I haven't been posting about the piano class much because...well it just isn't very impressive. But I think it is good for beginners (though possibly moves too fast for a TRUE beginner with no music background).
I get panic attacks about finding notes on the keyboard and about reading the notes on the staff (getting my brain to read both treble and bass clef at same time and not mix them up)...and yesterday the instructor asked us to play 2nd or 3rd intervals and say by ear which was which. When I was playing them and could look at the keys while I listened this seemed easy. They sounded different. But as soon as someone else played them and I couldn't look at the keys I was afloat. Like no idea.
This, of course, is not shocking because I have had a hard time with vocal harmonies in the past. I can't hear them and I can't sing them (unless someone shows me what to sing, I practice it, and then I ignore the other person singing). I've also never been great at tuning by ear. Only recently have I begun to hear the "warble" of an out-of-tune note...but I still can't tell if the note is sharp or flat. I even struggle, if you play two notes, to tell you which one is the higher note and which one is the lower note...I have to play them several times and think about it pretty hard.
I'm sure this is a skill that can be learned, but that some people take to it more naturally than others. I'd be on the end of the spectrum that really struggles and would need to work REALLY hard at it and still might never be great at it. I haven't ever really worked at it...and I don't know if I have the patience and interest to work at it.
It frustrates me that people seem to think this is a natural skill and are confused when you can't do it though. It's like they think I'm lying or just not trying hard enough. It pisses me off and makes me feel really insecure.
Everyone isn't good at everything.
I was noticing in class that I'm way better at playing than many of the others. I keep the tempo and play accurately. I can play faster than many. I also was noticing that while I was bored and noodling around because I couldn't get the interval ear training thing...that I would accidentally happen upon melodies that I recognized and could pick them out by ear. It happened like 10 times.
So it isn't that I'm tone deaf...because I can pick out melodies from memory by ear. I can match pitches by trial and error. And to some extent I know when notes are close to each other or far apart. I just can't tell the intervals. I might know that note one is low and note two needs to be a lot higher...but even though I can hear the melody in my head...I'll have to make a guess to match the second pitch. If I guess wrong I'll quickly guess again until I get it.
Learning the keyboard is definitely helpful for learning the relative position of notes. It took me forever to start to learn that on bass/guitar. On the keyboard it is right there in black and white. It's interesting.
I think the class will be useful, but not earth shattering. I don't think I care about being able to play piano...but it does present one with useful basic skill sets.
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theory. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Formal Notation
I lament a bunch not having taken becoming a rock star more seriously at a younger age. I knew I wanted to from about age 7...but I dicked around and listened to logic ("there's no chance of becoming a rock star"). More than anything I just didn't realize that all I had to do was...well do it. I guess that I thought I needed permission.
Anyway, I think I discount in this regret that I have actual had a formal musical education. I got a relatively late start at age 12, and it twas merely a public school education...but there's no getting around that I learned to read music and to play in an ensemble. Just facts.
I learned to read music in bass clef. I kind of knew treble too...but bass was my foundation. I played cello. Both the cello and the bass use bass clef. There is some trickiness though. Cellos are tuned in 5ths. Guitars (mostly escept one string) and electric basses are tuned in 4ths. So, even though I read bass clef and play cello...I was never able to read bass clef to play on the bass. It's a weird thing.
Mostly because I'm having trouble thinking of things to do in bass lessons, it recently occured to me that it might be useful to be able to read bass clef to play on the bass. It has very little practical use since none of the music that I play is written in formal notation. It just seemed like a good idea. So I thought I'd bring it to my teacher. But before I brought it to her, I thought I'd take a look at it myself.
So...bored at work with nothing to do since my coworkers are all out for the holidays...that's basically what I did yesterday...taught myself to play bass clef on the bass.
Kind of anyway. It is the kind of thing that requires practice. But when I got home from work I was able to play some Bach cello suites on the bass...slowly. It is a strange kind of transposition that happens in my brain...it reminds me of when I first took up bass. I was always thinking in terms of how a cello is set up and then adding or subtracting frets accordingly. I found myself doing that with the notation too. Like, on cello the top line is A and that's the highest open string. On bass that same note is on the highest string...but the string is a G...so it is on the 2nd fret (up a whole step). So I'd think...like cello but up a bit.
If I wanted to I could work up the skill. I'm not sure that I want to. I just wanted to know that I could if I wanted to. I think that it could be helpful with the learning the fret board thing. It certainly reinforced for me where C and D are on the G string...something I would have had to think hard about if pressed prior to yesterday. Oh...and that means that the 7th fret on the G string is E...up two octaves from the lowest open string. Huh. Yeah...useful.
So now I guess that I have to find something else to do in lessons now.
This chart (and other ones like it) was handy.
Anyway, I think I discount in this regret that I have actual had a formal musical education. I got a relatively late start at age 12, and it twas merely a public school education...but there's no getting around that I learned to read music and to play in an ensemble. Just facts.
