city. After six months in the home, Armstrong was allowed to join the band,
first playing tambourine, then drums, then alto horn. It is clear from contem-
porar yaccounts that man yof the bands pla ying in the streets of New Orleans
were fairl yinformal groups with an ‘‘an ything goes’’ attitude. It was quite eas y
for a novice to join in the general noise, just playing the notes he knew, and his
mistakes and split notes would pass without comment. Armstrong quickly
learned how to get sounds out of the horn, and his vocal experience made
it eas yfor him to work out appropriate parts to the songs the band pla yed. His
talent was noticed, and he was promoted to bugle player. He gradually im-
proved to become the band’s leader, but he left the home and the band after
two years, at age 16. Nothing he experienced in the home would merit the term
‘‘formal teaching.’’
Armstrong found casual work driving a coal cart, which occupied his days,
but during the evenings he began playing jazz in the blues bands of the tonks.
He did not at that stage own a cornet, and so it was impossible for him to
practice. He simpl ywent around to the various bands asking cornetists to let
him sit in for a few numbers. Blues music provided a good vehicle for gaining
jazz expertise. Blues songs featured slow tempos in two or three of the easiest
keys. The set melodies were of the simplest sort; in many cases there was no set
melod yat all, and the cornetist would string phrases together from a small
repertoire of stock figures.
At age 17, Armstrong acquired his first cornet and began to practice and
work regularl yat one of the tonks. The work paid little, and so he kept his coal
job during the day. At some point in that period Armstrong met Joe Oliver,
acknowledged as the best cornetist in New Orleans. Armstrong began hanging
around the places where Oliver played, running errands, carrying his case, and
eventuall ysitting in for him. Oliver became Armstrong’s sponsor and to some
extent his teacher. According to Collier, however, Oliver did not influence
Armstrong’s style and probably did little more than show Armstrong some
new tunes and possibl ya few alternative fingerings.
B yage 19, Armstrong was finding emplo yment on local riverboat excursions.
Then, for three summers running, he made long trips, playing every day. For
the first time in his life music had become his predominant activity. The band
played seven nights per week, doing fourteen numbers and encores each night.
The yrehearsed two afternoons per week, and the repertoire changed ever ytwo
weeks. It was onl yafter joining the riverboats that Armstrong learned how to
read music and had to acquire the discipline of playing what was written rather
than what he felt like playing. When he left the riverboats at age 23, he was an
established professional musician.
If Armstrong’s earl ylife was a protot ype for untutored acquisition of exper-
tise, which of its features might we highlight for future corroboration? One ob-
vious feature was the casual immersion in a rich musical environment with
man yopportunities to listen and observe. A second feature was the earl ys ys-
tematic exploration of a performance medium (in his case, voice). Third, as
far as we can judge, his earl yexperiences allowed a great deal of freedom
to explore and experiment without negative consequences. A fourth feature
was a lack of distinction between ‘‘practice’’ and ‘‘performance.’’ The learning
took place on the job. A fifth feature was an enduring motivation to engage in
Musical Expertise 573