I’m a music teacher, and I’m constantly frustrated by the ignorance of music critics. This piece of yours jumped out at me, because it’s more thoughtful and insightful than even a lot of my musician friends are when they talk about jazz.
Among other things, I write about jazz and other music, and how to listen and think about it, and if you’re looking for more to read on the subject, i cordially invite you to check out my stuff, inc. my recent Ben Webster post.
But— I also encourage you to keep writing and I’ll keep checking back in to see what you have to say about whatever. Instant subscribe, for me. Keep up the good work!
Also— I thank Robert for bringing your post to my attention.
First-off, thanks so much for your kind words. You might not find too much music writing here, but I'm happy to focus on connection between people and media. Like I mentioned, Blue Giant was a huge reason I kind of felt jazz a lot more, and it's interesting to think about non-musicians or "music kids" using a manga in order to get into the genre.
It's similar to how Twitch gaming streamers got into chess during the pandemic: the chess community didn't exactly expect the mentalities, ignorance or willingness to learn from streamers, and it was kind of this mutual humbling and adjustment. Certain chess YouTubers or younger professionals adapted, and other people grumbled.
I used to write about music or "review music" when I was younger, and I put that in quotes because I'm not trained, and don't find myself "knowing a lot about music" to speak about it from an informed perspective. I think that's partially what I wanted to explain in this piece, because it's easy for beginners or inexperienced people to go "I know how this makes me FEEL, but I'm hesitant to express that because it means I'm relying on the kindness of my audience to validate that, instead of going 'you don't know shit, you're an amateur, shut up'."
Maybe not in that language, but you know what I mean.
Yes to all this! The thing is— I’m classically trained, and I’m one of those people who gets tired of reading music writing that’s just about the writer’s feelings. But two things occur to me—
1. You may be writing about your emotional reaction, but you’re thoughtful and self-aware about it. That’s an improvement over pedantic writing that lacks insight and emotion.
2. When I write about or teach music, I try to emphasize the connection between technical stuff and the emotional reaction of a listener. The only reason for a creative musician to get academic music training is to learn how to create something that makes someone feel something. A lot of pedantic or technical music writers forget that.
>The only reason for a creative musician to get academic music training is to learn how to create something that makes someone feel something.
I like that a lot, thanks.
I think that "pedantic media writing" is what I'm trying to avoid: someone with no training basically says "hey audience, I need you to care about ME in order to care about what I have to say about MY experience", when that's kind of hard to build, and very hard to have randoms connect with.
"Educated" writing at least will inform someone in a practical sense with stuff they might not know.
I guess if I can, I'm trying to "teach" or inform about how my thought process with this went. I feel that a lot of people have similar issues with feeling or experiencing media, especially since we're incentivized to get social currency from what we consume, or make tangible currency by creating things about them (Marvel YouTubers, or podcasters or whatever).
I think that there are healthy balances with all these things, and I'm just looking to quiet the voice that tells me "don't contribute, no one will care, you will feel rejected or discouraged." If I can kind of spark that "how DO I approach things I like? How do I encourage authenticity? How do I keep this real and valuable for me?" feeling, I think I'm doing what I want to.
Thanks, Matt! I had not known much of this, including that "you’ll hear “false starts”, “alternate takes” or general “this wasn’t coming out the way we wanted. Stop, start again. Or just cut it.” on many jazz albums. I like the interplay of your writing about experiencing jazz and references to manga - another world with which I'm not familiar. And, I clicked the link you provided to the McCoy Tyner Trio's "Inception" - another first for me, which I enjoyed. It's been time well-spent!
While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t appreciate unsolicited self-promo in intro comments. I’d prefer if you’d remove the link.
You got it.
Just know the piece is in the spirit of exploring music that I thought echoed with yours. I’m not spamming random post comment sections.
Appreciated! I don’t doubt the sincerity, but it was hard to tell from the comment, to be honest. It read a bit copy-paste and I’m a bit paranoid.
Apologies, and appreciate the patience. I’ll take a read!
Was just typing quickly — also, it’s just internet comments, best to wear them lightly, the good and the bad.