I learned to read music in bass clef. I kind of knew treble too...but bass was my foundation. I played cello. Both the cello and the bass use bass clef. There is some trickiness though. Cellos are tuned in 5ths. Guitars (mostly escept one string) and electric basses are tuned in 4ths. So, even though I read bass clef and play cello...I was never able to read bass clef to play on the bass. It's a weird thing.
Mostly because I'm having trouble thinking of things to do in bass lessons, it recently occured to me that it might be useful to be able to read bass clef to play on the bass. It has very little practical use since none of the music that I play is written in formal notation. It just seemed like a good idea. So I thought I'd bring it to my teacher. But before I brought it to her, I thought I'd take a look at it myself.
So...bored at work with nothing to do since my coworkers are all out for the holidays...that's basically what I did yesterday...taught myself to play bass clef on the bass.
Kind of anyway. It is the kind of thing that requires practice. But when I got home from work I was able to play some Bach cello suites on the bass...slowly. It is a strange kind of transposition that happens in my brain...it reminds me of when I first took up bass. I was always thinking in terms of how a cello is set up and then adding or subtracting frets accordingly. I found myself doing that with the notation too. Like, on cello the top line is A and that's the highest open string. On bass that same note is on the highest string...but the string is a G...so it is on the 2nd fret (up a whole step). So I'd think...like cello but up a bit.
If I wanted to I could work up the skill. I'm not sure that I want to. I just wanted to know that I could if I wanted to. I think that it could be helpful with the learning the fret board thing. It certainly reinforced for me where C and D are on the G string...something I would have had to think hard about if pressed prior to yesterday. Oh...and that means that the 7th fret on the G string is E...up two octaves from the lowest open string. Huh. Yeah...useful.
So now I guess that I have to find something else to do in lessons now.
This chart (and other ones like it) was handy.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Noodling
I've never been a noodler. I like to have a guidepost. I rarely screw around on my instrument. It occurs to me that a little noodling is a good thing though...so I've started doing it on bass in the last couple of weeks. I sit down, pick a note, and then try to figure out what's around there that sounds good too. I started with major and minor "box" patterns, but now I'm venturing out...to see what is outside the box but in the key...and what's outside all logic but sounds ok anyway.
Figuring out the relative placement of notes on the fingerboard seems like such a simple thing. But every time I sit down to noodle I figure out something that I hadn't realized. Oh! I can play that note HERE too. Huh.
I don't know how all of these pieces fit together. How does a lifetime of daily baby steps congeal into skill or technique or knoweldge? It just does. And it is easy to get stuck where you are and never make baby steps towards anything. And then when you make them you think...shit, why didn't I figure that out years ago. And you also think...huh...not sure if this is useful or not. But the little tidbits...they stick together. And then one day someone asks you "how did you learn to do that" and you think "hell if I know...it just happened".
Those teenaged boys wanking their axes in their bedrooms...that's a whole lot of time and energy I wish I had. I missed the boat. But I'm trying to make up for lost time.
Figuring out the relative placement of notes on the fingerboard seems like such a simple thing. But every time I sit down to noodle I figure out something that I hadn't realized. Oh! I can play that note HERE too. Huh.
I don't know how all of these pieces fit together. How does a lifetime of daily baby steps congeal into skill or technique or knoweldge? It just does. And it is easy to get stuck where you are and never make baby steps towards anything. And then when you make them you think...shit, why didn't I figure that out years ago. And you also think...huh...not sure if this is useful or not. But the little tidbits...they stick together. And then one day someone asks you "how did you learn to do that" and you think "hell if I know...it just happened".
Those teenaged boys wanking their axes in their bedrooms...that's a whole lot of time and energy I wish I had. I missed the boat. But I'm trying to make up for lost time.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuning
I have never had a great ear for tuning. I'm not tone deaf, but I've never REALLY understood and internalized tuning by ear. It is only quite recently that it has begun to make any sense to me at all...but I still have trouble knowing if something is sharp or flat.
This is a case where the public school system really failed me. I played cello in public school for 7 years. For most of that time I was first chair in my section. I was, I'll say with no ego, the best player or one of the best players. But I had no idea how to tune. It was generally accepted that I did in fact know how to tune though. I don't ever remember being taught. Not really. I just recall an A 440 playing out at the start of every rehearsal and us being asked to tune. Those who had big issues were assisted by the teacher. The rest were not. I never had big issues. Why? Because my cello was good at staying in tune. Simple as that. I was careful with it and it was a decent instrument and it just didn't go out of tune very far. So I never learned how to tune.
Looking back this really does seem a collosal failure of the public school music educational program. If it was the case with me, it was surely the case with most people. It is such a fundamental skill...why wasn't it called out as such? It seems, in retrospect, that it is a skill that can be taught...but someone has to take the time to teach it. To train a young person's ears.
In any case, tuning doesn't bother me so much anymore because now I have electronic tuners that tell me if I'm in tune (for open strings) and frets to telling me if I'm playing in the right place. But that doesn't mean that it isn't still an important skill.
It often troubles me because I feel like my instrument, particularly my low E string, isn't quite in tune...even though the tuner says it is and I'm playing in the right place. It just nags a little at me.
