Eight forty.
It should be a mellow kind of day— interrupted suddenly when Aesop barks at someone in the street. I entertain the hope of jamming with other musicians again now that I’ve heard from Mark, the drummer who lives in the Friendly neighborhood. We’ll have to work around my transportation issues for a while, but I really want to make this thing happen. Inspiration can’t come from hanging out by yourself. Nothing can be made from nothing. Until we get together, I might try to pick out a few lines by Jaco: no amplifier; just playing dry, me and the fretboard. I was never very good at music theory, and always had to rely on my ears and my instinct. For this reason, I was better suited to rock than jazz.
Nine thirty five. The weather is again very cloudy and glum. A good day to put on my thinking cap and ponder what’s really important to my life. A good day for mind over matter and making progress. To put aside inhibition and intimidation and try a little harder.
Ten thirty five. Unplugged, I figured out most of “Teen Town” by Jaco. I feel like I’ve accomplished something I wouldn’t have tried before, a great feeling. It came to me more easily than I’d expected. Like something that was meant to be.
robgradens 
Your comment about music theory caught my attention. Jazz requires a good knowledge of music theory?
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Absolutely. A lot of jazz playing involves reading sheet music, or at least chord charts. You’re supposed to know your scales and the modes of a major scale, etc etc. It’s a lot more theoretical than ordinary rock and roll.
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I didn’t know that. Much of jazz has always sounded aimless to me. I took a full year of music theory in high school, came out with a D and a D-. From that, I concluded that music was not my natural mode of creative expression. It was good to learn that at a young age.
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Yes, you have to know the rules to break them properly. 😉
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So I’ve learned. (The hard way, of course.) 🙂
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