25 Jul
2005
25 Jul
'05
5:43 p.m.
On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:19 , Dave Phillips <dlphillips(a)woh.rr.com> sent:
Yeah, here's the scenario I envision - you give someone a guitar and say
"You
can't ask any questions about it from anyone who knows how to play, you can't
read your friendly Mel Bay chord book, you can't download tab from the
internet".
Then you sit back for a few years and wait for the poor schlep to become the
next Segovia. Everybody gets some training one way or the other.
Jay Vaughan wrote:
<snip>
i think, somewhat, that we're talking about
taking a computer and
turning it into a musical instrument.
Umm, that's exactly how I approach the thing. Ditto for guys like Paul
Lansky and a host of other musicians who use the computer to compose,
record, and produce music. Otherwise computers aren't really very
interesting things for me.
when was the last time you ever required someone
to read the manual
for their 6-string before they could play it? or their bass? or a
flute? or the violin?
They don't usually come with extensive manuals anyway, but at the first
lesson I do describe the instrument to the student so they know what to
ask for or say when they take it in for repairs or even a simple
restringing ("Which E string did you need replaced, sonny ?"). I don't
make them memorize the details, they'll "get it" if they stay with the
study.
sure, it takes skill to play an instrument.. but
its the doing that
makes the skill, not the reading.
users should
-never- be -required- to get trained before the
instrument will work. the instrument should work, by itself, by
default, anyway..
I'll speak here as a professional instrumental teacher.
The only context in which "the instrument should work, by itself"
applies is whether it's actually playable, i.e., it isn't a broken or
otherwise flawed or unplayable instrument.
The statement that "users should -never- be -required- to get trained
before the instrument will work" is too weird for me to comprehend. How
exactly does a guitar "work" by itself ? It can sit there, look good,
and do nothing, and that's all it can do before someone who knows how to
play it (i.e., they are trained, either by self or other) picks it up
and plays it.
Much of my discomfort for the "it should just
work" mantra comes from
knowing that it takes real effort to acquire any degree of performance
skill. I happen to like the fact that the arts are still non-democratic,
i.e., you *must* be able to put up, or you should shut up. Don't get me
wrong, I'm most happy that the arts are open for anyone's involvement,
and computers have made it possible for more people to try their hands
at making music *without having to master an instrument*.
I agree with both points. As I get older (and hopefully wiser :) I think
that it's a really good thing that someone with no mastery of an instrument can
make interesting music. Who knows, the greatest as yet unknown song writer in
the world may actually not know how to play anything. He/she may just hear it in
their head and use a computer to play it out.
Jan