Brian Ritchie is not saying "don't improvise",
he is saying, I believe, "first get some tools with which to improvise".
This is true regardless of the 'ethnicity' of the music.
eB
>--- Brian Ritchie <brianritchie@mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jason,
>>
>> Music is a language of sorts
>
>What does it signify and what are its signifiers?
>Language is characterized by ambiguity, so where does
>this get us?
>
>
>> (the most habitual improvisors in Western classical
>> music) have a
>> classical vocabulary
>
>This is true in a linear, rational universe. There is
>also a whole range of improvisation based on modal,
>static harmonies. Musical education focuses on things
>it can analyze: chord patterns, themes, variations.
>There's a whole universe of music outside this sphere.
> Memory is only one aspect of listening.
>
>> learning the traditional music
>> forces you to develop
>> techniques and pitch relationships that nobody
>> (Japanese or Western)
>> would develop "naturally".
>
>And the evidence backing this statement is? Do you
>mean to say that Japanese traditional music is
>unnatural and that is a reason to learn it? Culture,
>in this way, becomes a kind of perverse pursuit.
>
>> The natural scale
>> of the shakuhachi is
>> the minor pentatonic but it's not the most common
>> one used in
>> traditional music.
>
>But it is the blues scale minus one passing tone. You
>can play Amazing Grace with just the natural scale of
>the shakuhachi, for instance. So it is A common
>traditional scale.
>
>> with no musical vocabulary to
>> back it up people tend
>> to stick to whatever is easy to produce given the
>> mechanics of the
>> instrument they are playing.
>
>By this argument, you would recommend writers to
>practice typing other people's writing in order to
>develop their own style. My point is that human
>ingenuity is the source of inovation, and imitation is
>the source of copies.
>
>This whole discussion reminds me of the bogus
>evaluation of someone else's enlightenment on this
>list. How can I evaluate someone's improvisation if I
>have never heard them. And in any case, my assessment
>of someone else suffers from my limitations. I cannot
>necessarily hear what you are saying if my opinions
>clog the channel.
>
>Improvisors, play on.
>
>Regards,
>
>John Baker
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