PREFACE FROM "LET YOUR MUSIC SOAR"

PREFACE

Sometime in early 1995, I enrolled in a class Corky Siegel was teaching at Columbia College in Chicago. The class, mentioned in a promotional article about Corky in the Sunday news magazine, claimed that in three or four days, Corky would show you how to bring out the emotional elements of your music and put you in control of your performance. In the article, Corky looked so unassuming, lying on his side in a designer sweater, propped up by his elbow, holding up his harmonica, smiling through that ever-present beard of his. Little did I know that by enrolling in the class, not only would my music change, but my life would change as well.

My experiences with Corky started in 1972, at the start of my musical journey. I spent hundreds of hours listening to Corky's solo and Siegel-Schwall Band records as I learned to play the harmonica. These records, along with a few others, stood out like gems in my collection. Over the years, I bought every Corky record that came out and went to every one of his concerts that I could. Although my musical journey has taken many turns, as everybody's journey does, Corky has remained a significant and continuing influence on my music.

Corky's musical journey, as those who are familiar with him know, has been a very interesting one. Emerging from the 1960s Chicago blues scene with people like Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Paul Butterfield, Corky and his partners in the Siegel-Schwall Band played music that was totally uplifting and highly personal. The songs about insanity didn't make you feel too bad and the party tunes made you feel like you were part of the happening. Over the past 40 years, Corky has continued to write and perform incredible heartfelt gems with his awesome harmonica and piano playing, usually with some other great musicians backing him up.

What I find really interesting is Corky's concurrent career as a globetrotting symphony soloist and his collaborations with Seiji Ozawa and the late Bill Russo. His immersion into the classical form has given rise to one of the truly fine musical inventions of the twentieth century, Chamber Blues. For over 20 years, Corky has continued to compose and perform music that juxtaposes all of the musical elements in the "Corky-universe." He has an extensive body of "opuses," as he calls them, and they are performed by his amazing Chamber Blues ensemble, a group of dedicated, virtuoso musicians that brings Corky's musical jewels to life.

The foundation of Corky's music is love, truth, and an incredible emotional connection-between Corky and his instruments, between the music and the musicians, between the musicians and the listeners. Is it the virtuosity of the musicians or Corky's compositional prowess that is on display? These elements are certainly part of the experience, but I don't think that by themselves they cause the experience to happen.

Walking into that Columbia College classroom in 1995, I came face-to-face with not only one of our great musical messengers, but with a great musical message. Corky's message contains "the secret," the one piece of the puzzle within reach of every musician, professional or amateur, soloist or ensemble player. When Corky asked me to help with this book, I jumped in with both feet. I have seen these techniques work personally, and by watching Corky coach other musicians, I have come to understand how these techniques are a large part of what makes so many of the great musicians sound so great.

Please accept this offering and watch (and listen to) how its musical message will make your music soar.

Peter Krammer

More About "Let Your Music Soar":
Peter Krammer's Preface to the Book
Corky Siegel's Introduction to the Book
Table of Contents
Three Excerpts from the Book
     The Artist and the Critic      Definition of Music      Out of the Box
Graphic: Zones of Physical Intensity (and how they might feel)