You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Starting From Scratch

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

Peter and Adam discuss a thought experiment about starting your instrument from scratch. Have a question for us? Leave us a SpeakPipeCheckout courses from Adam, Peter and more at Open StudioLet us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Twitter | Instagram

Hey, Peter. Okay, we're going to really get to this episode today. Starting from scratch. Starting from scratch. I'm not going to let you derail this episode like last time. Hey, I have a question about your comedy career. Well, yeah, how's it going? I'm Adam Manis.

And I'm Peter Martin. And you listen to the UlyR podcast. Jazz, explain. You know what I'm rushing? Why? Because we're doing a sash soon. We are going to do a listening sash. Hey, if you're an Open Studio Pro member, if you're an All-Excess member,

PianoXIS past member, or Open Studio Pro member, we are every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Eastern, doing a live listening session, just like old lockdown days, Peter, where you sued on Tuesday evenings. We're doing it Tuesday afternoons in America. Today we're listening to All. We're listening to All McCoy-Tiner from various records.

We're going to have about five albums, vinyl albums. We're going to be dropping the needle momentarily, my friend. It's going to be so much fun. So we have to get yet another benefit of membership. Yet another benefit. But I was going to say, man, you know what one of my favorite parts about recording these podcasts are these days? What?

We do our awkward intros. Yeah. And then we hit the, right? And then we, we, then we, then we, then we, then we, we, then we're in silence. And it's kind of, and sometimes if the intro is not great. Yeah. It's kind of an awkward. Is it awkward?

Because we don't know if it were like going to do it again. Oh, are you trying to say the intro wasn't great? No, no, I was fine. But there was a timing issue. And then I always feel like, do I make eye contact? I know, right. Because then I'm going to see you like, oh. Right.

And then it put up a bad vibe if we continue on. Because I want to keep it going. Right. Yeah. Just to, just a little, little, how the sauce is. Well, this was interesting. So this was the opposite today. We actually felt like it went okay,

but now that you're bringing it up, you're putting a bad vibe on questioning whether or not it went well. I'm just noting some of the awkward silences of the... And we're sitting here. The mic is hot, so we can't be like, that was good. No, no, really. We did have to, like, kind of, like, are we going?

Are we doing this? But you know what? I mean, wow, how many times does that come up on a solo piano gig, on an introduction to a tune? You know, there's a lot of that. There's a lot of that. I think just, you know, having confidence with what we do, yeah, when it falls apart or when it's offensive or inaccurate, of course, we redo it.

But, you know, look, we're putting ourselves out there. We're improvising. We've made it to over 900 episodes, so we must be doing something right. Someone's caring about what's going on here. So we do have a thought experiment that we started for the last episode, but we got sidetracked into a great story. And I'm so glad we did because it was very, very fun to hear. Loderately, okay. No, it was very cool.

C plus, which might as well be an F minus. So this one we're going to do, how would we start from scratch today? So if we were to start our careers over, like if we were to wipe the slate clean. Now, we're talking career or just like playing the instrument. Like if you were, basically like you could consider this. Like if you were to start a new instrument from scratch, if you were to pick up a saxophone. Okay. And you'd never played or a trumpet.

You never actually played it or tried to play it. Very topical. But you, and let's say that you, let's say you got in a time machine. but with the wisdom that you had now and you were a child, right? And you were starting piano again. Like, what would you do from scratch to start your piano,

to become the best pianist you could be? Like, basically, the question is like, is there anything you would do different? Is there a time in your life? And I know that it's like, we can't do it differently, but we do have people who are starting their journey listening to this.

We have people who are different points in their journey. So if there's any wisdom of like, you know what, I spent too much time doing this or I didn't do this until I was well into the, you know, I wish I would have started this early.

That's kind of the thought I have. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you want me to attack this one first? Well, I was going to start with, for me, and just to get, who I want to get this going. No, like, yes, no, I don't. Would be I would start listening more at an early age.

