1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,800 You are listening to the PianoPod, where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry 2 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:18,120 about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. 3 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,640 Last time we spoke to pianist Josh Massico about the current state of classical music 4 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,160 and how music education should be modernized. 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:30,120 And now, the conclusion. 6 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,240 I don't think the world needs another professional musician. 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,280 I think we already have a lot of those, right? 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:46,840 I'm interested in making a... and this sounds so stupid and idealistic, but like, I think 9 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,680 being a musical person and being a musician, we've compartmentalized it in a way that's 10 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,760 really unhealthy in our society, the way we've compartmentalized so many other things, right? 11 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,360 No one knows how to cook a meal without a recipe. 12 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,640 No one knows how to fix a broken pipe. 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,160 We just call someone to do that, right? 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,120 So I don't have to learn how to make music. 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:13,800 Making music is something we have done fundamentally before we had the ability to speak, right? 16 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:18,240 And in our first moments on this earth, it's something that connects us to other human 17 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:19,240 beings. 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,640 And oftentimes in our last moments on earth, it's something that connects us. 19 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,880 It's deeply elemental to who we are as people. 20 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:31,320 And again, I know that seems so highfalutin, but it's not, right? 21 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:37,960 So in the context of that understanding, I don't really give a shit if they're serious 22 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,580 classical pianists, you know what I mean? 23 00:01:40,580 --> 00:01:45,400 If they are, and I have students who are as middle school students and high school students, 24 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:46,960 I'm like, great, I know how to do that. 25 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,440 And I'm really into developing that skill. 26 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:56,440 And if they want to play good music and they have two hours a week to devote to practicing, 27 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:58,720 I have weeks where that's what I have to devote to practicing. 28 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,360 And I'm like a crazy practicer. 29 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,800 If you leave me alone, I will just do that all the time. 30 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,640 But I can't always because life, right? 31 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:18,480 And so again, I'm interested in cultivating my students' ability to not just to consume, 32 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,960 but to communicate as musicians. 33 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:24,240 And I take that word really seriously. 34 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,200 I think it's a word that we throw around, right? 35 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:27,200 Like I'm a musician. 36 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,480 I'm like, what does it mean to be a musician? 37 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:36,480 And that kind of gets to the conversation that we were having also about academic. 38 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,840 What does it mean to have musical training, to get a degree as a musician, to get credential 39 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,080 as a musician? 40 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:51,460 And yeah, I would argue that I don't have the answers, but I look at models, right? 41 00:02:51,460 --> 00:02:59,440 So there are classical musicians and jazz musicians and pop musicians and blues musicians 42 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,720 that I have emulated when I was a kid and that I aspire to sound like. 43 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:06,380 I mean, that's what you do, right? 44 00:03:06,380 --> 00:03:10,720 You listen to Glenn Gould and you go, how the hell is he doing that? 45 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:11,720 Right? 46 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:17,440 What is he making a sound that is so completely him and doesn't sound like anyone else? 47 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:18,440 Right? 48 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:19,440 What are his tricks? 49 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:20,440 What's happening in his brain? 50 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:21,840 You know, it's not genius. 51 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,280 He's making decisions. 52 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,200 You know, I hate that word genius or talent. 53 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,760 Those are words that just like, oh God, you know, like, like every time we have a meeting 54 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,200 people or have a concert and people are like, oh, our music faculty is so talented. 55 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,200 I'm like, no, we're not. 56 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:36,640 We're work hard at this. 57 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,520 You know, we don't talk about your talented, you know, biology professors. 58 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,720 It's a completely ridiculous word. 59 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:51,320 So yeah, I remember listening to, you know, I had Preludes and Fugues, Glenn Gould and 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,120 one of the records or two of the records that my family had. 61 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:55,720 I remember listening to that. 62 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,480 And you know, I learned, I don't know, probably half of them as a kid by just listening to 63 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:06,300 Glenn Gould, you know, and like what an amazing model of musicianship to listen to. 64 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:11,320 So the long winded point I was going to make is when I look at those people, I look at 65 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:17,920 the composers, you know, like, like I just adore Chopin, you know, I completely adore 66 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:22,040 Poulenc and Ravel. 67 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:28,360 And these are all musicians that prioritized the same set of skills that B.B. 68 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,600 King prioritizes, the same set of skills that Bill Evans prioritizes, right? 69 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:39,680 They prioritizing creating a truly unique and individualized sound, right? 70 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:44,880 As an instrumentalist, as a singer, as a composer, they work hard to do that. 71 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:49,800 And they learn how to do that by emulating the sounds of others. 72 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:55,280 So those are things that all of those people did. 73 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:59,380 And I feel like we've gotten really far away from that. 74 00:04:59,380 --> 00:05:04,520 You know, we've, we've, my one of my jazz colleagues calls it bigger, louder, faster, 75 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:05,520 right? 76 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,080 Like at some point, classical musicians decided that bigger, louder, faster is the way they 77 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:10,080 want it to go. 78 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:11,080 Right. 79 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,920 I can play this piece bigger, louder and faster than you. 80 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:20,160 But you know, like, do you actually have something really unique and new to say about it? 81 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:25,440 You know, why are you playing a cadenza that's 200 years old? 82 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:31,760 You know, like there are all of these things that are happening. 