Knowing jazz is as easy as learning how to ride a bike--no, not that way!!!
*Note—this was originally released through the IfCM newsletter on July 4th, 2021.
Riding a bike. It's easy, right? Well, maybe it's easy once you do some really hard things and forget how to do them because they're so ingrained. Last fall when we decided that our 7-year-old was going to do fully at-home virtual school Kim and I made two goals with her. 1) Learn how to ride her bike without training wheels and 2) I have no idea because it was fall 2020 and we could barely keep it together. We had one goal.
She had been riding with training wheels for quite a while but wasn't comfortable doing much without them. I was getting pretty fast* at running and training wheels couldn't keep up with me on the trail. It was time to do that thing that was so easy it was a cliche, "learn how to ride a bike."
(*Not very fast.)
I'd been avoiding a lot of the internet in fall 2020 so this was the first time I actually searched "how to ride a bike without training wheels" on YouTube and I found a couple of things that worked for us.
Ok. So this guy is ridiculous and potentially offensive (this might be a Trailer Park Boys outtake...) but he teaches a kid ride to a bike (start around 2:33" to get to the process) using the following process:
1) "Are you ready to ride a bike?" - gets the student to commit to doing something new.
2-3) "The Lean" and "The Free-Drop" - test the student's ability to feel their balance and adjust.
4-5) "Press down with your right foot...you know which is your right foot?" - make sure the student knows how to start the momentum - "pedal, pedal, pedal" - and keep going.
This worked for my 7-year-old just about as quick as the kid in the video. It did NOT work for my 4-year old but I'm looking forward to trying again now that she's a little bigger and "wants to ride a bike".
*May 2022 update—this DID work with our formerly 4-year old this past fall when she was 5.
Ok. Jazz is really easy to do once you do some really hard things and *forget how to do them because they're so ingrained. I'm going to push this concept of "knowing" jazz again. Add the kid riding his bike to your fanny pack of good learning to know experiences. It's tentative at first, but they're committed to doing the thing and you can see that they'll improve with repetition. You can't know a jazz tune (melody, root melody, chord changes), scale, or lick and hope to improvise confidently if you're reading it from a fake book. Just tackle a little bit at a time until you "know" it in your mind and body. The commitment to learning and playing by ear (without reading) is the key!
The IfCM has a ton of song learning courses but you can know the tunes, scales, licks, and improvise (tentatively at first, then confidently...like riding a bike) with a commitment to practicing the process. #trusttheprocess but #thePistonsgetCadeCunninghambecausetheyplayedhardanddidnttank #orcorellationdoesntequalcausation #badathashtags #thisisaboutbasketballifyoudidntknow #greatconclusionChris
*May 2022 Pistons hashtag update:
#CadewasROY #gladtohaveCade #TradeJeramitoPortlandfortheirpickandBledsoe #draftKeeganMurray #draftShaedonorBenMath #OrkeepJeramianddraftIvey #32winseason #AlsoCelticsin7