Of course my definition of "hate" was much different in kindergarten or second grade. I hated jazz like I hated eating new foods; like I hated wearing three layers of tight, uncomfortable clothing when I wanted to play in the snow. Jazz was that extra hour I had to sit still in church, listening to an abstract message by the preacher. It was foreign and irritating. I didn't truly understand the genre, and I hated what I didn't know.
I clung to the common stigma that classified jazz as outdated and irrelevant to my generation. My naive understanding of music hadn't yet spread to the complexities of jazz. As a result, I was missing out on an entire social, historical, and musical culture that was more valuable than I could have anticipated. However, as fate would have it, a childhood filled with daily piano lessons, emphatic music teachers, and a willingness to learn would set me on a path of musical discovery that ultimately fostered my desire for higher learning and a diverse lifestyle.
The first jazz seed was planted by my energetic and passionate elementary music teacher, Mr. Smith. Pulling from his own prejudice, during class, he played soundtracks from films like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings; while the music was playing, he explained how a composer could tug at the emotions of an audience simply by creating a beautiful melodic contrast in the score. In his class, otherwise bland and repetitive tunes transformed into exciting and masterful pieces.
Near the end of fifth grade, our high school jazz band performed for us during a surprise assembly. As the students on stage mirrored Mr. Smith's passion, I felt something tug at me inside. I wanted to be on that stage with them. Listening to the classic tunes like "In the Mood" and "Sing Sing Sing", I was hypnotized by the blend of the sound and I felt a longing to share the buzz they got as they played.
That summer, Mr. Smith gave me my first jazz tunes to practice in hopes that one day I would join the band. When the desire was finally fulfilled in eighth grade, I remember that first day, sitting in the front row of the band, nervously waiting to begin. The fifty minutes that followed were filled with a freight train of color and emotions as music gushed out from the bells of the instruments. I distinctly remember my sensitive ear drums being especially sore for the remainder of the week.
Five years later, I still get that feeling when I play jazz. However, I've gained something even more valuable. As I began to understand jazz theory, I also started to see these connections between my experience in band and new areas of learning I might not have otherwise understood.
Recently, I've become absorbed in the realm of psychology and have begun to discover how elaborate and complicated it can be and how in many ways it relates to jazz. For example, just as a performer cannot construct the best solo without an advanced knowledge of say a blues scale, neither can a therapist help a patient if he or she does not have an in-depth understanding about the intricacies of a relationship. Jazz is like completing a complex mosaic in that, once one can comprehend the tie between the drummer and the pianist or between the baritone saxophone and the bass trombone, the overall picture becomes clearer and the music richer. In the same way, psychology must be approached from multiple angles to accomplish anything practical. I've come to see that both subjects have to be taken as comprehensive wholes, and by integrating the tools gained from one practice, a student becomes more successful in the other field of learning. In all cases, it is critical to look beyond one's understanding of the basic tune. A base knowledge is insufficient to master any significant area of higher learning.
Because of jazz, I feel empowered to delve into new horizons completely foreign to me. In the future, I hope to approach the unknown with less hesitancy and to ignore the social stigmas that may hold me back from discovering a breath of knowledge that might one day become a part of my identity. Regardless of the subject, it's my dream encounter another unique genre of learning that will give me the same impassioned feeling that consumes me whenever I play jazz.
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