83 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,360 And we're like, no one's sort of fundamentally asking the question of like, well, why, why 84 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,920 have we gotten so far away from that? 85 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,960 You know, I mean, that's why I always call myself a classical music hack. 86 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:49,680 Not because like I can't hang technically with, with my peers, but that like, well, 87 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:50,680 yeah. 88 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:55,640 But when I improvise a cadenza, it sounds like, so like I have to work at it, right? 89 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,640 Like I've done that before I've written out a cadenza and like, you know, but I have to 90 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,960 sit there and like do my homework and work at it and emulate it and develop it. 91 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:09,720 And like, I have people I went to school with who do that for a living, right? 92 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:17,120 Like they go on a forte piano and with the symphony and they play a Mozart concerti and 93 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,000 they stand up in all the two D's and they conduct it. 94 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,360 And then they sit down and improvise the cadenza and they do that like every night in a different 95 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:23,360 city. 96 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:24,720 I'm like, that's a musician, man. 97 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,680 Like that's someone I want to sound like. 98 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,840 That's someone I want to be around. 99 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:38,400 And that drive, I think to gravitate towards that excellence, no matter what your genre, 100 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,300 no matter what your passion. 101 00:06:40,300 --> 00:06:47,240 And also to see like, like how do you not listen to Bill Evans at town hall and be like, 102 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,680 just moved to complete tears about what he's doing at an instrument to hear the simplest 103 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:52,680 idea. 104 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,120 I mean, if you've ever tried to sit down with your left hand and play Bill Evans voicings, 105 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:57,600 like you'll just, you'll stop. 106 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:58,600 It's ridiculous. 107 00:06:58,600 --> 00:06:59,920 It's a complete tonal language. 108 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:01,120 That's all his own. 109 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,960 That is completely a lineage from Debussy and Ravel to Bill Evans. 110 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,560 And why aren't classical musicians learning Bill Evans transcriptions? 111 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,540 Makes you objectively a better pianist. 112 00:07:13,540 --> 00:07:18,640 So there are these things where I think that's kind of where the fire needs to go. 113 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,080 And I have faith that if that's what we're chasing, right? 114 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:30,000 Like if we're chasing, here are people who are just, sorry, here are people who are great 115 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,920 at what they do. 116 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:42,120 They are undeniable communicators and they have a mastery and an ownership and they have 117 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:43,900 something to say. 118 00:07:43,900 --> 00:07:45,520 And what can we learn from them? 119 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:53,380 And if everything radiates from that as a musician, then I think that takes you to places 120 00:07:53,380 --> 00:07:59,500 where you have endless possibility, right? 121 00:07:59,500 --> 00:08:05,700 But if you shut all that out and say, if only I can get my fingers to move faster, or if 122 00:08:05,700 --> 00:08:15,400 only I can play this at a certain BPM, or if only I can execute this passage flawlessly 123 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:25,680 every time instead of 96% of the time, or if only I can play this concerti that I've 124 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,800 been learning for eight months. 125 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:37,260 I think that's kind of like the warrior athlete thing. 126 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:41,160 It's piano gymnastics, it's not being a musician. 127 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:46,940 And it's impressive, it undeniably produces a product that does impress a certain kind 128 00:08:46,940 --> 00:08:51,780 of person and does create an experience. 129 00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:58,000 But I think that experience is devoid of often of human connection, of sort of the basic 130 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:02,600 elements of what it means to communicate, not only as a musician, but just as like a 131 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,240 person living in the world. 132 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,360 Sorry, I'm getting like really deep. 133 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:15,520 But you know, honestly, we all are aware of that in a certain level as musicians, as classical 134 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,720 musicians, even as listeners. 135 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:25,840 But somehow we are in denial too, we totally ignore the part, and then still have this 136 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:32,680 traditional approach to music, education, music lessons. 137 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:37,680 And so, yeah, it's very interesting to hear. 138 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:44,720 So you're also a very devoted teacher, and I'm sure your students feel fortunate to have 139 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:46,720 you as a teacher. 140 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,320 No, always. 141 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:50,320 Okay. 142 00:09:50,320 --> 00:10:00,480 But so what do you have any advice to young generations of musicians and music students? 143 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:06,880 Yeah, well, I mean, you were right on saying the thing that I was going to say, which is 144 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:08,840 like when conversations are great, right? 145 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,720 They're like improvised banter. 146 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,680 But yeah, and that's like, what an opportunity. 147 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:21,600 I think one of the things that terrifies classical musicians or musicians that have had the rigors 148 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,680 of training is like, well, where do I start? 149 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:28,600 If I want to learn by ear, if I want to learn how to improvise, or I want to learn music, 150 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,680 what do I do? 151 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:36,160 And teaching is such a great toolbox, right? 152 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,760 It's such a great way to try that out, right? 153 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:48,840 Okay, so I'm not going to play the Faber duet in book one for the 79th time, right? 154 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,920 What if I play something else? 155 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:53,200 What's the worst that's going to happen? 156 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:58,320 There's a seven-year-old kid, they're worried about, is their hand in the right place? 157 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,480 Am I counting my half notes as long as I should? 158 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,160 They do not care what you're playing. 159 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:10,560 So that's an opportunity that you can just experiment, right? 160 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:17,440 Or okay, I mean, I know there are certain types of more traditional teachers who get 161 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:22,200 upset when their students pick up other instruments or get upset when their students play in jazz 162 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:23,200 band, right? 