techniques are developed and refined in all crafts, including music, as a necessity. as time goes by, techniques change and adapt to newer forms and technologies, for better or worse.
something is always lost, something else gained.
from ragtime to early jazz to Armstrong to swing to bebop to Trane and beyond, old disciplines disappear. if someone today can't play stride piano or boogie-woogie but can do Bill Evans and Monk and Oscar Peterson, nobody says he is deficient, as would have been the case 60-80 years ago.
technology today has made music different. no sense saying that certain technical proficiencies are a must anymore when they can be done in some fashion electronically. something is lost, for sure, but something
is gained, too. It's always hard on people who have
invested in certain techniques and technologies when
those are substituted and superceded. fans of the horse
had a lot of good arguments way back when the auto
first appeared on the scene. Armstrong killed off group
improvisation. Parker killed off jazz as dance music.
but thank goodness nobody has killed off music..not that
they aren't trying real hard to do that now...just beats and
babble..has its own artistic merit i guess, but it aint music
to these ears. just rhythm, no melody or harmony is not
my idea of music..but i do like the rhythms of hiphop so
much more than I liked rock or disco..whatever other
merits those musics have, the incessant boring loud
smack of the backbeat can't compare to the sophistication
of hiphop rhythm..
------------------
Miami Mo
_________________________
Miami Mo