In the year since I finished A Modal Framework for Jazz Improvisation, I have continued to study and learn more. The more I learn, the less I realize that I know! But I have become even more sold on the concept as a means of learning to improvise jazz, or at least developing the physical ability to do so. That physical ability and knowledge of course applies to all styles and genres of music; don’t let the “jazz improvisation” part of the title scare you away. It is just a part of overall mainstream musical understanding—something that is severely lacking in the popular Chord Melody style.
What got me into this whole thing was a desire to reconcile the banjo with serious music theory. I believe it can and should be done! Having been banjo-oriented (and banjo club-oriented) from the beginning, the biggest challenge I have found has been in reconciling myself to serious music theory. A big part of that reconciliation is in learning to read music, and then using that skill as a tool to advance as a musician first, banjoist second.
My own reading and understanding is improving, and that just opens up more and more of Pandora’s Music Box. The deeper I get into that box, the more convinced I am that this is a good path forward. I will not say “the best,” because who knows where this path will eventually take me? The point is, the banjo and I are a lot more capable than I was led to believe growing up in a banjo band.
If you have ever taught music, you’ll know that everybody learns differently; what makes perfect sense to one person may be totally confusing to another and vice versa. I think that’s my favorite part of teaching. Trying to figure out how to make it make sense—and modifying it in real time as I work with a student—also helps me to understand the subject in different ways. I often learn something new myself, or at least a deeper understanding of something I thought I knew well. You can certainly never learn too much, especially with a subject as complex as music.
In trying to teach the Modal system, I have had to make concessions; if a student doesn’t read music well but responds to a visual system instead (i.e., chord diagrams or scale charts), then that is the obvious path forward. I don’t believe it does anybody any good to make it “easy” (simplifying), but making it easier to understand (while maintaining the subject’s complexity) is fine. I refuse to sacrifice to the “play-in-a-day” Gods. Don’t think of the material in the book as “gospel”; I certainly don’t. There are more ways to explain it than what I had time to say in the book!
If you are not yet on board this Modal train, I encourage you to buy my book! If you think it will be too difficult for you, then you’re right. But let me ask: When do you think you will ever not feel it is too difficult if you don’t start somewhere? I promise, it starts out with the basics, based on things you most likely know and do already.
That is my “new perspective” on the Modes, but perhaps I should have named this essay An Evolving Modal Perspective.