163 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:24,760 Like, oh, cool, okay. 164 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,800 Maybe you don't really know about improvising, but okay, here's this fifth grader who just 165 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:34,320 started their first year in jazz band, and their teacher gave them a chart that has tenths 166 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:35,320 in it. 167 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:36,320 Like, what do we do? 168 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,520 You know, like, how do we make that work? 169 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:41,960 Or there are four bars where there are just slashes on it and the student doesn't know 170 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:42,960 what to do. 171 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,600 I don't know, like, let's maybe look at the rhythms that are happening in the trumpet 172 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:50,080 part and copy them on the chord shape that they already know, you know? 173 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:56,320 So those are like just, those are great, simple ways to do that, and they're very low stress. 174 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:04,080 But I, you know, I think the other sort of answer to that too, is, you know, I, again, 175 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,960 like, I always am striving to be a better musician. 176 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,780 It's not something that like, I want to happen. 177 00:12:10,780 --> 00:12:13,420 It's something I will to happen, you know? 178 00:12:13,420 --> 00:12:18,800 So yeah, I work on new classical music and literature and expanding my horizons there. 179 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,920 Like, I work on improvising, you know? 180 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,520 Most of my playing at home sucks. 181 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,040 It sounds bad, right? 182 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:33,360 Like I'm intentionally taking the solo to a place that I know is going to end in a freaking 183 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:34,360 train wreck. 184 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:35,880 But like, I have to go there, right? 185 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:41,720 I have to see what happens and sometimes cool things happen on your way to the morgue, right? 186 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,680 Like you kind of find something that's interesting and then you can kind of go back and develop 187 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:46,680 that. 188 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:51,080 And that's a process that's completely analogous to being a classical musician, right? 189 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,040 Like you're working on a passage and we've all had that thing where like you play the 190 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:58,200 passage 27 times and it still sounds like trash and you don't know why. 191 00:12:58,200 --> 00:12:59,680 You get frustrated at it. 192 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:00,680 And what do you do? 193 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,720 Like, okay, you start in a different place and you're like, oh, I can play it from here 194 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:04,720 just fine. 195 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,200 Okay, well, why is that happening? 196 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,400 Like, oh, like if I rotate my hand just a little bit, then like suddenly I can reach 197 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,960 that different angle and then it makes my returning angle like way more effective. 198 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:14,960 Oh, wait, oh, cool. 199 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,080 Now I can magically play that, right? 200 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,480 And so the teacher in you goes, oh, okay, that's something I need to think about next 201 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,880 time I have a student struggling with the passage like that, you know? 202 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:29,120 So teaching is this great thing where there, I think when it's working best, there's this 203 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:33,480 constant like exchange of ideas and experimentation. 204 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,760 I think it's why I like it so much, right? 205 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:41,280 Because like that's the place I feel really comfortable as a musician, right? 206 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:42,840 I really like the process. 207 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:48,000 I really like sucking until I don't suck as much, right? 208 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,000 Like that's what's really, it's like, like the concert that actually happens is like, 209 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,760 oh, cool, that will happen. 210 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:54,760 You know what I mean? 211 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:55,900 Like that's, that's the thing. 212 00:13:55,900 --> 00:14:01,920 But like, I love the experience of connecting with people, but the actual like performing 213 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:06,480 of the product I've worked so hard towards is like, that's, that's, I don't know, 10% 214 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:07,480 of it. 215 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:08,480 You know what I mean? 216 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,560 It's, that's not the stuff that I love. 217 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:18,040 So I think that's why teaching is so interesting and why, you know, it can be also, I think, 218 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,860 so challenging if you're used to being fairly like prescriptive and sort of being told what 219 00:14:22,860 --> 00:14:25,460 to do and how to manipulate things. 220 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:28,480 And then you get a human being in front of you. 221 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,760 And you try to have the same prescription except like, it's not working. 222 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:34,760 What do we do? 223 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:35,760 You know? 224 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:41,240 So I think there's an incredible opportunity for musicians to sort of use teaching as a 225 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:42,240 toolbox. 226 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,600 Like it's like, you know, there's this thing I think I remember when I started teaching 227 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,400 like, oh my God, if I say or do the wrong thing, I'm going to ruin this child in front 228 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:50,400 of me. 229 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:51,400 Like kids are resilient. 230 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:52,400 They're great. 231 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,040 They're going to figure it out. 232 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,960 You know, like you can't ruin a kid. 233 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,280 Like it's like a ridiculous thing that we think of. 234 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:04,360 So just try and be, be humble and like, okay, let me try. 235 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:08,640 And then the other part of that is I think classical musicians kind of need to get over 236 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:16,000 that hump that we have that like being good at something doesn't entitle you to be good 237 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,840 at everything. 238 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:28,200 And so yeah, go improvise on a two chord song and sound bad because everyone who you hear 239 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,720 that sounds good at it spent hours sounding bad on a two chord song. 240 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:35,040 You know, like you're not special because you went to school. 241 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,500 You don't get to like pass that step automatically. 242 00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:41,640 And I think so if you take some humility with it, like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to 243 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,840 play an awful, terrible solo and I'm going to do that, but I'm going to do it like every 244 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,440 day for 20 minutes. 