Chris Theile plays Bach

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 17 Nov 2009 1:53 pm

Wow. http://www.mlfilms.com/files/mlfclips/_ ... isembb.mov

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 17 Nov 2009 2:16 pm

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 17 Nov 2009 7:29 pm

I think I'll take my mandolins out and jump up and down on them.

Andrew Roblin · Post by **Andrew Roblin** » 18 Nov 2009 3:52 am

Thanks for posting, Andy.

That was absolutely glorious. What beautiful playing. And what graceful, inspiring right-hand technique.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 18 Nov 2009 5:16 am

That's the "Preludio" from Bach's partita #3 in E major. The sonatas and partitas are pretty standard reading practice for guitar students nowadays - at Berklee, GIT, and my best two students at least. Eliot Fisk has recorded the entire sequence on classical guitar, and Nigel North did a great lute compilation with these and the cello suites. I think Doug Livingstone plays this one on steel guitar, doesn't he? Earnest? He had sent me some Mp3's but I didn't back them up and that computer died.

edit: I'm not sure if Bach wrote it for lute or violin first, but there's a ton of variants under the BMV1006 designation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPfZVflJdp0

These are pieces that the best violinists in the world often play every day, and re-record every decade or so because they keep getting more out of them. The lutenists can crank 'em, too!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 18 Nov 2009 7:20 am

Yeah, pretty inspiring performance. Interestingly, his right hand is a model of economy of motion but some of his left hand fingers raise pretty high off the fretboard - supposedly a no-no fro ideal technique but this has zero effect his performance.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 18 Nov 2009 7:28 am

Yes, I played that one a couple of years ago at my first steel guitar show (Phoenix) altho much slower than Chris T and all the violinists.
Out of all the 6 solo violin suites and 6 solo cello suites, this is probably the most popular among guitarists. Maybe it's because guitar players love to play in E. Also Bach himself did a transcription for lute (adding a few bass notes etc) and that is the version that guitar players usually play.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 18 Nov 2009 9:54 am

Here is one they probably don't play at Berklee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJwFour ... re=related

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 20 Nov 2009 11:26 pm

Bill Hatcher wrote:Here is one they probably don't play at Berklee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJwFour ... re=related

why would you say that? The variety you can hear from one door to another at Berklee is staggering. even more today than when i was there in '97.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 21 Nov 2009 3:48 am

AJ Azure wrote:
Bill Hatcher wrote:Here is one they probably don't play at Berklee.

why would you say that?.
Something about the virtuosic Bach Partita reduced to just "standard" reading fare at the vaulted Berklee School of Gnat Notes. I thought maybe the Youtube piece had not become a standard there....yet.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 21 Nov 2009 5:41 am

If you want to practice reading music, it's hard to imagine anything more useful than those. Bach wrote them originally as both technique and theory lessons for his best violin students, and there's a wealth of information in them which is why Kremer, Perlman et alia have re-recorded them, because sometimes the greatest musicians in the world feel they can play them better after another decade. Why is it only O.K. if Chris Theile plays it? I'll bet he sucked the first time through too.

I'm not adverse to the idea that young musicians should pursue instruction wherever they can... granted, the "fuzak" experience of the 1980's was a grim ordeal, but the old training system of hundreds of touring bands playing in thousands of venues is DEAD and GONE. Would you rather having them learning on YouTube?

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 21 Nov 2009 4:31 pm

Bill Hatcher wrote:
AJ Azure wrote:
Bill Hatcher wrote:Here is one they probably don't play at Berklee.

why would you say that?.
Something about the virtuosic Bach Partita reduced to just "standard" reading fare at the vaulted Berklee School of Gnat Notes. I thought maybe the Youtube piece had not become a standard there....yet.
Totally wrong and spoken like someone just swallowing all the stereotypes about Berklee rather than experiencing it. When people make comments lacking in fact it just says more about them. Seriously Bill don't do yourself a disservice by commenting from cliche outsider stereotype rather than fact.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 22 Nov 2009 9:26 am

AJ Azure wrote: Totally wrong and spoken like someone just swallowing all the stereotypes about Berklee rather than experiencing it.

What are the stereotypes about Berklee?

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 22 Nov 2009 12:22 pm

Earnest Bovine wrote:
AJ Azure wrote: Totally wrong and spoken like someone just swallowing all the stereotypes about Berklee rather than experiencing it.
What are the stereotypes about Berklee?

so many! like all technique no feeling, all rock, all jazz heads, all stuck up, etc. Really it goes from the ridiculous to the unbelievabley nonsensical.

Karlis Abolins · Post by **Karlis Abolins** » 9 Dec 2009 7:07 am

I sent the link for Chris to my boss who plays the mandolin. He suggested I post a link to Evan Marshall's site where he plays the William Tell overture on mandolin. My boss and I saw him earlier this year in Tacoma playing with the Riders of the Purple Sage (not the New Riders) and were amazed by his William Tell solo.

Karlis

http://solomandolin.com/media/william_t ... tles_2.mov

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 9 Dec 2009 9:31 am

Karlis Abolins wrote:a link to Evan Marshall's site where he plays the William Tell overture on mandolin.

And don't miss Evan's other pieces for solo mandolin. I think some of his caprices (original compositions) are on his site. I especially like his transcriptions of Brahms Hungarian Dances, and his set of variations based on the big theme from the end of Beethoven's 9th symphony. ... and of course the Bach solo violin and cello stuff.
BTW his favorite fiddler is Don Rich (Evan does that too).

