How Esperanza Spalding created the most complex music of her career under the guidance of an alter ego — Guitar World
With help from producer Tony Visconti, one of the brightest stars of 21st century bass found a brand-new source of inspiration
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Esperanza on learning bass…
- Thread starter Michedelic
- Start date
That appears to be a re-posting of a very old article. Anyway, I think she's correct and "Earth To Heaven" off of the D+ Evolution album is my favorite song of hers. She's a tremendous artist.
One of the replies to that article called it "Palpable pretentiousness"
But Esperanza is absolutely correct - there is no such thing as being "self-taught".
An informal education? Sure.
But no one can ever be truly "self-reliant" - so no one can ever really be self-taught.
It reminds me of an interview I heard a couple years ago - an author decided that he wanted to be more thankful.
So he started making a point of thanking his barista every day.
Then he realized how limited that was:
who made the cup? who grew the coffee beans? who drove the supplies to the coffee shop? who paved the roads?
And that was just for his coffee...
When he thought of all the other things he took for granted in his life, he realized that the honest way to view the world was through a constant state of gratitude.
We're all beneficiaries of our ancestors and the people around us - failure to recognize that foundational reality explains a lot of the problems in the world today.
But Esperanza is absolutely correct - there is no such thing as being "self-taught".
An informal education? Sure.
But no one can ever be truly "self-reliant" - so no one can ever really be self-taught.
It reminds me of an interview I heard a couple years ago - an author decided that he wanted to be more thankful.
So he started making a point of thanking his barista every day.
Then he realized how limited that was:
who made the cup? who grew the coffee beans? who drove the supplies to the coffee shop? who paved the roads?
And that was just for his coffee...
When he thought of all the other things he took for granted in his life, he realized that the honest way to view the world was through a constant state of gratitude.
We're all beneficiaries of our ancestors and the people around us - failure to recognize that foundational reality explains a lot of the problems in the world today.
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Not to mention failure to recognize and consider their mistakes and bad judgement, and not avoid any of it.
Well said! We can either choose to build upon their success or repeat their blunders.
Well…
There’s a *huge* difference between “I learned a lot from [insert name of teacher/role model/icon/ancestor]”
…and “I was taught a lot by [insert name of teacher/role model/icon/ancestor]”
And I think it’s more than just a semantic quibble. I learned a lot about playing bass from James Jamerson and Mel Schacher and Chris Squire and Stanley Clarke. But James & Mel & Chris & Stanley don’t know me from dookie. They never met me, never heard me play, never tailored their advice or insights or lesson plans to my specific needs or shortcomings. They didn’t “teach” me because teaching is a two-way transaction between a teacher and a student.
So yes, sure, we are all beneficiaries of the people around us, and we can (and do) learn from them. But if you never had a teacher knowingly and intentionally helping YOU to achieve YOUR goals, you can rightfully call yourself “self-taught”