245 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:53,440 Like if, if everyone did that in six weeks, they would blow themselves away at what they 246 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,600 had to say at an instrument. 247 00:15:55,600 --> 00:16:00,600 And it like sometimes really like frankly pisses me off that classical musicians don't 248 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,440 do that because I'm like, well, the second you start like channeling your brain that 249 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:11,240 way, like then you get to go like, Oh, Hey, Hey, look, you already have all this amazing 250 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:12,240 facility. 251 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,880 Now you can say anything you want to say. 252 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:21,600 Like, like as a kid who, who like heard these things and had to teach themselves, like I 253 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,800 had to teach myself technique to be able to play the things I wanted to play. 254 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,520 And now many classical musicians are in the place where like, well, here's all the technique. 255 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:31,780 Like you can play anything you want to play. 256 00:16:31,780 --> 00:16:34,760 All you have to do is be interested in developing something to say. 257 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,080 And then like, there you go. 258 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:38,080 Right. 259 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:44,680 So that's like, that's a, again, it's like having that humility of just, okay, I'm not 260 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:45,680 good at this, right? 261 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,840 Like I'm not good at transposing. 262 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:48,920 Let me work at it. 263 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:56,040 You know, I did this silly thing where like, I took a, I took 81A and I was like, this 264 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,960 like five or six years ago, I was like, I'm going to learn how to play the first movement 265 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:02,220 in every single key. 266 00:17:02,220 --> 00:17:09,800 You know, like I should be able to do that, you know, and like you learn a lot doing that, 267 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:16,640 you know, you learn that like, I am really not as good at G sharp as I thought I was, 268 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:17,640 right? 269 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,320 I'm just not as good at it. 270 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,720 And then you also learn some amazing things about the timbre of your instrument, like 271 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,880 what you know, you know why Chopin's writing this nocturne in C minor and not in C sharp 272 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,960 minor, you know, but like you kind of take it for granted and you start playing things 273 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:40,520 and you're like, oh, that B section sounds frigging awful in this key, right? 274 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,100 It's like teeny and it doesn't connect and like, oh, okay. 275 00:17:44,100 --> 00:17:45,960 So like key really matters. 276 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:51,300 And then your brain goes, oh, so like when they modulate, they're really thinking not 277 00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:53,960 just about like, you know, I hate that about theory. 278 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,000 They're like, well, everyone got bored about moving to the five chord and now we're going 279 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,440 to move to the three chord, right? 280 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,360 Like, no, they're thinking about it as creatives. 281 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:06,400 Like I want to make this feeling, you know, I want this harmony to cut and hit in a way 282 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:10,080 that just like interrupts you or catches you off guard. 283 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,920 And this is the key it has to happen in not like, and then they work backwards. 284 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:14,920 Okay. 285 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:15,920 How the heck do I get to this key? 286 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:16,920 Okay, cool. 287 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,400 I'm going to take this thing even like turned upside down and then we'll do a sequence and 288 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,920 then we're going boom, we're there, you know, but it's not like, well, I went to the five 289 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:30,160 chord in the last four movements and now like, that's not no, because again, like, you know, 290 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:35,280 I have a, I have a colleague that I won't name whose joke was like, you know, theory 291 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,280 is not music. 292 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,920 It's music that exists only in theory. 293 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:38,920 Right. 294 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,120 It's like, but I mean, I love theory. 295 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:45,680 I love having a language that I can label something that I know. 296 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:46,680 Right. 297 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:53,280 But I think there's real danger in labeling things that we don't know that we don't experience 298 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,260 first that we don't have emotional connections to. 299 00:18:56,260 --> 00:19:02,240 And I find in my own collegiate teaching, like my students will get really overwhelmed 300 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,160 with the amount of labeling that is imposed upon them. 301 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,160 Right. 302 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,540 Like all of the labels that they have to know and all of the ideas that they have to know. 303 00:19:11,540 --> 00:19:14,840 And then they get in front of the instrument and they're like, well, I don't, there are 304 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,840 too many labels here. 305 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,840 And I mean, that's like, that's what's great about this thing. 306 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:28,440 Like we forget this thing instantly, you can make a beautiful sound on, you can also make 307 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,840 a polyphonic sound on, right? 308 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:35,520 It's an incredible, incredible thing to say, okay, wait, hold on. 309 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:44,240 So like, if I just take a D to D scale, like I can play a chord, like, wait, and then I 310 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,240 can just move that shape anywhere on the keyboard. 311 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,640 And it sounds cool. 312 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:58,200 Wait, I can play a different bass note and play the same chords anywhere. 313 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:06,160 Wait, I can do that endlessly and it sounds really neat. 314 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,160 Right. 315 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:24,320 And I can develop ideas and themes and you don't have to be a pianist to be able to do 316 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:25,320 that. 317 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,120 Like what a gift, you know, I need to know one shape. 318 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:30,120 That's it. 319 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:34,080 And I just need to move that shape around. 320 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:41,080 It's I'm getting, you know, horribly off topic, which my students always say I do. 321 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,200 But that's where all the interesting stuff is anyway, right? 322 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:48,520 So I mean, those are amazing opportunities that you have, like every day you wake up, 323 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:53,440 you know, so it's like every day I wake up and I'm practicing Bach because practicing 324 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,680 Bach makes me a better person and musician, right? 