Re: Transcriptions

[Sylvie Braitman <curlySylvie...>]

Isn't it just like jazz?You've got a chart, a melody and chords. And the
rest is up to you. Everything can change, but you need to know what the tune
is, where do harmonies change and so on...and writting it is still the best
way to preserve it. Although it poses the threat to rigidify the music....
I think that the changes that do occur in a tune when it is not written are
in themselves a subject of studies. Why do people remember the tune this
way, and not another. What do we lose, or gain, by preserving material in a
written form?

Sylvie
 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Layman" <sandralayman (at) earthlink(dot)net>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 12:43 PM
Subject: Fw: Transcriptions


> Itzik-Leyb Volokh asked me to post this.
> s
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jeff Wollock" <jeff (at) nativecouncil(dot)com>
> To: <sandralayman (at) earthlink(dot)net>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2002 12:39 PM
> Subject: Transcriptions
>
>
> > Dear Sandra,
>
> [snip]
>
> > How did the thread start? I'm very curious.
> >
> > [if you think it will add to the discussion, please post the
> > following on the list for me. -- ]
> >
> >
> >      What Sandra Layman describes for the West Coast is equally true,
> > as far as I know, of the East Coast. I started playing klezmer music
> > in Brooklyn, NY about 1977 in direct contact with Andy Statman. I am
> > absolutely certain that Andy learned everything by ear. He suggested
> > I do the same. I have followed that advice ever since. I teach my
> > students to learn by ear as well. What's more, I'm not unusual in
> > this respect. It's kind of a tradition with klezmer players. I have
> > worked with most of the major people in the klezmer field today and I
> > don't know any who aren't comfortable playing by ear.
> >      The bottom line is, you can learn tunes in some form, but you
> > can't learn to really play klezmer music by reading off a chart
> > anyhow. Because klezmer is 10% tune and 90% playing style. remember,
> > you can have the same piece of music printed on a page, and it could
> > be played Greek style, or Romanian style, or Ukrainian style, or
> > Jewish style. So what's the difference? It's certainly not what's on
> > the music stand.
> >       With somebody like Pete Sokolow it's different. He's got a
> > fantastic ear himself, but if he's leading an ensemble, he writes out
> > notes. That stands to reason - he's an arranger! If you listen to
> > some of the recordings of the 1950s, like "Tants!" or "Freylekhs in
> > Hi-Fi, vol.2", with their sophisticated arrangements, I think the
> > side men, at least, may have used lead-sheets. Obviously they already
> > knew how to play "Jewish." It's understandable that arrangers of the
> > old school like to use at least some degree of "charts." Ken Richman,
> > if I'm not mistaken, wrote out parts to recapture the ensemble style
> > of old bands like Abe Schwartz for his Yale Klezmer Ensemble. Yasher
> > koyekh.
> >      Lead sheets may also be used by klezmer musicians to save time
> > in putting things together, or to keep track of the program. Nor will
> > they necessarily play exactly what's on the sheet. Yes, it is useful
> > to be able to read music! But when it comes to klezmer it's just an
> > auxiliary.
> >
> > -- Itzik-Leyb Volokh (
>
>
>

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