I guess it is time for me to go into my own personal reasons for deciding to freely share whatever it is that I've learned.

Long ago, I had a private Trumpet teacher who had a rather long list of students and his own office in an office building where the sign read, "Trumpet Lessons". He taught all levels from beginner through grad school students and even beyond, the only caveats being that he reserved the right to tell some student to stop coming to see him and, of course that the majority of students could afford the price of his lessons. Even so, he also would sometimes arrange other payment methods with parents and guardians and even the students themselves as he saw fit. A good man who, over the years, earned a well-desered reputation for being a great man.

Well, one day I showed up for my Saturday lesson and he informed me that, "Teaching is Learning" -- and proceeded to assign me with the duty by placing two younger guys who were just still starting out, still learning the basics, still working on things like being able to play the notes within the staff, learning to read music, embouchure, approach, all the stuff we have to learn. This was to take place on the same Saturdays that I would report for my own lesson. He moved my lesson time to earlier in the morning (ouch) and "my" two students were scheduled typically within a reasonable time after that. Of course, all this was done under the watchful eye and strict supervision of the boss.

I soon discovered that his initial statement, that teaching is learning, had implications to it that I could not have imagined. Sometimes it is necessary to be able to put something into words that we may have been able to do intuitively or without a lot of thinking into the whys, hows and wherefores, but that student needs this information. Merely having to think like that and then elocute in a way to get the point across is usually a new exercise for the teacher and can do a lot to help that teacher improve their own music agenda.

Flash Forward to now.

More than twenty years ago, was involved in that conversation which goes around quite a bit among Jazz Musicians, you know, the lament that Jazz is suppposed to be dying out, that there are far fewer places to play and the audiences are dwindling, life sucks, yada, yada, yada.

This is true, of course, but I began thinking about what could be the possible causes for such and, more importantly, whether or not the accepted and popular explanations had any merit. I immediately ruled out all of the "personal attack" or "demonization" rationales as being highly unlikely, blaming others for our own failures is commonplace and most often wrong assumption way of thinking.

And then it hit me.

There was a time in this great nation when the music arts were taught in the public schools, starting in the kindergartens and grade schools and continuing through to the high school level. This included every student being subjected to at least a singing or chorus class. There were even singing "textbooks" designed for that purpose. Once a week, the second grade (or any grade) class had to attend that choral class and participate in group singing, typically accompanied on a piano by a teacher.

And then there was the Band, Orchestra, "Stage" Band situation, complete with school provided instruments, lessons, rehearsals, all leading up to performance.

"An EDUCATED audience!" I said to myself.

When a lot more people knew a lot more about musics, when many of them had at least been exposed to the participation in what it takes to prepare and perform, regardless of whether or not that person kept with it at a pro level or not, their musical tastes were surely different than the tastes would be of someone who was never exposed to such.

So then I began an informal survey of sorts, began talking more with people who were in the audiences of the little venues and such I was performing in with various acts, and found out that the ones who were truly aficionados of jazz musics consisted of a vast majority of people who had both been exposed to such music education in their youth, many still played an instrument to some extent or another, and -- a rather amazing amount of them who were not pro players turned out to be members of other professions such as Doctors, University Professors, Lawyers, Small Business Owners, etc. -- people who were movers and shakers.

So, I have found, over the years, that an EDUCATED AUDIENCE, not necessarily "degreed," mind you, but an audience that knows a bit more than nothing much at all about music, is my target audience.

Don't become one of those musicians who sees a young guitar player, for example, watching you intently while onstage in an effort to see and learn -- and does something puerile like turn your back so they can't see what you're doing. (Yes, I've actually witnessed that example...)

Clark Terry's splendid autobiography really drives that point home.

"Teaching is Learning"

I think that far too many in this profession are singing lyrics like "Reach Out and Touch, Somebody's Hand, Make this World a Better Place, if You Can," while doing nothing at all other than singing that stoopid song.


--Mac

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