325 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,360 And every day I wake up, like I'm practicing improvising, right? 326 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,200 And every day I wake up, I practice songwriting, right? 327 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,080 And like what comes out is often crap, right? 328 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,560 It's like what is this thing, you know? 329 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:13,160 But every now and then something really cool happens, you know, I find like I try to go 330 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,560 to my instrument early in the morning and late at night because I find that's when I'm 331 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,960 less judgmental of myself, you know, like there are certain things I'll sit down and 332 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:25,400 play or certain things I'll sit down and sing that just feel right and feel comfortable. 333 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:30,640 And so I find like, oh, I'm you know, if I do that at two, then I have that voice inside 334 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,320 my head that's like, why did you do that? 335 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,860 That's awful, you know, and as an improviser, you learn really quickly, like that voice 336 00:21:36,860 --> 00:21:44,440 is really helpful when I'm like 90% there, that voice is destructive at any time before 337 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:45,440 that. 338 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,520 So you kind of learn to like shut that that part of your brain up. 339 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:55,760 But I think we're still like we're in a very uncertain, judgmental place in the world right 340 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,360 now. 341 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:02,520 So you know, a lot of what I practice with my students, we did this thing where like 342 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:09,520 I had my students in my class last semester, like, okay, you know what, five minutes of 343 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,360 every class and, you know, like, I work really hard to create cultures where where students 344 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:21,220 feel like they can experiment and mess up and fail and that we embrace that. 345 00:22:21,220 --> 00:22:23,240 Because I do that all the time with them. 346 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,920 And I think it's really important that they feel comfortable doing that. 347 00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:33,280 Because you know, this as a teacher, you know, clinicians know this as music therapists, like, 348 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,920 the second you start teaching the second you put a human being in front of you, it is no 349 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,320 longer about your musicianship or your pianism or your skill. 350 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,460 It's about the person in front of you. 351 00:22:42,460 --> 00:22:46,000 Who cares if you're playing wrong notes, you need to just shut that part. 352 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,240 Who cares if like that voicing wasn't good, or you played at the wrong dynamic or your 353 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:50,240 timing was off? 354 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,940 Like, no, it's not about you. 355 00:22:52,940 --> 00:22:55,360 It's about the person in front of you. 356 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:59,680 So I work really hard to make that culture and develop that culture. 357 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:05,160 But you know what we did, because my students were so hurting for community and culture. 358 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,920 And so we just did a thing like the first five minutes of, you know, every zoom session 359 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,520 was like, hey, all right. 360 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,880 I want you I would give them like very simple stipulations. 361 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,440 And I want you to develop an idea over the course of this next week. 362 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,140 And then we're just going to all listen to you and completely interrupted. 363 00:23:22,140 --> 00:23:23,480 You have five minutes. 364 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,000 You can play for 30 seconds. 365 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,920 You can play for four minutes and 50 seconds. 366 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:28,920 It doesn't matter. 367 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:34,960 But like, I want you to present an idea musically based on these little stipulations that I 368 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:41,000 give them, you know, and that was really meaningful to them. 369 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Yeah. 370 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,320 And I'm sure they're having so much fun just doing these exercise, right? 371 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:51,720 Not just, you know, you're not just a piano teacher says, go back home and practice, you 372 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,120 know, this five minutes, that two hours. 373 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:55,120 Right. 374 00:23:55,120 --> 00:24:00,400 So it becomes like a real opportunity for them to to experience musicianship. 375 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,160 I know we're running out of time, Josh. 376 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,320 And this is such a good conversation. 377 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,200 But I do have a burning question that I've been wanting to ask. 378 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:13,880 And so with all this that you've been sharing with us, what is what are some good artists 379 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:21,120 or artists or groups that you personally respect or admire that, you know, you would recommend 380 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,120 to your students? 381 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,680 Because, you know, there are some of them out there. 382 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:31,040 But sometimes, you know, what the students were, I think for me, even, you know, because 383 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:38,760 of the culture I grew up with, like I, I realized I had to relearn who I should respect or, 384 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,140 you know, having critical judgment on why, you know. 385 00:24:43,140 --> 00:24:44,760 So what's your take? 386 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,120 Yeah, I'm going to go really high level on you. 387 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:49,120 And I'm really sorry. 388 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:57,080 So like one of my educational heroes is John Dewey, you know, and and experience in education. 389 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:02,120 And so, you know, a really revolutionary idea of John Dewey's at the turn of the century 390 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:09,640 was that, you know, before before John Dewey was writing, you know, we sort of saw students 391 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:14,080 as like sponges, right, like memorize a lot of facts and practice memorizing that and 392 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:15,600 then regurgitate that information. 393 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:16,920 And that's what learning is. 394 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:17,920 Right. 395 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:22,880 And so John Dewey was was really revolutionary in saying that, like, what's our job as educators 396 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:29,680 to meet students where they already are on their journey as as formed people, right, 397 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:39,140 as people with opinions and values and beliefs and loves and interests and to learn who those 398 00:25:39,140 --> 00:25:40,480 people are. 399 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,720 And then like that juncture is where we start the process. 400 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:45,720 Right. 401 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:53,680 And what I always say is there's great music being made everywhere, all the time, every 402 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,160 day in every genre. 