An Informal Musical Rant!

Hey, what’s up?!

Due to my many commitments at the School of Music, I have had little time to post on my blog. My work load just got marginally lighter, so I thought I’d write something. This will be more of an informal type of post, which should be a nice change, and contrast to my previous ones. Anywho, despite the insane pressures of University, I’ve been greatly enjoying the time that I have been given to study under many of the countries greatest jazz musicians. I also really like the environment of the school. Undoubtedly, most, if not all of the other faculties of the ANU view the School of Music as an “non-academic” part of the University. When I went to O-Week, way back in early February, one of the science professors (I think she taught palaeontology or something, not sure!) jokingly said to the audience something to the effect of, “If the work load is too excessive you could always just take up a music degree!” I had a bit of a chuckle at the remark. On one hand I believe she is right, but on the other, she is very wrong. Certainly, the academic workload offered at the school is probably about half of that of many of the other courses offered by the Univerity. However, the School of Music is not a strictly academic facility. The primary focus at the school, is artistic. I believe the academic workload of the school is such, to ensure that the students concentrate most of their time into what is really going to keep them eating, their playing ability in the musical style of their choice (that is, classical or jazz). I believe that this is very important for people to understand. We (School of Music students) are not a bunch of academics. We are an artistic people, striving to create a voice, and an identity. On a similar note, relating back to the professor’s amusing comment about the school, it’s surprising to me how untouched the Art School is. It’s always the music students that get a hard rap. Now, I don’t want to get into an argument about art, but I believe that there is something different in music, that traditional art cannot portray or create. And that is the sheer fact the music is an artform that exists in time. It has a starting point, and an ending point. With an artform such as painting, the artist can take their time, ponder, and intricately craft their painting the way they want to. That’s all good and fine, however, this is what I believe makes music such a special and exciting artform. Since music is an artform that exists in time, their is simply not enough time for deep thinking. There is always a chance that we take every time we pick up an instrument, and that is the “mistake factor”. When a musician makes a “mistake” there is no opportunity for him/her to fix it. That’s it. It’s now a part of the music, a part of the art work. It’s been immortalised into the work. And to me, that is one of the most exciting things about music, and one of the reasons why I play it. However, having said this, many styles of music from rock to metal etc., can essentially ignore this factor, due to recording techniques, studio mixing, overdubs and the like. However, jazz, classical, and other musical conversations have to deal with it when placed into a live setting. I’m particularly attracted to this, and always try to put myself in situations where I can take a chance musically. And when you pull it off, it can start a musical dialogue and interaction between the musicians in the ensemble. To me, this is the best part of playing jazz. The fact that every time you play a standard, like “Autumn Leaves”, or “Bye Bye Blackbird”, something different is going to come out. Different paths will be taken, roads will be travelled, and different conversations will take place. Wow.

Anyway, I probably better leave it their. As you can see, when I start rambling, it can take me a while to stop. I didn’t title my blog “Jared’s Rantings” for nothing! I may not be posting for a while, once again, due to Uni stuff. However, it’s nearing the end of the year, won’t be long! Anywho, I’m getting a little hungry.

Talk to you all soon,

Jared