Editorial: Brigette Dumais on Jazz Solos and Social Skills

Jazz Solos and Social Skills

By:  Brigette Dumais, 16, Tucson High Magnet School

The coffee shop at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in the mountains of southern California had several round tables that could sit four or five people at once, wooden floors and big windows that faced the forest. It smelled like rain and freshly brewed coffee. I was sitting by myself at a table by the windows, feeling very nervous about playing my very first solo at the final music camp concert. I had just discovered jazz, and it was like a foreign language to me. I don’t know how I managed to audition in to a solo spot. Regardless of the reasons, I still had to play an improvised solo in four days and I needed help. So, I asked two other musicians to meet with me after band practice. When they finally showed up, I was having a full-blown panic attack. They were experienced jazzers, I didn’t want them to know how amateur I was. “Brigette, relax,” they told me. “It’s your solo. You can play whatever you want. Don’t be afraid to play something simple, just outline the arpeggios.” We spent the next half hour writing out my solo. The jazz we were playing made social interaction absolutely necessary: in order to develop improvisational skills, we learned to listen to the other players and borrow and exchange ideas with them.

When I came back to Tucson for my first semester at Tucson High, I enrolled in band, and realized that social interaction is what the arts are all about: in order to make good music, you have to be able to be creative and interact positively with the people playing around you. When I joined the band program, I made a lot of friends who weren’t just the stereotypical band geeks that are portrayed in movies like American Pie: they didn’t sleep with their instruments, they didn’t have out-of-fashion clothes, they didn’t talk about “this one time at band camp” all the time, and they had passions other than just band. These band kids were smart and high-achieving. Being around my new friends inspired me and challenged me to be successful. By the time I had finished my first semester at Tucson High, I had a 4.0 GPA and a newly discovered sense of self-confidence.

Unfortunately, The Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) has cut their budgets this year. Even more unfortunately, these budget cuts leave fine arts programs vulnerable. While funding for the arts has always been slim, the band kids at Tucson High have already begun to feel the lack of support: instruments sit in the back of the band room, unrepaired, our jazz band’s trips to jazz festivals are in jeopardy, and our band director got a RIFF notice. This is all at Tucson High—a fine arts magnet.

Learning the arts in school is necessary because it allows students to discover opportunities they may not have otherwise known existed. My family has always encouraged me to explore the arts, even outside of school (that’s how I found my way to Idyllwild). But what if I wasn’t encouraged to pursue the arts? How would I have found my niche? I would have to rely on the information I receive at school. And 2+2=4 does not directly lead to social skills or excelling grades.

Cutting fine arts classes from public schools deprives students of opportunities they might not seek if they hadn’t become interested through school programs. Students go to school to get an education—and the arts teach the flexibility and social skills we need in order to succeed in and out of the classroom.

(VOICES Photo/Reyes Suarez)

Tags: Kathryn Johnson Gindlesparger