403 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:57,520 Right. 404 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,360 And you're all great musicians. 405 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:00,360 Right. 406 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:06,720 So listen to your students and listen to what they listen to and start there. 407 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:14,060 You know, I love that there's like my musical world is ever expanding because of my students, 408 00:26:14,060 --> 00:26:18,600 you know, because they're bringing in things constantly for me to listen to. 409 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,160 But I also am able to like, hey, here's the stuff like, oh, you like this, you know, like 410 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,560 you should listen to this. 411 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:29,600 I mean, like it blows my mind that that I can teach an 18 year old who's never heard 412 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,440 Sarah Vaughn sing, you know, like that blows my mind. 413 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,800 But what a gift that I'm the person at that moment is like, oh, if you listen to April 414 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,040 in Paris, listen to how Sarah Vaughn phrases that melody, you know, and I have students 415 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:46,040 that just literally in front of class just break down crying the first time they've heard 416 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,840 someone sing like that because they've never heard someone make a sound out of their mouth 417 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,320 hole that sounds like that. 418 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,460 Right. 419 00:26:53,460 --> 00:26:57,320 And I remember that feeling, you know. 420 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,560 And so, yeah, I mean, I think that that's where I would start. 421 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:07,440 I would start from from a place where your students, I mean, like, like, like the joke 422 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:14,120 I always make with my students is like, you know what I would I would I would probably 423 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:20,840 commit all kinds of illegal acts to have access to the technology that my students have. 424 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:21,840 Right. 425 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:26,960 Like when I was a kid and I heard a song like I had to go back and like move the needle 426 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:34,360 and listen to it again or I had to go to the library like you can go on YouTube and listen 427 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:40,600 to like this same artist perform their song eight different ways and then listen to 30 428 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:41,600 covers of it. 429 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:42,600 Right. 430 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:51,600 Like there's a plug in on Chrome that will connect to Spotify or to YouTube that will 431 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:56,800 transpose any recording so that you can play along to it in a different key. 432 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,840 And it will also like you can set up a loop like, OK, here's the 15 seconds I want to 433 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:08,840 hear and I want to hear it up a whole step and I want to hear it endlessly. 434 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:15,200 Like I would be a ridiculously better musician if I had access to that kind of technology. 435 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,440 So I always tell my students, I'm like, just just go down the YouTube rabbit hole. 436 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,240 Like just just do that, you know, because like that will change your life. 437 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,620 I mean, it really, really will. 438 00:28:26,620 --> 00:28:31,120 So I know that's not like giving specific artists, but I just like like right next to 439 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:37,660 you is six stacks or six long wooden boxes of LPs. 440 00:28:37,660 --> 00:28:41,040 And they're loosely sorted by genre. 441 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,920 But like I listen to everything, you know. 442 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:51,120 So my my musical taste, like chances are my students always like make fun of me because 443 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:53,960 they'll like mention some song and I'll just start playing it. 444 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,960 And they're like, oh, Massico, you know, the songs. 445 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,960 Well, no, it's just like something happens in your brain when you've learned and sang 446 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:05,600 thousands of songs where like you hear another song, you hear a new song and you're like 447 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,520 your brain just kind of subconsciously goes, oh, it's like that other song I know. 448 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,100 And then like you just start making those kind of assumptions, which makes music really 449 00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:16,800 cool because then like you'll get halfway through the course and you're like, oh, oh, 450 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:17,800 cool. 451 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,560 They go to like flat seven here. 452 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:20,560 That's weird. 453 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,840 You know, like you just kind of you start to hear those little things or you start to 454 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:29,280 hear like my wife's like a beautiful singer and she grew up listening to Joan Baez and 455 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:30,280 Emily Harris. 456 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:31,280 Right. 457 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:35,560 So if you listen to how Emily Harris sings a harmony part and like you can kind of follow 458 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:40,440 along and then like seven notes into it, you're like she's singing a major second with the 459 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,760 melody like who would choose that note? 460 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:44,480 And it's like transcendent. 461 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:45,480 It sounds amazing. 462 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:50,480 And it makes her harmony part sound different than anyone else's harmony part. 463 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:51,480 You know. 464 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,920 So you just hear these little things and your ear kind of goes, oh, cool. 465 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:58,480 You know, like I grew up listening to Randy Newman, you know, like go listen to a Randy 466 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:02,480 Newman strings chart on like one of his records from like the 70s or 80s. 467 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:07,840 Like I defy you to hear like there's a reason he writes Disney music now. 468 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:08,840 Right. 469 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,480 Like no one can score a string chart better than Randy Newman. 470 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:13,480 Like no class. 471 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:19,160 Like I haven't heard a modern classical composer like score something with that level of intent 472 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:20,160 and artistry. 473 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,520 Like it's it's exceptional if you really sit down there and listen to it. 474 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,200 You're like, oh, this is this is a perfect chart. 475 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,880 It's there's you couldn't do this better or like Nelson Riddle. 476 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:30,880 Right. 477 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,520 Listen to those Sinatra arrangements and like listen to Nelson Riddle scoring. 478 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,360 Like, oh, this is perfect. 479 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,960 Like no, I can't do any better than this. 480 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:43,200 Like, you know, so that's that's I know, like I'm like a really long long answer to question, 481 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,320 but that's kind of where I start. 