And I did listen to, you know, luckily my dad had a great jazz record collection, but I wish I would have found my people a little early. earlier. Like I wish I had just a bet you had a fantastic dad. I know Mr. Maness. He's amazing. But you just want to even you're so darn greedy. You want a better dad? No, not a better dad. Couldn't it couldn't it. Who played more jazz? But he already did that. Not possible. No, I'm just saying for me like I wish I would have, uh, got more into records from an early age. Because you know what I am? I'm a guy who I've always had friends who are like great

taste in records and great recommendations. I've never been that guy. I'm always taking their their wrecks. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that's, I think you're a little greedy with that because you You certainly got into it. It's always like, what is the age that you need to encounter the perfect record? Because it can be too early. That's true. You know what I mean? Because we're talking about luck and timing.

There has to be that intersection of, like, accessibility and your readiness and, like, kind of your soul ready to soar and looking for things. I mean, there's so much stuff we forget about, like, as we become more secure as musicians. You know what brought this up to me? Like, no one told me about monk until I was in college, right? I kind of heard the name, but no one played me Philonious Mon. Yeah, like, check this out. Right.

And like you had, when you were, what, 15, Witten and Marcellus was like, go check out monk. That's got to be like, oh, I should go check out. Witton just said go check out monk. Like, I wish I would have had someone saying that to me. But it does, but I'm always wondering, does it have more of an impact just because you, like, you can get some stuff too early information. That's true. And it's not useful.

Like, that's what I'm saying, there has to be the luck. If someone said, check out from John Coltrane when you're 10, you're probably like, I have no idea. That's when I first started checking you that. No, no, no, no, no, no. but I don't even know I'm gonna fix that for you right that's not even correct

please fix that for me right now no but I think that like we have to hear like there's really important records that I didn't hear until college age or later you know and it's almost like we need I think that you there's probably stuff that you heard if you think about it

that was the right thing for you to hear at four and at nine and 12 I mean there's only so much we can absorb you know what I mean and sometimes this whole thing of like you have to have this catalog you know I don't believe in that like you have to yes you have to have a well-rounded

repertoire and knowledge of the music and you want to but sometimes like it's it's fits and starts starts and fits or what you know it's like you go down a rabbit hole at a particular time for a particular reason I mean it's like I handed Sullivan Fortner at age 13 or 14

whatever it was when I first met him at the jazz camp and I'm teaching him I was like if you were listening to jazz this is a jazz camp he's like ah not really he's like I like I like I like it though I was like you never listen any record he's like like not really. Are you taking credit for Sullivan Fordner right now?

Yes, because of just some randomness. And I just happened to have a CD with me. What'd you give him? Empry and Isles, Herbie Hancock. And he went home and, like, learned it within the next three days. So, but that's what I'm saying.

I didn't have like a master plan. And actually, that wasn't even a great, like if you have somebody that's a talented kid that can play the piano pretty well, really well. Yeah.

But it was not really been exposed to jazz. That was very lucky that he liked it and learned it. I mean, it worked out. Huh? It worked out. It worked out. But I'm saying that's total luck. That's why I would never take it.

So that's what I mean. It's like sometimes... Would you give Jonathan Batiste? Yeah, right. Yeah. So, I mean, I think that I think sometimes... Yeah, for sure. I totally agree.

I would listen to more, even though I was exposed a lot. Actually, from, you know, a similar thing. Like my dad listening to jazz. I feel like you just spent five minutes disagreeing with me. Well, no, no, because I heard a lot of jazz. And I was just talking about this with the kids in D.C. Yeah. The Smithsonian Classic Jazz.

piece said. Did your dad have that? No, but I've since learned about it and it's great. So, I mean, I heard all that stuff, but it didn't click with me. So yes, it kind of prepared me maybe for later. But it also was like a block for a while because I was like, oh, that's that old, whatever. Yeah. But then I, you know, it's like you have breakthroughs. I actually had breakthrough with classical music first in terms of my love of the instrument where I was like, oh my God, I love that and I wanted to play it. And then I'd heard jazz and been around it. And then, you know, but one of the most lucky things for us is we grew up in St. So it's like blues, jazz. Like there's a lot of great music here. But it wasn't like we're down here at the Scott Joplin House, you know, from the age of three studying that. No, but at a certain point, you're like, wow.

Shout out to Royce Martin. Yeah, well, he was. But, yeah, okay, so that's listen. We agree on that. Let's agree to agree. Let's disagree to agree. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What do you think?