Hope you continue to dig deep into music, it’s one of life’s great pleasures.
Enjoyed reading your piece - took me back to when I began getting into jazz about 30 years ago.
Your feedback is really appreciated! Thanks for the read.
I’m a music teacher, and I’m constantly frustrated by the ignorance of music critics. This piece of yours jumped out at me, because it’s more thoughtful and insightful than even a lot of my musician friends are when they talk about jazz.
Among other things, I write about jazz and other music, and how to listen and think about it, and if you’re looking for more to read on the subject, i cordially invite you to check out my stuff, inc. my recent Ben Webster post.
But— I also encourage you to keep writing and I’ll keep checking back in to see what you have to say about whatever. Instant subscribe, for me. Keep up the good work!
Also— I thank Robert for bringing your post to my attention.
First-off, thanks so much for your kind words. You might not find too much music writing here, but I'm happy to focus on connection between people and media. Like I mentioned, Blue Giant was a huge reason I kind of felt jazz a lot more, and it's interesting to think about non-musicians or "music kids" using a manga in order to get into the genre.
If you're interested in Blue Giant, you can read it here (in a fan-translated scan) before you buy it (if you do): https://mangadex.org/title/1090afe3-3b91-4325-a9b4-d92875aa815e/blue-giant
You'd read it right to left, instead of left to right: https://culturedvultures.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Manga-Panels.jpg
It's similar to how Twitch gaming streamers got into chess during the pandemic: the chess community didn't exactly expect the mentalities, ignorance or willingness to learn from streamers, and it was kind of this mutual humbling and adjustment. Certain chess YouTubers or younger professionals adapted, and other people grumbled.
I used to write about music or "review music" when I was younger, and I put that in quotes because I'm not trained, and don't find myself "knowing a lot about music" to speak about it from an informed perspective. I think that's partially what I wanted to explain in this piece, because it's easy for beginners or inexperienced people to go "I know how this makes me FEEL, but I'm hesitant to express that because it means I'm relying on the kindness of my audience to validate that, instead of going 'you don't know shit, you're an amateur, shut up'."
Maybe not in that language, but you know what I mean.
I'll definitely check out your stuff.
Yes to all this! The thing is— I’m classically trained, and I’m one of those people who gets tired of reading music writing that’s just about the writer’s feelings. But two things occur to me—
1. You may be writing about your emotional reaction, but you’re thoughtful and self-aware about it. That’s an improvement over pedantic writing that lacks insight and emotion.
2. When I write about or teach music, I try to emphasize the connection between technical stuff and the emotional reaction of a listener. The only reason for a creative musician to get academic music training is to learn how to create something that makes someone feel something. A lot of pedantic or technical music writers forget that.
>The only reason for a creative musician to get academic music training is to learn how to create something that makes someone feel something.
I like that a lot, thanks.
I think that "pedantic media writing" is what I'm trying to avoid: someone with no training basically says "hey audience, I need you to care about ME in order to care about what I have to say about MY experience", when that's kind of hard to build, and very hard to have randoms connect with.
"Educated" writing at least will inform someone in a practical sense with stuff they might not know.
I guess if I can, I'm trying to "teach" or inform about how my thought process with this went. I feel that a lot of people have similar issues with feeling or experiencing media, especially since we're incentivized to get social currency from what we consume, or make tangible currency by creating things about them (Marvel YouTubers, or podcasters or whatever).
I think that there are healthy balances with all these things, and I'm just looking to quiet the voice that tells me "don't contribute, no one will care, you will feel rejected or discouraged." If I can kind of spark that "how DO I approach things I like? How do I encourage authenticity? How do I keep this real and valuable for me?" feeling, I think I'm doing what I want to.
Yeah, you are onto something here, i think.
Thanks, Matt! I had not known much of this, including that "you’ll hear “false starts”, “alternate takes” or general “this wasn’t coming out the way we wanted. Stop, start again. Or just cut it.” on many jazz albums. I like the interplay of your writing about experiencing jazz and references to manga - another world with which I'm not familiar. And, I clicked the link you provided to the McCoy Tyner Trio's "Inception" - another first for me, which I enjoyed. It's been time well-spent!