482 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:49,800 I have music personally that I that I love and that has been the soundtrack of my life. 483 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:55,000 Like I'm doing this Jackson Brown show and, you know, I I remember hearing late for this 484 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,400 guy when I was seven years old and like the first time, you know, that piano that comes 485 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:01,400 in. 486 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:08,400 There's a harmony part. 487 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:23,520 It's a Hammond organ that goes on. 488 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:24,520 Right. 489 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,960 You have this whole thing that is like there's a song that just transports you. 490 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,160 Ken Bruschett, who is my publisher for my book, has this great, elegant thing. 491 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:42,320 And I'm going to butcher it completely where he says that that songs are the the the soundtracks 492 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:49,240 to our lives, you know, and as we age, that that soundtrack changes and it takes on different 493 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:50,240 meaning. 494 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:55,760 And the the whole point of what he was saying, and I take this as a performer, but also as 495 00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:01,480 a teacher really seriously that, you know, like at any point, a song that you're performing 496 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:11,000 or that you're working on could be the song or the piece that is the most meaningful piece 497 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,480 of music for another human being. 498 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:19,960 And like, what an awesome, intimate, deeply meaningful responsibility to be in this position 499 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:26,400 as a musician where like I can be part of the moment that transports someone 40 years 500 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:27,400 ago. 501 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:28,400 Right. 502 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:33,720 It's like the first concert they ever went to as a 19 year old or the first kiss they 503 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:35,880 had in the back of their parents' car. 504 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:42,440 Like music can do that to us in a way that like poetry and literature can't quite, you 505 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:44,240 know. 506 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,200 And that's why I'm a musician. 507 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:53,000 That's why I made really stupid life decisions to do this thing. 508 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:57,560 So that's almost like a perfect answer, really. 509 00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:58,560 Yeah. 510 00:32:58,560 --> 00:32:59,560 You're in good company. 511 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:00,560 We all did the same thing. 512 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:01,560 That's right. 513 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:06,560 I try to take that seriously, is the, you know, is that sort of like, the thing that 514 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:07,560 I think about all the time. 515 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:12,280 Well, in the end, we're responsible of building their curiosity, right, as a teacher. 516 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:18,040 And that, you know, they can be as good as a machine really, but if there's no curiosity, 517 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,400 it's just never going to flourish. 518 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,880 So rapid fire. 519 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,560 You ready for rapid fire questions? 520 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:30,640 All right, key is short, one word answers whenever possible. 521 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,680 I know that's your forte. 522 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:39,080 So, first question, number one, what is your comfort food? 523 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:40,080 Red beans and rice. 524 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,080 Nice. 525 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,960 Number two, cats or dogs? 526 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:45,600 Cats. 527 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:53,600 What is your word or words to live by? 528 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:59,320 Be humble and always be curious. 529 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,720 Excellent. 530 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,480 And what is the most important quality you look for in other people? 531 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,680 Humility and curiosity? 532 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:21,760 No, I mean, I'm an empath, you know, like I think I really want to relate to people. 533 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:28,760 And so when people are kind, as corny as that sounds, are empathetic, like those are the 534 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,040 people that I gravitate towards as musicians, as human beings. 535 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:36,760 Like that's kind of those are the people I want to surround my life with. 536 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,520 Yeah, totally. 537 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:39,520 All right. 538 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,920 And what is the worst quality in people you want to avoid? 539 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,960 Arrogance? 540 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:46,960 Great. 541 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,680 All right. 542 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,800 All right, my turn. 543 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:57,280 Name three people who inspire you, living or dead? 544 00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:58,280 Musically or otherwise? 545 00:34:58,280 --> 00:34:59,280 Anyone. 546 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:00,280 Okay. 547 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:01,280 Your choice. 548 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:05,040 Geez, that's such a hard question to answer. 549 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:09,040 I know I have to keep it short. 550 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:16,480 My grandfather, who passed away when I was 13, was a really big influence in my life 551 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,520 as a human being and as a fellow creative. 552 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:28,920 And musically, geez, I don't know. 553 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,960 It changes all the time. 554 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:44,220 So I'm going to totally cop out and not mention musicians and mention my wife. 555 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:45,220 She's number two. 556 00:35:45,220 --> 00:35:48,400 Though she is a musician. 557 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:56,800 She is the reason I'm not adrift at sea most of the time. 558 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:02,160 And I don't know, a third person. 559 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:14,680 The very, very first recording I can ever remember hearing was the opening of Paul McCartney's 560 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,240 singing Never Give Me Your Money. 561 00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:20,520 It's like, Paul McCartney's voice has always been in my head as long as I can remember. 562 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:21,520 So I don't know. 563 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,520 He's another person that comes to mind right now. 564 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:25,520 All right, great. 565 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,000 All right, next question. 566 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:32,000 Which historical figure or composer do you want to learn or take lessons from if she 567 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,000 or he were alive? 