Beginners-Intermediates - fundamentals are a nuisance. Don't waste your time

[CooolJazzz]

Amusing thread.
I happen to appreciate gary's sarcasm and see no inherent rudeness in it. No matter how skillfully sarcasm is delivered however, someone will always be offended by it or write it off as rudeness.
A little sarcasm now and then is good for the soul...a great release...like a good old fashioned rip-roaring fart. Some people see the humor in a big loud fart. Some think farting in public is simply rude. I say, if it makes you feel better, let 'er rip. I'll probably even laugh as long as it's not aimed in my general direction. Right now I'm just laughing at the ones complaining about the smell. Sometimes sarcasm, like a good fart, is best appreciated from a reasonable distance.

[The A Train]

Some think farting in public is simply rude. I say, if it makes you feel better, let 'er rip. I'll probably even laugh as long as it's not aimed in my general direction. Right now I'm just laughing at the ones complaining about the smell

The thing I hate about smelling a fart is the fact that I inhaled air that just came out of someones bung hole

[warp x]

Do not practice long tones, scales, arpeggios, etudes, sight-reading, ear-training or other such traditional fundamental exercises.

You forgot theory. No need to waste your time on that either.

[milandro]

You forgot theory. No need to waste your time on that either.

I am glad we agree...........

[warp x]

[TonyM]

I'm really grateful to learn from Gary's experience. It might be good to learn the basics and build skills and all that stuff but this is a community and this man is SHARING. I can dig it.

[TonyM]

The thing I hate about smelling a fart is the fact that I inhaled air that just came out of someones bung hole

Even farting has a tradition. Just ask Wynton Marsalis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane

[lutemann]

Gary, I don't agree with you, but I will say that it is difficult to know when to put some of these things aside. When does practicing a half an hour of long tones quit doing what it is supposed to do? A 60 something jazz player told me that if she doesn't practice scales/patterns for a few days she starts to lose her chops - even after 50 years of playing! Should everybody pratice scales all their lives?

[milandro]

well, pay attention to what Sigurd Rasher says starting at 4:52 : “ And now, I want to say this to ALL of you! After more than 25 years of professional playing , I know better now that when I started, That I have to practice the fundamentals everyday! Embouchure, breath control, vibrato, tongue and fingering. Try it my friends and you will se.......it works!”

[Dog Pants]

Wow, this is ....well wow.

I got Gary's tone right from the get go. Some obviously didn't.

Those who feign outrage at Gary's post simply haven't been here long enough to know the man. For those who've been around here pre '03 you'd know Gary. You'd have conversed with him in hundreds of threads. You'd have discussed stuff via PM and as you got to know him, perhaps even via email.

You'd know that this one post is a fart in the thunderstorm of helpful advice he's given to beginners and pros alike over the years here. You'd know the many many times he's gone out of his way to help myself and many others in ways I can't even count.

You'd know that on so many occasions, Gary has been the voice of moderation and a force for good on this forum. You'd know that on so many occasions Gary has been the only experienced player to answer the newbies questions.

But some don't know. Some have come late to the party. We call this the house that Harri built, but in truth, this communal storehouse of knowledge we all partake from, was and is built by those who contribute to it. And no one posting above has contributed to this community on the level that Gary has.

So before all you new kids on the block pass judgement, take a minute to think about the fact that the very community in which we all participate was and is built by Gary and those long time contributors like him. Long service earns a man the right to speak his mind on occasion.