Colin Hemmingsen’s Column

Rip It Up, Issue 2, 1 July 1977, Page 12

Colin Hemmingsen’s Column

Now that it is rumoured that pubs are going disco, what are young rock groups going to do to make a living? Of course there is an opening in the cabaret scene, but, unfortunately, most rock musicians are unable to read floor show charts. How then, can the rock musician be made to see that he needs to be able to read, or for that matter, that he needs a musical education at all, beyond learning the technique of his instrument.

When I was younger, I would ask older, more ex perienced musicians what they did, how they played those things I wanted to play. More often than not, I would be told, “just blow man". Soon after arriving in the States, that myth was exploded. Here were high schools, colleges and universities which taught answers to those questions I had been asking. Although I had gained a Diploma of Music at Auckland University, I was assessed and then placed in the first semester at Berklee. This showed me how inadequate my high school and university training was in New Zealand, in relation to the idiom in which I wanted to express myself as a musician jazz. After four years of studying, teaching and playing in the States, I returned to New Zealand, and after taking a workshop at the Wellington Jazz Festival, realised how much I now took for granted, and how little the average musician knew of the tools to his ’trade'. I took a series of classes in Wellington, then moved to Auckland to start a school. I found as I was taking these courses, that it was difficult for some students to grasp the theoretical concepts of improvisation, when they couldn’t even read music. Now the subject has been scaled down to the point where the course begins with a rudimentary reading course. Of course there have been many problems running a school, including lack of

financial support from the Arts Council and mapy other bodies and business houses to which I have applied, but the most unexpected and disappointing problem, has been the lack of support from the musicians themselves. They admire the musical achievements of their counterparts in the States, and yet at the same time deny the amount of time, effort and study which has gone in to make that musical experience so good. A young rock guitarist shook his

head in disbelief when I said “of course John McLaughlin knows what he is doing, of course he could write it down". He had to concede the point when, a year later, a book containing the full scores of some of the tunes off Mahavishnu albums, started appearing in music shops.

Common myths regarding a musical education are: but if I learn too much theory I will become mechanical, or, theory will inhibit my creativity. Naturally theory alone or without practical application would tend towards a mechanical attitude, but at some stage a musician must pass through that mechanical stage. It’s after the mechanics have been taken care of that a musician can become truly innovative. That is not to say that there are not many talented musicians around playing some good original music, but with the quality of talent there is, the standard should be much better.

An American musician and university educator, Jerry Coker, who has written three excellent books on jazz (translate jazz as meaning improved music), said in a letter of support for the music school, “so long as our schools and universities spend 95% of our monies on a musical style which supports only 6% of the working population, then they are not serving us properly". For New Zealand, that would translate as nearly 100% of our monies. That means of course, that musicians not only get an unfair deal educationally and supportively, but they get no deal at all. This reverts back to the musicians themselves, who through lack of knowledge (we are at least 15 years behind America in music education), or apathy (the old New Zealand "she’ll be right attitude or "it's a great idea maybe later") or pride (how can I admit after playing all these years that I don’t know everything).

Aside from not being able to handle simple floor show charts, musicians are unwittingly missing out on the satisfactions to be gained from not only playing, but also being to understand what they are playing. This article has been written to improve the understanding and shake the wide spread apathy which is now preventing young musicians from gaining a firm foundation and a secure future in their chosen profession modern music.