Going Against the Norm: Dave Frank on the Marx Brothers

In my field I have met and known a number of musicians and artists, who simply could not wait and learn a few random skills, then just hit the ground running. These people believe that execution is more important than learning the skills to properly execute the idea.

These people want to rush things and pass on things that are somehow “insane” and “time consuming”. There are even some musicians that I know who are too excited and skipped over the basic chord patterns and progressions that were supposed to be necessary for them to grow as an artist, in the hopes of becoming the “rock icon of tomorrow”.

Everything needs time to grow. There is no way that you can plant the seeds today and expect to harvest the oranges tomorrow. Everything in the world is bound by this simple rule of nature. However, that basic law of nature can simply be overlooked because our modern society pushes the idea of “do THIS instantly!”

If join this bandwagon, you might just rid yourself a few pounds after a week, do Yoga in three days, and earn your Master’s degree in a couple of weeks. When you look at these things in a slower pace, what is the quality going to be like? Thinking at a slower pace, what is the quality that you will have? How many moves can you readily memorize in 7 days? Are you sure that you can perform the different Yoga positions without hurting yourself after learning them in 7 days? How confident would you be to do a Head-stand without breaking something?

A lot of musicians refuse to learn to play the bass and form a rock band on the spot. They get all the cool gadgets, starts pounding things up, and realize that they are up against a brick wall.

What I learned from Dave Frank’s workshop last week when he showed us the very entertaining and equally talented Marx Brothers, is this: you have to learn he rules first before you can break them. Although Chico Marx’s playing stunts were certainly beyond what any piano teacher could teach, the fact remains that he knew the basics of the game. Although Chico missed a few notes on purpose as a part of the act, everything still sounded great – simply because he hit the “perfect wrong notes”. And there is no way that he can think of that if he did not know which ones were on the scale.

You have to learn he rules first, before you can break them. As a musician, it is imperative that you learn proper scales and chords before you can begin to improvise.

If you have heard about him he is not just some jazz piano school owner and musician.. Dave Frank is one of the hottest solo jazz pianists music educators on today’s jazz scene, the man behind Hal Leonard’s best-selling book series Joy of Improv.

The Dave Frank Marx Brothers Master Class is on Youtube. To view visit Youtube and search for Dave Frank Marx Brothers.

Part 1 can be viewed below.