This is one of the best interviews Jeff has done. Btw, Jaco knew his notes. He knew his chord tones, arpeggios, chord progressions, how to read and write music, etc. He was what Mr. Berlin has been preaching to be for decades. A total musician. Now go practice
Jeff Berlin is a true teacher: this interview, like so many of his other ones, shows how patient and how much he wants to INSTRUCT, GUIDE, AND UNLOCK the student in his or her path. This interviewer was literally “schooled, and hopefully thanked him for the lesson! Lol
Listen to Jeff folks he's the real deal.. Jeff know better than anybody about music education and he can back it up with his fantastic compositions and beautiful playing..
I'm a guitar player, but I LOVED the exploration and interaction of this interview. Jeff is a really deep thinking teacher as well as a great musician, and I enjoyed the way he deconstructed many aspects of learning, particularly of how to come up that can become "something original"as part of your own playing. Very thought-provoking. Thank You also to the interviewer who did a fine job adjusting.
There are so many bassist with a collection of instruments and this is sometimes overwhelming. Jeff has I think only 2 basses that he works with and he has no problems. He keeps things simple and always plays amazingly! I love his bass tone and the melodic clarity in his solos.
Jeff Berlin is a genius. Teaching and learning is equally as difficult, yet Jeff is able to take both aspects into regard when processing and answering a question. His words are so inspiring, and provide knowledge to the extent that I always learn something new when he speaks. Incredible interview, thank you!
You've gotta love Jeff!! He's so honest in his approach and unapologetic about it. Jeff Berlin and Victor Wooten should team up because their approaches are so on opposite sides of the spectrum that musicians would benefit to the fullest.
You’re talking about two opposite personalities with different perspectives, why would you even suggest such a thing? What made you even think that would work?
Berlin presupposes the idea that there is not only a narrow path of education but a narrow path/definition of success. I think this is what Berlin, a brilliant musician and thinker, falters.
You can say the same exact thing Jeff about most of the great jazz musicians that ever lived, not just rock musicians regarding being self taught. The innovators of bebop, post bop, hard bop and beyond didn't learn or certainly shape, these musical vernaculars in a school or as a direct result of a curriculum they learned in a conservatory or music school. Miles Davis attended Julliard for a short time, but was very vocal about not learning in Julliard what he REALLY wanted to learn which was bebop and jazz. For that knowledge he went out every night to 52nd street in NYC and learned DIRECTLY from playing the music itself on GIGS, with its master, Charlie Parker. John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell, Joe Pass etc etc PRIMARILY learned how to improvise, and the language of jazz from PLAYING, not from a music school.
This is an incredible conversation. Around 34:00 they talk about mistakes, RU-vid performances, etc, and THAT is what makes me feel inferior. I always think they got it on the first take and why am I not that good after 35 years. Nope, it's NOT the first take.
Jeff’s the best! I remember in the 70’s he just kicked my EGO to threads I was never the same. I thought I was hot Stuff. They didn’t have RU-vid then a band member gave me a tape.I never had the right teacher an didn’t want to put in the time. Now at 65 I grew up and willing to learn just because I love it. Working thru Jeff’s book. Ow and will do the next. PS What a tone he gets!!!!!
And trying to make excuses for the sake of his pride while he’s also trying to make counterpoints and educate the master of teaching the craft in which he’s being interviewed about. Jeff may rub some people the wrong way but it’s only because the truth is sometimes brutal and he’s willing to be truthful. You have to respect that no matter your personal feelings, which are irrelevant in your path to enlightenment anyway and is absolutely your ego getting in the way of yourself.
@@michaelb.42112 no, but his musical genius and his ability to take the electric bass from just a supportive role to the forefront of the Jazz/Fusion movement in his debut album alone in 1975 is the beginning of the means to the end.
@@michaelb.42112 I know just by your comment that you have never heard the tune ‘I can dig it baby’ with Jaco in the pocket grooving hard from the first bar to the outro and I think you should at the very least be able to jump on that groove and play and improvise over all the changes before you get to start talking about it. I have a feeling that I’d be waiting a long time for you to come with it though. 🙄
What a nice person Jeff is in fact. I do appreciate the simplicity of his approach to teaching, learning and playing the bass guitar. What I don't agree with, though, is omitting a whole strand of musicality of playing one type of instrument as he and many others do with not following up with playing the fretless bass after Jaco. Trying to deny the laws of physics like playing a fretless instrument in tune or using the harmonic series that's inherent to a vibrating string might lead you to finding some new and unique to you thing, but it doesn't serve music in general.
Thelonius Monk didn't learn how he composed or how he played in a music school Mr. Berlin. it's not just rock musicians that are primarily self taught.
@@daevidintonti6931 YES YES ...... I am NOT recommending that music students don't go to music school. Ok??? What I am saying is, everyone is not a GENIUS, and there is nothing wrong with having a teacher and going to study music formally. What I am saying is that real musical GENIUSES are quite often more inclined to develop their genius on their own. Got it??
