[HANASHIR:1649] Re: music theory

[Adrian A. Durlester <durleste...>]

Rich:

Although I agree with many of your points, I have to take exception to your
characterization of the state of contemporary Jewish music as "sedentary,
folkie, non-physical, non-exciting." Did you get to hear Bruce Benson? Yom
Hadash? Seth Glass?

What about the "world beat" style that Fran Avni is using on her new CD? Are
Craig Taubman's Disneyesque creations sedentary? Is Jess Gold non-physical?

Were you there to feel the raw power at the final closing kumsitz after the
closing program when Sam Glaser played almost an hour straight,
extemporaneously, never missing a beat and whipping the crowd into a frenzy
worthy of the most ecstatic chassidut gathering? Would you lump Sam's
original work into the "folksy" category?

And Debbie, with Yuri, Benny and Dassie - that ain't no ordinary campy-style
folk music anymore. HOWEVER-that women can take a two chord wonder, a guitar
and a room full of people and create miracles.

Lewandowski, Sulzer, et al wrote their music as if it was intended for
congregational singing. Didn't work out that way, did it? But people are
singing the campy folksie stuff in shul. Why? Because they identify it with
happy times in their lives-camp, NFTY gatherings, etc. It occupies a special
place in Jewish culture and American culture. And it has NOT outlived its
usefulness yet. There's plenty more music to be written in that style. We
haven't even begun to exhaust its potential. Like any popular style, some
people eventually get bored with it. So they push the envelope with
something new. But no reason to abandon the old.

What often gets in the way of Jewish musicians working together is not lack
of musical knowledge, it's ego. That is why I worked so hard to try and get
all these artists to work together at CAJE. And, by and large, I succeeded.

I, too, get frustrated by the simple folkie chord progressions. One of my
greatest weaknesses as a musician is that I tend to play more complex chord
progressions - and keeping it simple, which is often necessary, is hard.
Just ask Karen about that! But I am discovering a new found joy - similar to
the joy of simplicity I experienced during my years with a Dixieland band.
That constant challenge of playing the same simple chord progressions over
and over, with a flat 9 being about the most radical thing I could play, and
keeping it fresh and alive. It is possible-and frankly, it's harder.

I understand your passion. I applaud it. I have the same goals and
desires-to elevate the level of what we all do, to make it possible to all
work together, to create energy when we do so. But I am not so convinced as
you that music theory, and more complex playing are the path to that goal.

Perhaps my skill and technique make it easier for me to play with others.
But what I really use is gut instinct, intuition, feel, emotion, and gifts
from G-d. Because when I sit down at the keyboard to play, music theory and
all that knowledge disappear, as I focus my attention on playing G-d's
praises.

Adrian



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
shamash(dot)org]On
Behalf Of Rglauber (at) aol(dot)com
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 1998 9:15 PM
To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject: [HANASHIR:1646] Re: music theory


Karen D.

I thought that it was obvious that I was being facetious when I called
myself
Dr. Glauber, and said I taught at Julliard for 15 years.  I was just teasing
Adrian for his "don't mean to brag, but ......." comment.  It was strictly
for
laughs, I was certainly not trying to play "holier (and more theoretical)
than
thou".

In fact, the reason I have been pushing the theory end of the field is to
try
and make a contribution to the music side of "Jewish Music".   My particular
goal is to increase our ability to make music with one another.  What I have
seen in my own experience at CAJE, Hava Nashira etc, is that the majority of
"Jewish Musicians" aren't really able to play with one another or to learn
one
another's material with ease.

Yes it's true that most people can play along on the standard Friedman,
Klepper, Carlebach reportoire, but that is different than being able to
learn
tunes on the spot, and make real music on a professional or at least semi-
professional level.  It's not about one upmanship, it's about making music.

Adrian can play with anybody,  I can play with just about anybody, ditto
Carole Rivel,  ditto that mandolin player from Hava Nashira.  So what do
these
people have in common?  They understand music theory, and therefore they are
ready to communicate in a musical way.  And they are ready to serve all of
the
other reasons why we're in music education.

Yes to spirituality, yes to "creativity" and making music from your soul,
but
for heaven's sake let's raise the level of what we're doing as a group.

As long as I'm ranting, let me get it all out in one post.  When I heard the
totality of the music at CAJE 23, (not that I heard every note, mind you), I
felt a strange emotion.  I imagined that we were being observed by a group
of
gospel people, or latinos or black artists and I felt ashamed at the
sedentary, folkie, non-physical, non-exciting nature of our musical
expression.  This current phenomenon of taking t'fila and laying it over top
of simple folkie guitar progressions has become far too entrenched as our
predominant musical expression.  Where is the passion?  where is the rhythm?
where is the body?

So yeah, I am pushing a little music theory in the hopes that maybe next
time
some of us get together, we can actually create some energy as a group.

So
there....-------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Adrian A. Durlester  -  durleste (at) home(dot)com
http://members.home.net/durleste/
Student, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
Music Director, Congregation Micah, Nashville, TN
Home phone (615) 646-9788
Nextel cel-phone (615) 207-2661
You can page me from http://www.nextel.com
List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
shamash(dot)org
http://uahc.org/hanashir
Editor, Bim Bam (for Torah Aura Productions)
Evening Program Chair, CAJE 23 - San Antonio TX, Aug 9-13, 1998
http://www.caje.org
Alternate Email: aad (at) iname(dot)com  adriand (at) aol(dot)com