely say that a great teacher can only express its true potential through an harmonious relation with a great student.

As for the time of practice... if that makes it any easier on you, I'd say that the worst advice I was ever given, was at the conservatory of music, where I was told to practice 8 hours a day, which I did for too long... this was a major mistake.

The most important is the quality of your practice, not its duration. Very few musicians can practice 8 hours and get full benefices out of it. I even heard Bireli saying in an interview that sometimes he doesn't playa note for 3 weeks and feel great about it.

I don't believe in working hard. I believe in working smart. It is also so much easier to continue having fun with music in this process.

I'm not gonna go deeper on this subject as I think that quality practice is an other subject that deserves its own conversation.

"we can and still have fun, learn, and come up with their own ideas."

I am glad to read this, and I wish these could become common goals for more people.

Keep up the good work.

vanmalmsteen

DS
Christiaan gets right to it. And it’s useful vocabulary stuff, minimal theory. I get a lot mileage out of the lines that he throws out.

Bones

DS, yes I'm sure that Bireli can get away with not practicing these days but I personally saw him in a masterclass and other interviews where he said he literally was in his room as a child for like 10 hours a day with Django records and the guitar on his lap. I think that is also true for a lot of other great players. Having talent and starting young helps too but I'm sure they all put way more hours in the shed than most of us will ever have the 'free' time for. That's not to say we can't have fun with whatever we have the time and ability to do.

That said, yes I agree that quality time is just as important. Watching Netflix while practicing scales mindlessly up and down is probably not worth while for example.

vanmalmsteen

Hey Bones
How did you know about my Netflix guitar workout! LoL

TheHotClubofLickMyAxe

vanmalmsteen wrote: »

DS
Christiaan gets right to it. And it’s useful vocabulary stuff, minimal theory. I get a lot mileage out of the lines that he throws out.

VM. Glad to read that, and I hope C. continues to inspire more musicians out there.

I have only seen one video from this instructor which was about 30 minutes long. Hearing what you just said, I am sure he must demonstrate the straight forward approach you described somewhere else. I just can't tell for what I've seen or heard.

TheHotClubofLickMyAxe

Bones wrote: »

I personally saw him in a masterclass and other interviews where he said he literally was in his room as a child for like 10 hours a day with Django records and the guitar on his lap"

That makes sense, I've heard that too. I think what matters the most in this anecdote is to outline the fact that Bireli (for instance):

-Started at a very young age but most importantly...

-Was on "the right track" from the beginning, meaning that the countless hours he spent on the instrument were all dedicated to a vision inspired directly by Django.

His practice was strongly focused at a very young age.

Scoredog

vanmalmsteen wrote: »

Hey Bones
How did you know about my Netflix guitar workout! LoL

The next level up is a Netflix movie in mandarin with subtitles.