If you were to start from scratch, like if you were to, or if you were to tell someone who's just starting out. Yeah. Like, what, that's something you didn't do, you know what I mean? Okay, I've got one. Now, and this would very much depend upon. You know, I started playing instruments. Piano wasn't even my first instrument, but I started at such a young age

that it's hard for me to even, like, think about it because it was such an instinctual thing. Yeah. But I would say, like, if I was going to start a second instrument now, which I'm actually thinking about doing. Oh, really? Stay tuned for that journey. You would...

I would think about... We'll be right back. All right, where were we? I wanted a cliffhanger. I wanted a cliffhanger. I forget about that. Let's talk about something else. All right, so if you would start a second instrument right now,

you would think about sound from the beginning. Yeah, totally. But I don't know when I'm starting piano at age three, was I think about sound? No, I'm probably thinking about nothing. I'm a little idiot. Sound is like it's the enlightenment of music. It's the garden that opens up as you get older, I feel like. And it's when we talk about musicians who are wise beyond their years, they usually have a wise sound, you know?

And like, how do you develop a sound? Like, how do you make that part of just as much as like how do you learn the fingerings? Yeah. How do you like, how do you can? with what your sound is from the beginning, as opposed to that being a more advanced technique. You know what I mean? It certainly is an advanced technique,

but I think that there's a... It's so important. Yeah, and maybe, you know what? Maybe when we're really young and we're more, you know, unconsciously... Maybe we are thinking about it because we want to gravitate towards something that sounds good, right?

I think this is why musicians who have classical backgrounds have an advantage. Musicians who have parents who are musicians have an advantage because parents or musicians professionally know how important sound is, right? And they'll start with that as a basis. So I think you hear that. As a bassist?

As a basis. Oh, basis. Like, it's part of everything as your life. It's important. And it's hard to know that. I was trying to make a joke, but you just clarified it showing that that was not a joke. You just thought I didn't hear it. So that was good.

What part was the joke? Exactly. Like a joke, you got to explain twice. But sound is, I think you're totally right. I totally agree. I was obsessed with things like, you know, theory and then speed and power and all that stuff. Yeah, me too. when you're a teenager.

Yeah. It's your jockey as a teenager. Exactly. But again, like, but that's what was exciting for us at the time. That's where our brains were able to connect with the music. It's like everything's for a season. I feel like we're learning why you try to change anything. Just let it happen naturally.

We're learning how perfect we are, the perfect journey. Well, it's a fun experiment. You know, if, Peter, if people wanted to reach out to us and let us know what they would do over, if they would just start from scratch, what would they work on? They would call your cell phone number, which is area code 314. How about the Twitter? There we go. That you'll hear it Twitter.

At you'll hear it. At you'll hear it. Let us know what you would start over with. If you were to start from scratch today, how would you start? What would you do first? Yeah. What about a more kind of just specific tactical thing? Is there something that you had in mind?

Specific to piano. Specific to piano, I would do the Jeffrey Keiser thing. Everything I play with my right hand I would do with my left hand. Yeah. You know? There you go. Because that I think is your learning, especially... Was little Jeff Keiser doing that at HD?

He probably was. you are. But as you're learning jazz specifically, there's all this emphasis on, you know, um, uh, a little jabbing left hand. A little jabbing left hand in the melody in the right hand, which is important, but I wish I would have started with, you know, the two-handed thing. Or even a little. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Chords in the right. Yeah. And you know what? Honestly, all of this advice that we're giving, you can do starting right now, no matter where you are. And that's interesting you say it too, because you are a lefty. I am left-handed. Much as 10% of the population is worldwide, apparently.

Yeah, I'm a 10%. I do some things with my left hand and some things with my right hand, but I write with my left hand. So it's important to me, but it's not something that, you know, I learned like everyone else where it's like you learn chords here or even a baseline here and you're, you know, but I would do that. Are you saying that you, Adam Maness, the legendary musician and educator, puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else?

Left foot first. Yeah, totally. Left foot first. Left foot first. It's not like everyone else. Actually, right foot first. All right. This is fun.

That's good. Yeah. I'm just glad we got into it. We didn't get sidetracked. I know. Some ridiculously ornate and archaic stories from yours truly. So we'll be back with some. We've got some, man, we have so many speak pipes to hit up.

We're going to do that next time. Okay, sounds good. Until then. You'll hear it.