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Topic: Playing what you feel instead of what you know |
Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 1:24 am |
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do we also need a road map to go to the grocery store and then return home each time we go ? Silly, of course not.
Jims example of grammar is spot on. We read, we speak , we listen, we are mostly understand in conversations with regard to grammar, but we are understood. even with poor grammar we are connected to the conversation. Because we are speaking the same LANGUAGE.
To assume we can just perform without a minimal understanding of the theory ( DOTS) which connect the music is silly. It's subconscious and we don't think about it but we do correlate the FRET BOARD to music.
Otherwise why do we ask what KEY a song is in ? thats the very basics of the theory of it all , the KEY to the music. Even if it's C, F and G, those are the DOTS. even if we are doing our own thing playing over the DOTS, we are still connected to the music by the theory.
Unless of course we never ask what KEY the song is in , which sometimes does indeed happen and the results, even on the best day are not good ! 
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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Randy Beavers
From:
Lebanon,TN 37090
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 5:08 am
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| I like the Monk story. A sax player took a solo and afterwards Monk asked what the #%£€ that was to which he replied “I was just playing what I feltâ€, to which Monk replied “Well feel something in Bb #£€%Â¥____â€. |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 5:15 am
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| "Learn to work the saxophone.. I'll play just what I feel."--Steely Dan, Deacon Blues |
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Damir Besic
From:
Nashville,TN.
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 7:23 am
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| Fred Treece wrote: |
I agree with Bo and Barry.
There seems to be a certain pride in the comment “I play what I feelâ€, as if a player who knows the theoretical concept of what he is playing is less capable of feeling. Pure expression is the illusion we all try to create. Whether you know it or not, music theory is being applied to everything you play. |
what a pile of crap ...
_________________
https://steelguitarsonline.com/ |
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David Zornes
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 11:17 am Playing with feeling
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| I agree with Damir. I stopped trying to impress long ago. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 1:11 pm
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| Clearly, many of us have different ideas about exactly what "music theory" really is. What parts of it are essential? What parts of it can be largely ignored if we're not symphony orchestra musicians? I say this because in all my years of playing, the only two places I heard the terms "Mixolydian" or "Phrygian" were here on the forum, and in a music class in college. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 7:11 pm
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| Seems I have struck a chord. Minor or major probably makes no difference, since I am certain my status here has diminished a measure or two. I’ll triad not to cause any more treble. |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 18 Jun 2018 11:46 pm
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not to offend, but it's not a pile of crap.
If you are playing in a band, and the band members are all playing the same song at the same time, playing your own thing or playing the stock melody, but following the same chord progression , YOU ARE APPLYING THEORY. If you even know what key the song is in, and play in that key, you are applying theory.
I believe many are talking two different subjects here. Playing your own thing rather than a STOCK or WELL known solo or orchestration to a common song is not avoiding theory, it's just doing your thing on top of the already known road map, which is theory. If you know the chords to a song and are indeed playing along with the rest of the band, sorry, agree or not, but you are applying music theory which is nothing but a road map to the song. If you were NOT doing that with the band you would not be invited back to play more gigs. You are either playing C,F and G or you're not.
You can't decide to play Em, A and B to a song in C where the chords are C, F and G. Lets see how long you last as a player in a BAND.
Doing your own thing doesn't mean or allow us to play Flight of the Bumble Bee while the rest of the band is playing Folsom Prison.
We are not talking about crazy scales and harmonized scales, we are talking about basics, what key are we in and what are the chords. Doesn't matter if you agree or not, or call it a pile of crap, that is basic music theory which is the common thread for playing in any band.
IF we understand 12 bar blues, guess what, thats not a pile of crap, it's a foundation . We don't have to be told what the chords are or progression is, we already know it and understand it.
In the Country Music world there is a term for the common theory which can be applied to hundreds of songs.
"Sears and Roebuck".
I can't believe people are arguing about this. Playing your own style or solo's has nothing to do with playing the song in the right key and playing the proper chord progression which is basic and relative theory.
I'm doing my own thing to Folsom Prison, guess what, you are still playing Folsom Prison.
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 1:26 am
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Agree 100% with what Tony wrote.
Although I only seriously studied music theory up until the age of about 14 (that's over 50 years back in time), and have forgotten so much that I often cannot even tell what key I'm in, whatever I play now and regardless of how much freedom I allow myself to have in applying "feeling", it is all affected by those years of learning the basics and a bit beyond. Cannot be helped, I'm afraid, and I cannot see why it should  |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 6:52 am
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| Quote: |
In the Country Music world there is a term for the common theory which can be applied to hundreds of songs.
"Sears and Roebuck". |
Or "Three chords and the truth..."  |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 7:04 am
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| Tony Prior wrote: |
not to offend, but it's not a pile of crap.
I can't believe people are arguing about this. Playing your own style or solo's has nothing to do with playing the song in the right key and playing the proper chord progression which is basic and relative theory.. |
Yaayyy somebody gets it!   |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 7:31 am
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| Fred Treece wrote: |
There seems to be a certain pride in the comment “I play what I feelâ€, as if a player who knows the theoretical concept of what he is playing is less capable of feeling. |
I got it. It's the common bias. You wouldn't pull your theory out when auditioning for a band. TMI. |
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Stuart Legg
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 4:33 pm
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I was listening to an old guy playing guitar. When he stopped playing he looked at me said "I can play any song and all I ever need is just 3 chords". Most folks would have laughed.
But in theory I had to agree with him! |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 4:57 pm
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Stuart put the clip of my playing with feeling on here. My feeling during my playing at that time was "I could give a crap" and yes as a PSG insignificant my playing would necessarily best be described In theory terms by a 4 year old that knows nothing of grammar!
Maybe a 4 year old can explain the 3 chord thing? |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Jun 2018 8:40 pm
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| Bo Legg wrote: |
| My feeling during my playing at that time was "I could give a crap" |
Who could have known this thread would end up so crappy?
I have a theory, but saying what I feel hasn’t worked out too well here... |
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