Today, we start the week off right (what?) with a classic rant.
Every few years, I have to let off a little steam, and aim squarely at all the misconceptions, half-truths, and lazy reasoning I see in my YouTube comments.
And as we head into summer, what better time than now.
Underneath the clickbait, the more subtle version of the argument is that there exist a number of statements that are true in some contexts, or even true most of the time, but which, to the wrong student at the wrong time, can be worse than no advice.
One of my favorites is “you should be able to play the simplest thing and still be interesting”. Sure, if we’re talking about Jack DeJohnette. But how is that going to land on a beginner who’s learning some basic jazz vocabulary, who by definition is least equipped to grasp all the subtleties - tension and release, touch, surprise, etc. - that make that Jack solo sit on a razor edge when he’s playing the simplest thing.
As I say in the video, sometimes “you should always season your food” is good advice. But said to a nervous culinary student with a gigantic salt shaker, who’s already added enough salt, maybe not so much.
It’s in this spirit that I examine 5 of my favorite hobby horses from YouTube comments over the years. People have been asking for more classic rants, so here you go.
Enjoy!