@@daevidintonti6931 That is not completely true. MANY great jazz musicians, particularly from the earlier parts of jazz's history, the 1920's, 30's, and 40's, were MOSTLY self taught. Yes, Bud Powell, Monk, Elmo Hope, and Walter Bishop definitely took piano lesson early, which includes CLASSICAL piano lessons at an early age, they MOSTLY arrived at their personal styles of playing and composing through their SELF study. Jazz music is ULTIMATELY about SELF learning and SELF teaching.
@@daevidintonti6931 No. Jaco is a TERRIBLE example for the argument you are making. JACO WAS THE ULTIMATE SELF-TAUGHT BRILLIANT YOUNG GENIUS WHO LISTENED TO TONS OF RECORDS AND ABSORBED AND FIGURED IT OUT ON HIS OWN! Yes he learned things from the people he played and worked with but that is not FORMAL music lessons. Again, GENIUS NEVER REQUIRES A SCHOOL! We're done here. There is your lesson....
Excellent debate on matters that should concern all musicians; pro or amateur, formally or self-taught, serious gigger or full loving garage-jammer. Thought provoking.
the thing about the 15" speaker and no tweeter the way I see it: (don't misunderstand me, I have a lot of respect for Jeff!!): if you put this kind of PU as close to this modern bridge as on this Cort bass, you don't use the other PU, you put steel roundwounds on it, than the bass in itself has a lot more highs than you would have with something like a P bass with flatwounds ... This means you don't need an amp that will make it sound even more clear, smaller speaker with tweeter would just be over the top with this bass ... (and this amp would probably be over the top with a P with flats ...)
Jeff è un bassista felice! Jaco era un bassista felice nonostante la sua malattia... Ci sono solo due tipi di bassisti! quelli infelici che non accettano la verità come quella di jeff berlin, arroganti e saputelli che danno lezioni di vita sui commenti e scrivono in stampatello maiuscolo. Poi ci sono quelli felici che accettano la verità superano i loro limiti imparano dai migliori... A chi devo credere a jeff o al primo signor nessuno di turno che si arrabbia per nulla quando gli dici un po' di verità. Io mi sento un bassista migliore solo vedendo la grande onestà, la grande dignità e la grande esperienza esprime il signor Berlin con il suo basso. Spero di poterlo vedere ora che passerà dall Italia.
Wow Jeff has patience with this KID plus wisdom. Jeff is it possible you could teach me how not to sound like him. As Pat Matheny said “ many bass players try to be a Jaco but never get there”.
Berlin’s thinking on education applies well to those who voluntarily choose to learn. For any curriculum that is “required” and involves no student choice, it does not apply.
I love Jaco tremendously, but on a personal level I think Stanley Clarke was equally if not more influential. No one has played as much bass as Stanley.
So I love Jeff as a personality and a generally convicted teacher. I Agree with him entirely as a teacher although not in his theory of art. Why are there artist who know nothing about music and brilliant musicians who can not create one thing memorable about what they do. I can not teach you a triad or chordal anything (can't instantly find every G up and down the bass I play for pure pleasure) yet if you ever want to learn how to create art call me. It is not inside you or in reverse, learning something is teaching your biology to do something to become habit or habitual. Learning art is to experience which is at the core all we are. That which experiences this shared reality. You can learn how this reality works or you can learn how to allow this reality to to deliver your experience. It is different. Art is not your thoughts your thoughts are simply what you feed your biology… Art, real magic, is communing… from the tide of death come the expression of knowing… That is ART! Meant to write depth not death (auto correct, God corrected or simply a happy accident that simply requires I judge its goodness)… Now I will never be asked to play on anyones record and likely my life work inside the arts will end up lost for ever yet in some small way the ethos will be forever change artfully for my existence… be a tool for others art or awake to become the tool to inspire or deliver…
I think Jeff has a very good point when he defends that learning music (learning the notes, melody, harmony, rhythm....) is far more essential and important than learning technical tricks or "chops". Because the technical approach to a certain music piece is part of the subjectivity of the artist. However, the interviewer has a good point, when Jeff criticizes Rock Schools. Then, by the same token, why are Jazz School good? And Jeff gave a poor answer. It took many many years after Jazz became a popular music style, for Jazz Schools to thrive. The same happens to Rock. Learning music on the context of classical music, is different from the Jazz context and from the Rock context. I don't see anything wrong with that. Again, Jeff has many good points. However, the way he makes those points sounds almost like dogmas.
Why did this dude put his fingers in quotations at 11:24 when he referred to Jeff being trained as a "classical musician"...as if it's something artificial? This dude pisses me off and u can see his ego and lack of humility while interviewing this legend.
Berlin is an electric bass legend. The interviewer over stresses Jaco as if Stanley Clarke, Larry Graham, or James Jamerson were influenced by Jaco. Young bass players need to discover beyond Jaco and do as Berlin said, " some self taught" discovery. Break from academia!
Huh, how many percent of the people educated in a jazz school "succeeded", relative to the discussion of the European rock schools? Being taught academic musical content, with the addition of the genre specific techniques and pitfalls seems like a good choice for one who isn't into jazz per se, but only studied it for the mathematical/musical content.
The young guy is so obsessed with trying to put himself in the same level as mr. Berlin that he comes across as foolish. Instead of looking so much at the ceiling, he should study harder and try to someday play, compose and arrange as good as Jeff, as well as play with the best musicians in the world as Berlin has.