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 10 Dec 2009 6:09 am

Al. Here is what I am talking about. This is par for Berklee. It used to be an exclusive jazz school, now it's just a bunch of rock guitar players playing lot's of notes.
I am sure there are some good players up there, but it is a money making machine now. Nothing like it used to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A_3SPRN2EA

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 10 Dec 2009 7:32 am

Well I thought the second guitarist played a reasonable solo - better than I could have at that age. I'm curious, Mr. Hatcher - what specifically would you recommend for an education for a young guitarist? Should a guitarist not go to Berklee? I'm asking because one of my students has been accepted for 2011, after he gets out of high school - if you know of a better avenue to a thorough education, I'd like to hear about it. Julliard is probably best for composition, and the University of Miami & North Texas have good programs, but what seems most appealing about Berklee is you come out able to do at least a half dozen different paying jobs.

The touring jazz bands and local jam sessions that may have accounted for your education are gone, you know. What do your students go on to?

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 10 Dec 2009 10:24 am

David Mason wrote:Well I thought the second guitarist played a reasonable solo - better than I could have at that age. I'm curious, Mr. Hatcher - what specifically would you recommend for an education for a young guitarist? Should a guitarist not go to Berklee? I'm asking because one of my students has been accepted for 2011, after he gets out of high school - if you know of a better avenue to a thorough education, I'd like to hear about it. Julliard is probably best for composition, and the University of Miami & North Texas have good programs, but what seems most appealing about Berklee is you come out able to do at least a half dozen different paying jobs.

The touring jazz bands and local jam sessions that may have accounted for your education are gone, you know. What do your students go on to?

I don't have any students. I also do not advise kids to get into the music biz unless they are monster players already.

Something about universities that take all this money from these kids and then put them out on the streets with these degrees with the opportunity of working some $50 a night jazz gigs. They are doing this all over the country.

A kid coming out of high school should already be good enough to work some of the gigs that are out there right now.

If I had a student that had a lot of promise, I would hook him up with a pro and take private lessons and work into playing some gigs and also get a backup degree in case he can't make a living gigging....which is just about 99% of the so called musicians these days. It is not going to get any better any time soon.

Can you really feel right about telling a student to go spend 4 years and $100,000+ so he can go out and try to find gigs in an environment where there aren't enough to go around now.

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 10 Dec 2009 1:46 pm

Bill sorry but, your statements are not only clueless about Berklee and what is actually going on at Berklee but, the music business isn't as narrow as you make it sound either. Everything you're saying is based on suppositions, assumptions and narrow experiences rather than a broad review of both topics. You also telegraph a pretty big bias against rock music. Your posts are saying so much more about you and your biases than any facts about Berklee. $50 a night? Sure there are those gigs but, there are plenty of well paying gigs in all styles of music.
It's a good thing you're not a teacher becuase, you're imparting some very bad info here.

As far as the clip, my response is "So what?" what exactly is wrong with it? it's nothing impressive but,that's one ensemble, probably a lower level one a that. not every enseble at Berklee is represented by the one clip.
The guy who posted that clip is also pretty clueless. hip-hop? Not even close, comedy, where?

I recommend that either you actually educate yourself on the realities of your chosen commentary or keep those comments to yourself as they aren't based in fact and just show that you're a stereotyper.

Good Bekrlee ensembles:

here's one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP937LJfCm4

two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DToznxBs-8k

for variety's sake:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZa3DSGZOIg

and there's tons more

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 10 Dec 2009 3:19 pm

The thing that impresses me the most about Berklee is that if you stick out the entire program, you will be able to work in at least a half-dozen different music fields besides just grubby little "gigs." A lot of their famous alumni leave as soon as they've gotten the contacts or specific needs they went for - dropouts like John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi, Kevin Eubanks, most of Dream Theater & Melissa Etheridge managed to land a few "gigs", but the majority of the Grammys the alumni pull down every year are in engineering, producing or other related fields. The school won't let you graduate without a thorough grounding in music engineering, technology & business as well as performance, which is why so many starry-eyed kids split early. Graduates may win even more Emmys and Oscars, because the movie & television industry have an insatiable need for composition - http://www.berklee.edu/awards/default.html

To date, Berklee alumni have won a total of 176 Grammy Awards

http://www.berklee.edu/news/1354/berkle ... ominations

I just don't get this knee-jerk hatred - you don't have to listen to 80's gnat-note fusion, that's all.

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 10 Dec 2009 6:54 pm

6 years at Berklee for me. I have a huge base of varied knowledge part from my time there part from autodidactic pursuits. I've worked live settings, studio (mutiple styles), composed for film, ads, etc.

Like any college setting Berklee is what you make of it not a cliche stereotype in an outrider's naive and clearly resentful conceptualization.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 10 Dec 2009 9:02 pm

Al. What do you do for a living?

AJ Azure · Post by **AJ Azure** » 10 Dec 2009 9:27 pm

Music and Audio 24/7
Everything from composition to arranging (small groups to full orchestra), copyist work, jingles, film. tv, music directing, pit musician, teaching, audio production, music for functions, currently i'm producing a theater/music/dance production, producing and arranging an orchestra, choir and rock band show,
and have a nostalgia based opera/musical in the works
I start as lead composer on a new TV series in the new year.

..basically if it's audio and music i've done it or do it.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 11 Dec 2009 6:02 am

Good for you. You don't make your living just playing gigs. You conduct and write and produce. Now the legions of kids coming out of Berklee with only performance degrees, do you see the same kind of success for them just out there playing gigs?