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Jaco Reincarnated?

#21
Dr. Keebs said:
Yeah, he's better than I try to be, and that makes me very happy for all of us bass players. Aron Hodek is another whippersnapper that will be something special as he develops.
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Maybe, but... Probably not.

While there is not a lot of research on prodigies, we do know that most of them don't wind up staying in, let alone succeeding in, let alone excelling in, the field where they got an early start.

Some of this may be due to the aspects of their cognition and personality that resulted in their being prodigies. Many are introverts; some are near or on the functional end of the autistic spectrum. This lends itself to obsessive solo practicing and impressive YouTube videos. Working with and listening to others? Not so much.

They also excel at tasks that are rule-based and use a lot of working memory -- e.g. the ability to memorize and copy a complex bass solo doesn't mean the prodigy has the ability to improvise or compose a complex bass solo. (E.g. I've certainly seen at least one video of a prodigy playing fast, but totally missing the changes, on a harmonically simple song.)

Others lose interest over time -- or we lose interest in them. They become less "special" as they age and their peers catch up, and catch up they shall. In addition to the fact that the top ranks of players are not exclusively dominated by prodigies, in the age of YouTube you can look back at some of the earlier videos of these prodigies. They do improve, but they don't keep up the meteoric pace they showed in their earliest years.

So, maybe he will continue and do well; but maybe he won't. There is no way to know, other than to wait and see.
 
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#22
I said this on another track: I think this kid is playing totally by ear, which indicates prodigy level natural talent. I say that based on some rough spots in his playing. He needs a good teacher so he can reach his true potential. I don’t want this kid to only learn by ear, get burned out, or have a hard time learning formally if wait too many years to start the process.
 
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#26
bobyoung53 said:
This kid is unbelievable, I'd like to see some of the people here criticizing him play this. Jaco is not my cup of tea but I can appreciate talent and any 10 year old or so kid who can hang in with this stuff is amazing to me.
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x10

I'm not a Jaco fan either. But I was greatly impressed with this young man's ability.

I've noticed over the past few months much more criticism/negativity coming to the forefront. I guess it is the pandemic that brings out the best [he said sacastically] in us.
 
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#28
Gorn said:
Why go there? Like I went somewhere outrageous? I went there because of what I find to be a mildly comical concept.

But yes, I do often tell children what to do. Other people’s kids. I just walk into the Tiger Schulman and tell them they suck at Karate.
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Think of it this way. The kid is a prodigy. Whether he plays a short scale or not. So using him as an example for your crusade against short scale is a non sequitor and just shows you to be biased and probably of questionable intelligence given the fact there is nothing better or worse in using a short scale or long scale bass. So in the future what you should do is just create a thread where you and your kind can disparage people who choose a different instrument than you. I’m sure the moderators will love that one.
 
#30
bobyoung53 said:
OK, but how is playing a long scale going to hurt him, if anything he'll just develop better intonation as he gets older and bigger. The younger you are the more plastic your mind is and the quicker you can learn.
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To be clear: I'm criticizing his teacher for teaching him how to play "Havona" without first teaching him to play in tune. Those lessons are out-of-order in my opinion.

A teacher's "prime directive" is to put the student in a position to succeed.
 
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#34
bobyoung53 said:
Well, the theory is that as we age our minds get more and more resistant to new ideas and learning period, and it's like molten plastic setting and becoming hard. Most kids are entirely open to new stuff, old kids like us, not so much:laugh:.
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I still don't really get the plastic reference but you are 100% correct about kids picking up things quicker.
I was thinking you meant Pliable and auto-correct switched it on you.:)
I hope this kid keeps going.

I don't disagree with suggesting a short scale to him. Playing a longer scale doesn't make anyone some kind of hero and visa versa. Playing a short scale can make it much easier for many people to play better. This kid would probably appreciate a short scale after a few minutes of playing one.

I am perfectly fine on long scale fretted basses but I think a shorty fretless might be something I could use.
 
#36
It will be interesting to see if this kid continues to pursue music as he gets older. However you define prodigy he is talented and enjoys playing.

I look at my own kid as an example. He is no prodigy but he definitely likes music and has taken lessons and even written a couple of songs. However as he has gotten older I notice he spends less time playing and more time playing video games and tik tok and whatever. He still likes music but he’s not really interested practicing or playing right now. I am optimistic that will change but who knows.
 
#37
FunkHead said:
I still don't really get the plastic reference but you are 100% correct about kids picking up things quicker.
I was thinking you meant Pliable and auto-correct switched it on you.:)
I hope this kid keeps going.

I don't disagree with suggesting a short scale to him. Playing a longer scale doesn't make anyone some kind of hero and visa versa. Playing a short scale can make it much easier for many people to play better. This kid would probably appreciate a short scale after a few minutes of playing one.

I am perfectly fine on long scale fretted basses but I think a shorty fretless might be something I could use.
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Plastic in the sense that a material can be easily molded or shaped. Not meaning a synthetic polymer.
 
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#38
The kid is great... at imitating. He likely has no idea about what he's playing. That's the thing with these child prodigies. Great at imitation, but rarely do they create something original when they play. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but their teachers should be teaching them the "why" along with the "how". Not knowing the why will stop someone dead in their tracks when it comes to learning more and more as they age. Without the why, the kid will grow up and not go beyond the rote memorization he had at that young age, and will fade into obscurity.
 
#39
FunkHead said:
I still don't really get the plastic reference but you are 100% correct about kids picking up things quicker.
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The word "plastic" (before we started using it for polymers) meant that something deformed or reshaped easily under outside influence or pressure. Plastic deformation is an Engineering term, which means something has been deformed to the point that it ain't goin' back to where it was on its own before the force deformed it. The term "mental plasticity" is used by folks interested in learning of things - to learn something, your brain has to change and not go back. Kids brains' are very plastic.

Oddly, a lot of work has gone into engineering "plastics" that aren't very plastic in the last few decades. People want stuff to stay like it was when they bought it.
 
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#40
FunkHead said:
I still don't really get the plastic reference but you are 100% correct about kids picking up things quicker.
I was thinking you meant Pliable and auto-correct switched it on you.:)
I hope this kid keeps going.

I don't disagree with suggesting a short scale to him. Playing a longer scale doesn't make anyone some kind of hero and visa versa. Playing a short scale can make it much easier for many people to play better. This kid would probably appreciate a short scale after a few minutes of playing one.

I am perfectly fine on long scale fretted basses but I think a shorty fretless might be something I could use.
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No, it's a real term, I was a psych major although I can see that the term has been modified since I studied it.

Neuroscience for Kids - Brain Plasticity
 
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