I can relate to this. I was “bad” at math as a child, and was so bored by its basics or at least how they were taught. I never had a good foundation and so never got to takeTrig or Calculus in high school. Later, during my PHD studies, I discovered I was great at set theory, and went on to learn programming. I realized I was never “bad” at math. I was poorly taught. As a result, I had trouble holding numbers in my head to work with them.Now that I am “good” at math, I find this much easier.
I can say that Bandcamp made this release possible... it just got released this week! and this is a record that waited years to come out and is a big band featuring some of the best/most interesting jazz musicians in NYC - the compositions are incredible— https://andrew-dangelo.bandcamp.com/
An artist is always fundamentally speaking about themselves— they have no choice in this. Herzog’s self applied to various subjects is just really compelling.
Right, but then every company would just grow uberdevs and be chock full of awesome at some point, but it seems like that isn’t happening w these interns as often as would make the intern thing “worth it” for identifying future wonderdevs.
Interesting piece. Two things:
1. How do these few absolutely spectacular developers blossom into such impressive specimens of the lot? Why not get them before this happens and help them over the greatness threshold?
2. Isn’t there a kind of giant group of buried truffles that don’t fit the trad idea of what a great dev smells like? — so much so that you could identify this set with a couple of simple queries— a kind of sifting activity that would yield lots of truffles per square foot?
Shoot. I was trying to be supportive/positive. I have worked in many non-profits. I agree, writing virtuosity would be a tremendous asset in some of the jobs you mentioned. I have not yet encountered such skill in these realms. I’m all for bringing back literacy! Beautiful! But... unless one is employed at Harper’s or Granta, expect a less than orgasmic response to your stylish articulations. I’m still a fan of great writers.
Throughout grad school, I worked as a writing tutor to support my humanities habit. Each new class of high school seniors was less skilled —and even less interested— in writing than the last. These were kids with 3.9 GPAs who went to Dalton, Horace Mann, Brearly, Choate and similar. I think great writing is a valuable life skill. I wish I could see more real-life evidence that employers care about it in the real world. (hiring and advancement)
Wait...does anybody care about writing skills anymore? ——outside—or even inside—journalism? I wish they did. Writing seems to be treated like a 20th century skill of the uber-affluent layabout these days. I jump for joy when I stumble upon some great writing on the internet.
Classical/Lyrical/MT (what is MT?musical theater??)styles do not require "more" technique. They require different techniques that have a long pedagogical history. The style is not harder to teach. Classical music has many styles (Renaissance, Classical, Romantic, Chanson, Bel Canto...) and they are all as teachable as popular styles. I guess this bothered me because there is this incorrect hierarchy people ascribe to classical- like it's a higher art or something. This is misleading. I'm a classical musician. If anything, the "training" makes people think they need to ask permission for everything and keeps them chained to someone else's ideas and removes a lot of their own confidence. Then, they spend the rest of their life trying to undo this damage while they try to sing show tunes with some kind of relaxation "of the street" and without constant judging of themselves. See: Dawn Upshaw's popular musical recordings or Renee Flemming's.
I'm with you on "born with": Karen Carpenter, Barbara Streisand and Whitney... we will never have another of any of these ever again. But Louis Armstrong?-- a great great singer and incredible, towering musician by any measure-- doesn't have a naturally "beautiful" voice like them-- he basically plays a kind of voice trumpet using his vocal chords-- which is his personal, developed style- and it is SO compelling and multi-textured. That is practice, baby! That is being comfortable with your instrument and your own stylistic ideas and making stuff up within a style and context. Robert Plant? That is all about the gut of it- the raw impulse. The rock n roll. It's his commitment to the story and the song, but I won't at all agree that he was born with a gorgeous or even naturally interesting voice-- but he has developed a very clear artistic one-- developed-- practiced and imagined. Bob Dylan? He compels a lot of people to buy records and tickets. Tom Waits? Great singing is stylistic and conceptual artistry like Picasso or Sophie Calle. Most important thing about the singing: being comfortable with yourself and accepting who you actually are and loving the imperfections. That is so difficult, I know - it is what we all practice all the time. Once you feel comfortable- it is all about being vulnerable (being totally cool with making mistakes and being imperfect and unbeautiful) in front of many people and making them feel like you trust them with your mistakes and your imperfections and your story. That's the whole thing and the hardest part.
Incidentally, no matter how beautiful the "born with" part, some of those who are most "born with" that impossibly gorgeous tone quality have a much harder time than the rest of us with the accepting of themselves and their imperfections (few, if any in the vocal department) and being vulnerable and ok with who they are. In fact, in the case of Carpenter and Whitney- it killed them —they were unable to sustain this vulnerability.
To your question: "So you have taught someone to change the tone/quality of the voice they were given to the point where ppl pay to hear them sing?" Well, not to change it fundamentally, but to embody it and learn to enhance it and present it with skill and generosity so that others (collaborators, audience members) will be compelled/motivated/helped by its vulnerability, truth, intention and whatever it's about-- this is essentially my job as a teacher of music. Just an FYI--- music is not about who pays to hear it- that is not the mark of its power or greatness. Does it change your life? That's it! (People pay for some crazy bad stuff.)
