This post is going to be quite different from my previous ones. Though this is a music blog, I’m going to be talking about a movie -though of course it’s a movie about music- I just watched. This past weekend, I watched a 2014 movie called “Whiplash”, written and directed by Damien Chazelle. This movie is about a young jazz drummer -Andrew Neiman- who attends Shaffer Conservatory of Music. He plays in the alternate, less talented jazz band of the school until the renowned jazz director -Terence Fletcher- of the better jazz band finds Neiman practicing drums and eventually invites him to join the “A” band. While Neiman is extremely happy to join the best jazz band at the school, he soon finds that Fletcher inflicts extreme mental and physical torment onto his students. He’s so strict about little mistake made, that he’ll curse and scream in students faces for things as small as being slightly off tune. He does the same to Neiman, to the point where he throws a chair at Neiman’s head for being slightly off beat. Neiman practices drums till his hands are bloody so he can satisfy Fletcher’s high standards.

Now, this blog is not a full blown movie review (though it was a pretty amazing movie even if it was emotionally disturbing), but I wanted to address the behavior of Fletcher in how he treated his students. Later on in the movie Fletcher explains to Neiman that the reason he treated his students the way he did was to encourage them. Though Fletchers treatment of his students seemed completely unjustified, his explanation made it seem more ethical and understandable. In justifying his treatment of his students he told a story of how Charlie “Bird” Parker -one of the greatest and most influential saxophonists in history- got his name. He said that the reason he became so amazing is because drummer Jo Jones, a very influential jazz drummer, threw a cymbal at Parkers head during a jam when he messed up the chord progression. Parker, embarrassed, but vowing to never make that mistake left the stage and went home to practiced extensively and become one of the greatest saxophonists in history.

According to The Guardian, Jo Jones did not throw a cymbal at Parkers head, but he did throw it near his feet followed by an ashamed yet determined Charlie Parker leaving the stage. Perhaps poor treatment and violent action to some extent does encourage aspiring musicians, in the same way sports coaches and military generals will inflict loud yelling onto their disciples. However, many would say that Fletchers treatment of his students was unnecessarily sadistic. While I do think that Fletchers actions are unjustified, there is some extent to which extreme fierceness in a music director does good for musicians who want to become the best they can be.

In senior year of high school, I joined the jazz band at my school. The director was known to be very intimidating and if you acted insecure, he would expose you for it. He could silence a room when he walked in. To give you a taste of what I mean, during my audition as I sang the song “All of Me”, he said something along the lines of “If Ella Fitzgerald were to sing this song she would start scatting.. go”. Asking for unexpected vocal improvisation is a big ask especially for me who had never been a part of the jazz world. Knowing the kind of person he was and how he exposed insecurity, I would always keep my head high and be confident. As my knowledge of music theory and reading music was very limited, a lot of the time I would be guessing what he wanted me to do. Still, I was forced to be confident throughout. Though a part of me dreaded practice, I wholly believe he made me a much better musician. He never said good job to me and even when I had felt I sang amazingly he would keep a straight face. As I listened to Fletcher from “Whiplash” tell Neiman that the two words he would never say was “good job”, lightbulbs went off. Though Fletcher was a horrible person in this movie, I believe he is right to an extent. In music, especially jazz, the more you feel uncomfortable and unknowledgeable the more you will want to become better, and if you don’t then you’re not committed enough. Because of this personal connection I made, I became inspired by this twisted movie.

Though Mr. Robinson, my high school jazz director never told me good job, when I finished my scat solo at our last performance he said “YEAH”. And that was probably one of my proudest moments. I linked the video below of this performance starting a few seconds before this moment and if you listen closely you’ll hear it.

You can see my smile after I finish and that was fully in response to my jazz directors reaction disregarding the audiences claps and cheers.

In conclusion to this unconventional blog post, I believe that having someone to push you farther out of your comfort zone then you ever expected to go is the biggest way to progress in the world of music. Though I do think if someone is throwing chairs at your head, there’s something not right there.