Like A Jazz Score: A Sense for Life

Musicians often talk about there being no wrong notes, only notes that one does not intend on playing. This is particularly true of jazz. But even this is positive, if we consider that, at least in jazz, this becomes the impetus to develop and structure improvisation.

If we pay close attention to the vital energy displayed by those who improvise, only then can we really come to understand the freedom that music can convey. Said in a different way, improvisation requires vital energy to take place, and much more to flourish.

I have always found it interesting that the “spaces” that inform the nature of the diatonic notes, should also allow for the free exploration of what are considered “outside” notes.

These outside notes or what are essentially chromatic, from the Greek “chroma,” meaning color are to philosophical reflection what improvisation is to jazz musicians.

This spirited claim is not very difficult to see provided that one work from the inside of these two disciplines. Here, it is worth remembering the saying that one can break the rules only when one knows them. There is a great correlation between genuine philosophical vocation, with the freedom that takes place within or that actually motivates improvisation.


Well, even this seems a little too stiff for what I want to convey. The desire to improvise, either in philosophy or jazz, does not necessarily spring from a quest to break any rules. Such a desire would seem merely sophomoric. Actually, this attitude is one that has corrupted the arts for a long time now.

Instead, the capacity to improvise forces itself on us through the sheer force, and to use another musical term, color of our vocation and vision. Thus, when we are talking about vocation in philosophy or music, we ought not to lose sight of the reality that it is vocation that serves as the impetus to create, in the first place. We have to be careful not to confuse the cause with the effect.

We must also come straight, concerning the fact that the only intrinsic value that talking about music has lies in the capacity of an instructor to teach. The vast majority of what we refer to as “criticism” is hardly valuable at all.