Paul, this absolutely breaks my heart. Anyone can learn to sing in tune. I’ve taught kids and adults who are “tone deaf” to listen and sing/play in tune in weeks to months. It isn’t a magic trick, just listening and singing and listening and singing. Like algorithms- you break it down. There is no such thing as a bad voice— the best voice is when you sound like yourself: natural. No one is born knowing how to sing. we, all of us learn to sing by listening and imitating and singing a long—- its hours of practice. We are not born knowing how to talk either. Please try to sing again and don’t let the haters get you down.
You don’t need a teacher. Seriously. The teacher thing is not the mindset you seek. Or rather, your best teachers are the great musicians you listen to over and over and admire from recordings and from your life. Jerry Reed had his own very strange way of playing guitar- it was so cool, Elvis hired him to play guitar on a record because he could not reproduce it.
Find a group ( or start one!) that likes similar music or all types and sit in a room ( or zoom?) and play these songs together- everyone goes around the room taking solos, singing the tune, or whatever they want to do one time through the form. You will get comfortable with that, and you will learn new tunes!
BTW, this is how birds learn their calls! The only app or teacher or tuning device you will ever really need are your own ears. We musicians develop technique by training ourselves to listen and sing using our listening as the guide— this is how we improve. No person or device can do this for you— this is what singing is all about just like logic is what programming is all about. There is no shortcutting this— it is myelinating those nerve fibers through practice and listening and developing an opinion of your own about it. The mindset is not about getting a badge from a qualified judge— that judge is you and only you. The mindset is about adventure and experimentation and creativity and expression of style.
I’m a professional musician in NYC. I perform and record classical and “jazz” and compose music. I learned to code a while ago too.
Here are a few vocalists who “taught themselves” how to sing: Chet Baker, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Sheila Jordan, Blossom Dearie, Bob Dorough, James Taylor, Nelly McKay... even Barbara Streisand. (at first) I’d say all great singers play an instrument well, but Ella and Sheila didn’t, nor did Barbara. What do you like to sing? What do you want to do with it? Since you didn’t say “opera” and you called it “vocals”, I’m guessing you like pop or jazz or singer/songwriter stuff. If jazz, who is your hero? If they are alive, call them up for a lesson. I promise they will love to teach anyone with enthusiasm. I know, because I know this crowd of vocalists well. Where do you live? Looking past these times, it would be great for you to just go out and sing with a band every week. Every city has such a thing and it is usually a supportive group of people. Singers are great for that. But most impirtantly— apart from opera— there is no wrong way. we have mics now. Don’t worry about doing something “with bad habits”. The only important bad habit to avoid is to not try for fear of doing something wrong. I promise that there is no wrong if you listen, embrace mistake making and experiment with relish. That is how any great singer or musician does it. You don’t “need a teacher” but it’s fun to have someone to check in with. Better than a teacher— pick some songs you love, learn them and find a fantastic, professional accompanist who will play them with you once a week. (guitarist, bassist, or pianist— even vibes— a comping instrument, not a melody one)I could recommend actual people if I knew where you were. Just listen hundreds of times to great vocalists singing the same song. For example: How Deep Is The Ocean— Sheila Jordan, Chet Baker, Ella, ... anyone you love and imitate exactly how they sing it— note for note, bend for bend, even the scatting parts- especially those. Get the phone app: The Amazing Slow Downer and loop sections so you can sing exactly like them. This builds your ear and your technique. Obviously, you don’t want to sing the song like they do at all, but you want to learn from them. For more current singers—I’ve been digging Natalia Lafourcade recently, her phrasing is impeccable and natural. Nelly McKay is also such a natural singer- her If I had You is so perfect. Just put a little set together w a friend and go outside (10 ft apart) and sing to people walking by. That’s better than any teacher. I wish you great fun and encourage you to get singing ASAP! Cheers!
You may want to check this out- online classes from Berkeley- I saw that you were nearby... https://cjc.edu/workshops/
I know Kate McGarry and have heard Dena DeRose teach many times- both phenomenal singers and teachers of singing. Both classes look interesting! You could also email Kate or tweet to her to see if she might know a good accompanist or vocal teacher or if she herself does lessons outside the music school.
There is also SFConservatory, but I don't know the whole faculty there.
The Ayn Randian perspective isn’t all that helpful for those in protected classes, and the sunset of her life and career (depressingly) argued strongly against her theories re: ubermenschen...
It is ageism when a company would hire a 25 year old with the same skill set but would’t hire the 45 year old in those circumstances (or insert anyone in a protected class). The point is, they arehappy to invest in young ppl but not so-called “older” ones. The only way around this is collective action that includes the young- other industries have unionized and sued again and again w class actions to protect themselves and their futures. It’s how discrimination became “illegal”
Um, so you... failed to check a pretty glaring "edge case" is what you are saying? You maybe failed to optimize the solution, is what you are saying? Ok. Fortunately, this glitch— although certainly catastrophic— is a weakness in analysis and execution that can be practiced over time.
“Anyone who’s spent a few months at a sizable tech company can tell you that a lot of software seems to exist primarily because companies have hired people to write and maintain them. In some ways, the software serves not the business, but the people who have written it, and then those who need to maintain it. This is stupid, but also very, very true.“
This is exactly what happened to higher education. It seems to be a kind of entropy that signals that a system is in major need of complete overhaul so it can get back to doing what it was actually designed to do.