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Keyed into Performers
Doug Strock was raised in Boston and Martha's Vineyard. He holds degrees from Columbia and Yale where he majored in Russian and teaching. Somewhere along the line he found jazz piano and built a San Diego teaching practice. Doug has recently released his first CD, Piano Dreams. I spoke with Doug by phone in late December. Here is my informal conversation with…
Doug Strock
by Gary Paul Bryant
Only Piano: Doug, why jazz?
Doug Strock: ‘why jazz’ goes back to the history of how I learned piano. Like so many people, I started classically at age seven and diligently, tediously, which was a good son until age eleven, so I had four years of classical. And because I wasn’t going to do this as my life’s work, and because it was so dry, I just quit at age eleven. And at about age fourteen, my dad kind of tricked me into coming back into it.
Only Piano: How did he do that?
Doug Strock: It was during the summer so there was leisure time. And he said, "Listen, how'd you like to learn some chords in jazz?" And I said, "No idea." I didn't even know what that was. He said, "Well, I found this jazz teacher and what if there's not pressure?" And I said, "What do you mean?" And he said, "Instead of having to practice an hour a day or a half hour a day, what if we make this arrangement. You'll agree you don't have to play piano at all for 100 days a year. How about that?"
I said, "That sounds pretty good."
"The other days, you will agree to practice at least seven minutes a day."
I said, “That's it, no pressure, no screaming, no yelling." Yeah, seven minutes a day.
He said, "If you do that, you will have accumulated over 200 days a year of learning. And that will add up. And the only way you lose is if you do like most people. If you do zero, you'll have zero. But if you do this little bit, as the years go by, it'll add up." So I fell for it. And it worked. And I pass that along because I teach now.
My youngest student, I think, is three years old up to people in their 80's. And I face so much with people saying, "I just don't have time. I have so many meetings. I can't do this justice and I feel terrible." And, I have this conversation with them and I say, "If you're sitting there, if you sit down and you do three chords, if you look at the circle of fifths, you do three chords while the kettle is cooking and then walk away. Just walk away. You have time to do three chords. And if you won't do that then you don't really want to learn. But if you want to learn, there's no such thing as no time using this system." And it's been it seems to reach people cause people say, "I can do that."
And the other thing, of course, is why jazz piano? When you get into reading the alphabetical symbols of chords, it's liberating because you can move all over the keyboard without reading every note. So, once you've done the hard work of learning, let's say what an alter thirteen chord is, you see that symbol, you're all over the place and it's very liberating.
Only Piano: You’re talking about teaching, which brings me to your own education. You actually attended a couple of not unknown universities, Yale and Columbia, and you majored in Russian and teaching, so I can see the teaching component here but this is quite a switch to jazz.
Doug Strock: Let me answer your question this way. I studied many, many years of Russian language but during all that time I was always continuing with piano. And my dad said once I settled in piano, he said, in view of all that training, my settling on piano was like grass growing through cement. I was not to be stopped.
I was in New York City where I was in college studying Russian, and was introduced to John Mohegan, who was the first teacher of improvisation, as far as I know, at Juilliard. I was certainly no Julliard student, but I studied with Mohegan privately. Incidentally, he had actually written the first textbook “With Introduction” by Bill Evans of how jazz harmony works. He was a brilliant teacher. I was just lucky to be in his presence and, of course, being young, I had virtually no idea who he was just that he was in New York and he was a good teacher.
Only Piano: Would you consider him your biggest influence?
Doug Strock: I think he was my legitimizing influence. I mean, he's a serious student of structure and harmony. So, it was, it was, it gave me enough so that years later I was able to return to it and study more.
Only Piano: And so now you’ve got Piano Dreams. Sounds like a CD to me.
Doug Strock: The evolution of Piano Dreams, I guess I just wanted to put down for posterity, a couple of things that I'd done.
Only Piano: You've got a couple of your own original tunes here, but you’ve also got some Gershwin, Richard Rogers.
Doug Strock: Well, in terms of dealing with the original music, I just want to say that it's been very interesting in appreciating prolific people, which I'm not. The original tunes that I do would seem to come about one every six months and I have no idea where it comes from. And of course, living in the West Coast, you go to Los Angeles and talk to musicians and they say, "That happens to me about every eight minutes." Well, it happens to me about every six months. I don't know where or why, I'm grateful for that but it's interesting how that happens.
Only Piano: Did you go to Massachusetts to record this?
Doug Strock: Yes, and California. I went to L.A. and I must have gone to, I guess, six studios that were recommended, the big named piano studios. And I went in there and I'd see some huge work horse old piano signed by Nat King Cole, you know, I go over and try the piano and say jeez, it must be me. This is not, this is not a match. Well, in going back and looking at CD's more carefully, and seeing that in fact, when Herby Hancock or whoever, recorded in that studio, you find that he had brought in his own piano or had one supplied by a Steinway, or whatever.
So, I was blessed in that I had family who tipped me off to a little studio in a carriage house in Cambridge near Harvard Square. And there's a woman there who, actually I think she was a tuner, a specialized harpsichord, I don't know. She was one of the tuners for the Boston Symphony or something. And she had set up a carriage house exquisitely with a double shell for sound proofing. And the space was like hard wood floors with Persian rugs and black and white photographs. It was just peaceful is the word for it. And she's a classical person and I think she's being very kind by saying nothing to me after I finished. I just think she was going, well, I don't know. There are all kinds of people out there. But it worked out pretty well.
Only Piano: Is there a place for digital pianos?
Doug Strock: A place, what kind, oh, you mean in the Universe.
Only Piano: In the Universe.
Doug Strock: Big time yes, in my opinion. If you're in a small space, I've found weighted keyboards, especially if you wear a good headset, are fabulous for practicing because you can intensely get into the sound almost right away. I think that sometimes in teaching little kids, they'll have a junky little keyboard. You know, just to learn what the keys are and that's okay, too. But you don't want them to get in the habit (of using cheapo keyboards). You want them to get use to a little resistance in a key when you press it. So, I think you want to get into the weighted keyboards as soon as you can. But in teaching harmony, especially the way we do it; you want the student to be rewarded with a beautiful sound. So, if you're saying, listen, work hard and find out what the tri-cone of this is and it sounds crumby or mediocre, you're gonna lose incentive.
Only Piano: How do you feel about group lessons?
Doug Strock: I think that's okay. That can be good. As long as one isn't holding the group back, you know. I think also that there's a tremendous future in somehow teaching on the Internet, all kinds of instruments.
Only Piano: And now back to your CD's here. You've got Piano Dreams. Is this is your first CD?
Doug Strock: Yes.
Only Piano: And are you planning more?
Doug Strock: Oh, yeah. I’m working on one now, absolutely.
Only Piano: And, you've got this CD out. It's Piano Dreams. It's available at CD Baby and you’re on Itunes as well.
Doug Strock: On Itunes and Tower Records, and it will be on at Amazon.com as weel. It’s also available from my own website, Soothingpiano.com.
Only Piano: Doug Strock, thanks very much.
Doug Strock: My pleasure, thank you very much what you do as well.
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