Posted in: Musicouching by DeanAivaliotis on November 16th, 2009 | 0 Comments
This is part one of a two part paper I did for one of my classes. It focuses on problems in standardized pedagogy used in music education and offers more creative suggestions of teaching and learning that are inspired by Bruce Lee and his Taoist (Jeet Kune Do) approach to learning and practicing martial arts. Enjoy 
This is where the balance of order and chaos must be found. On one hand you have order – the conservatory for example – training students ultimately to become machines. They can play anything if they have it in front of them. But where is the music in this? They are only acting as messengers for what’s on the page. On the other hand you have chaos. These are musicians who have no fundamental knowledge of how to build music, making them limitless as to what they are capable of creating, but they are so free to the point where what they’re making is questionable as to whether or not it is music. Both hands have equal value and credibility and some would opt for either extreme. But why not have both? The goal of the teacher should be to try to offer the student both, and the goal of the student should be to not be enslaved by any system or to take a system to be the real thing.
Conclusion
First and foremost, it is important to remember not to purposely be against something for no good reason. Instead, observe what is around you and develop what you find useful. Be open to new things, and learn constantly. When teaching, give the student plenty to work on and think about. Show them that there is always more than one way to accomplish a goal. The sooner they understand what they want, the better. Let their approach to learning be more of a decrease than an increase. By that I mean that they only keep what is useful to them. A sculptor does not add stone to stone. Instead, he or she chips away slowly and refines what he has until he or she is left with the masterpiece. In my opinion, the ultimate applications of musicianship are in improvisation and composition. Unfortunately, in such a short essay, I could only discuss the applications of Jeet Kune Do as far as teaching, and even then I could only be brief. I would love to further these thoughts and see how they apply to teaching rhythm, harmony, melody, etc. Improvisation and composition are where we actually get to see the Jeet Kune Do mentality at work from the individual and not between a teacher and student. This is where we truly see somebody bring themselves out and not fall into the trap of trying to sound like somebody else (as many musicians do). Fortunately, I will have the chance to delve deeper into the applications of this methodology in my paper for the second term on the Creative Process.
Cover of Tao of Jeet Kune Do
