Ahoy!
Most musicians have probably heard the phrase “Music is a universal language.” You may have said the phrase yourself at some point. Especially if you’re a music educator (in the USA) the line has probably come up while trying to justify your music program to administration or local parents. But if it’s so universal then why do I get so many classical friends asking me how to play jazz? Or why can’t I immediately sound like a true bluegrass player? Why are the concepts of groove and pocket different in rock and r&b? Music is not as universal as people often assume it will be.
I’m not the first person to say that music is a language or that there isn’t a large degree of common ground between genres. If you haven’t ever heard Victor Wooten speak on the subject, the link is posted below. Music can, and should, be taught like any other language. Through complete immersion, slowly over time. For most of us, especially if you’re currently a professional musician, this was the process.
How I’ve come to think about these differences is that each genre should be thought of as its own language and you shouldn’t expect yourself to be fluent in one, just because you are in another. A professor of mine once put it like this “Just because I make mouth sounds to sound like I’m speaking French, doesn’t mean I’m speaking French. And in fact, I’m probably offending people who actually speak French.” The idea being that just because you’re a musician does not mean you’re playing Autumn Leaves or a Bach Prelude with the correct accent. It’s ok to not enjoy HOW someone else sounds when they speak their native language (jazz or classical for example) but what you MUST respect is that they are a native speaker of that language and are (hopefully) doing it at a high level.
Inside each genre we have sub genres: In classical music there is a difference between how you play something in romantic or baroque style. In jazz, 1940’s bebop should sound different than a modern Donny McCaslin album. These differences I compare to accents in the same language. Think about how distinct the accents are from Georgia, USA and New York, USA or the differences between Mexican Spanish and Spain Spanish. Each has its own little distinguishing features but if you speak one, you will probably be fine in the other.
The bottom line is simple: if you wish to play jazz or classical or rock or funk first you have to learn how to say “mom” and “dad” in those languages. The nuances of rhythm would be a good place to start or anything specific harmonic vocabulary (like the ii7 V7 Imaj7 in jazz). Then learn beginner phrases, then add descriptive words. Eventually you will build a vocabulary strong enough to communicate fluently just like your native speaking language. Start small, practice constantly, and make sure you’re listening to others who have strong command of the language.
Until next time,
Heard
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