568 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,760 Oh, man. 569 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:41,560 I mean, there's so many. 570 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:50,560 I would love to sit down with so many of them, but yeah, just to be on a fly on the wall 571 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:55,120 of like as a keyboard player, like be a fly on the wall of listening to like what Chopin 572 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:59,520 played in his parlor at night when he wasn't writing anything down. 573 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:04,240 I would just give anything to just be sitting in that chair next to him. 574 00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:05,240 Right. 575 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:09,720 Which historical figure or composer do you wish to hang out with at the bar if she or 576 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:11,720 he were alive? 577 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:12,720 Definitely Pulon. 578 00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:13,720 Great answer. 579 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:14,720 Very interesting guy. 580 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:19,720 Yes, I totally agree. 581 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:23,320 My turn and we're going back to the question earlier. 582 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,080 Name one piece in your current playlist. 583 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,680 One piece, classical or? 584 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:30,680 Doesn't matter. 585 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:31,680 Anything. 586 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:37,960 Geez, I'm just trying to think of like what, because like the weird thing about running 587 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,280 this concert venue is that I'm listening to like all the music of these people on my way 588 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:44,280 to the venue. 589 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,760 So my playlists are really weird right now. 590 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:59,760 But geez, I was just listening to collected solo recordings of Thelonious Monk. 591 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,040 And I've always loved Monk's playing. 592 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:12,600 It's like, again, we talked about, sorry, Glenn Gould having the ability to like make 593 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,480 a sound that's unique on an instrument. 594 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:19,920 And like it took all these years to get to Monk being like, well, I want to play the 595 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,880 note between E and E flat on the piano, but I can't. 596 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,480 So I'm just going to play both of them. 597 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:25,480 And that's a new note. 598 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:26,480 Right. 599 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:27,480 So like, great. 600 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:28,480 All right. 601 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:29,480 Yeah. 602 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:30,480 Got it. 603 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:31,480 All right. 604 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:32,480 That's great. 605 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:36,120 So what's the book title you're currently reading? 606 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:42,080 I'm reading Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel, Clare and the Sun. 607 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,680 And it's, his writing is beautiful. 608 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:45,680 It's a really beautiful book. 609 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:47,720 Drop it down. 610 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:52,840 And you get only one song or piece to listen to for the rest of your life. 611 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,160 What is it? 612 00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,120 I cannot answer that question. 613 00:38:57,120 --> 00:39:01,040 Finally, an honest answer. 614 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,120 Thank you. 615 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:04,120 Everybody hates that one. 616 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:05,120 That's right. 617 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:06,120 Oh my goodness. 618 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,440 No answer is the answer. 619 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:13,800 Yeah, no, I think, I think I would probably prefer silence to hearing the same song for 620 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:14,800 the rest of my life. 621 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,800 I couldn't do it. 622 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:25,160 It's like that story about the Russian cosmonaut who there was like a ticking, like a ticking 623 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:27,280 and he had to hear the music and it already loses his mind. 624 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:31,200 You know, like, so yeah, I don't think I can do that. 625 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,680 Well, I gave you an easy one to end our questions. 626 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,080 Nerys, music is blank. 627 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:40,180 Music is blank. 628 00:39:40,180 --> 00:39:41,180 What is your work? 629 00:39:41,180 --> 00:39:43,720 Fill in the blank. 630 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:44,720 Music is human. 631 00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:45,720 Wow. 632 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:48,720 Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. 633 00:39:48,720 --> 00:39:50,520 Ding, ding, ding. 634 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:51,520 You win. 635 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:52,520 You won. 636 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,840 Nope, no gift, but you won. 637 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,240 All right, Josh. 638 00:39:58,240 --> 00:40:02,520 Well, I'm afraid that's going to have to conclude this episode of the piano pod. 639 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:03,520 Yeah, I'm sorry. 640 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:12,960 I completely derailed your, your, your very well lined up and pitched conversation about 641 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,480 inherent challenges in conservatory training and completely. 642 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,000 Well, that's okay. 643 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,280 We'll just have you back to do that one again. 644 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:22,680 But I think we hit on a lot of the issues. 645 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:28,080 Anyway, as always with you, it's been a humbling and inspiring experience. 646 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,520 This has been so much fun. 647 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,520 Thank you for having me. 648 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:33,520 Absolutely. 649 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,640 And thank you as always to our audience for tuning in. 650 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:44,880 For anyone who is interested, you can find Josh's textbook on functional piano at BarcelonaPublishers.com 651 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:50,720 and his band Stella Hill is on Bandcamp and all other online streaming platforms. 652 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:55,440 If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review on whatever podcasting platform 653 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:56,440 you use. 654 00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:00,880 If you are watching us on YouTube, remember to hit the thumbs up button and be sure to 655 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:02,680 subscribe to our channel. 656 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,960 You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 657 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,440 The links are in the description below. 658 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:15,160 If you have any feedbacks for us, please leave it in the comments or DM us via social media, 659 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:21,720 or you can also email us at the pianopodnyc.gmail.com. 660 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:24,160 See you next time on the PianoPod. 661 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,040 Bye everyone and thank you, Josh. 662 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:51,840 Thank you so much.