In Guitar Zero I learned something that I'd never known before...tuning a guitar is not absolute. I don't totally understand, but essentially if you get your guitar in tune with itself it will be ever so slightly out of tune in other ways. This is different than your guitar not being in tune with itself...which can be corrected by adjusting screws down by the bridge and is refered to as setting your intonation. No what I'm talking about is that tuning a guitar involves compromise...it will never be totally in tune for all purposes. From the site I just linked...
Richard Lloyd, formerly of the hugely influential band Television and now a great guitar educator, discussed an interesting way to mitigate the problem:
First tune the bottom E string to a tuning fork or tuning machine. Next, fret the E. string at the tenth fret. This will give you a D. Tune the D string to this note by ear. Next, fret the D string at the fifth fret. Tune the G string to the D string at the fifth fret. Now fret the G string at the second fret. This gives you an A. Tune the A string from this note. Now fret the A string at the second fret. Tune the B string from this note. It will be an octave up. Next, fret the D string at the second fret. This gives you E. Tune your high E from this. Again this will be an octave.
Voila! Strum the guitar. It should sound considerably more pleasing. If you are playing an acoustic or electric guitar by yourself this should work delightfully. If you are playing with other instruments it can take some real effort to find a harmoniousness between all the separate instruments, but I think that if you try this approach you will begin to get a taste of the difference between tuning to a machine and tuning to natural acoustic principles.
Shocking! I had no idea. I think the upshot is...if you tune each string to a reference pitch the strings will be slightly out of tune with each other. If you tune your guitar relative to itself instead...you'll be out of tune with the other instruments you are playing with. This is crazy to me.
But it might explain why things never sound quite right to me on bass...or playing bass against guitars. Or like why no matter how much I try to tune I don't feel like I'm in tune with the recording of Here Comes Your Man (though I also wonder if they didn't tweak that recording and increase or lower the overall pitch, essentially changing the tuning from how I'm tuned...seems like they did to me). Lately in particular I'll feel like the bass note I'm playing clashes slightly against the chord the guitar player is playing...but when we check to see if we are in tune with each other we are. And they don't seem to notice. Our strings are in tune with each other...but their chord is probably out of tune with itself and therefore out of tune with what I'm playing. Maddening.
This is a case where the public school system really failed me. I played cello in public school for 7 years. For most of that time I was first chair in my section. I was, I'll say with no ego, the best player or one of the best players. But I had no idea how to tune. It was generally accepted that I did in fact know how to tune though. I don't ever remember being taught. Not really. I just recall an A 440 playing out at the start of every rehearsal and us being asked to tune. Those who had big issues were assisted by the teacher. The rest were not. I never had big issues. Why? Because my cello was good at staying in tune. Simple as that. I was careful with it and it was a decent instrument and it just didn't go out of tune very far. So I never learned how to tune.
Looking back this really does seem a collosal failure of the public school music educational program. If it was the case with me, it was surely the case with most people. It is such a fundamental skill...why wasn't it called out as such? It seems, in retrospect, that it is a skill that can be taught...but someone has to take the time to teach it. To train a young person's ears.
In any case, tuning doesn't bother me so much anymore because now I have electronic tuners that tell me if I'm in tune (for open strings) and frets to telling me if I'm playing in the right place. But that doesn't mean that it isn't still an important skill.
It often troubles me because I feel like my instrument, particularly my low E string, isn't quite in tune...even though the tuner says it is and I'm playing in the right place. It just nags a little at me.
In Guitar Zero I learned something that I'd never known before...tuning a guitar is not absolute. I don't totally understand, but essentially if you get your guitar in tune with itself it will be ever so slightly out of tune in other ways. This is different than your guitar not being in tune with itself...which can be corrected by adjusting screws down by the bridge and is refered to as setting your intonation. No what I'm talking about is that tuning a guitar involves compromise...it will never be totally in tune for all purposes. From the site I just linked...
Richard Lloyd, formerly of the hugely influential band Television and now a great guitar educator, discussed an interesting way to mitigate the problem:
First tune the bottom E string to a tuning fork or tuning machine. Next, fret the E. string at the tenth fret. This will give you a D. Tune the D string to this note by ear. Next, fret the D string at the fifth fret. Tune the G string to the D string at the fifth fret. Now fret the G string at the second fret. This gives you an A. Tune the A string from this note. Now fret the A string at the second fret. Tune the B string from this note. It will be an octave up. Next, fret the D string at the second fret. This gives you E. Tune your high E from this. Again this will be an octave.
Voila! Strum the guitar. It should sound considerably more pleasing. If you are playing an acoustic or electric guitar by yourself this should work delightfully. If you are playing with other instruments it can take some real effort to find a harmoniousness between all the separate instruments, but I think that if you try this approach you will begin to get a taste of the difference between tuning to a machine and tuning to natural acoustic principles.
Shocking! I had no idea. I think the upshot is...if you tune each string to a reference pitch the strings will be slightly out of tune with each other. If you tune your guitar relative to itself instead...you'll be out of tune with the other instruments you are playing with. This is crazy to me.
But it might explain why things never sound quite right to me on bass...or playing bass against guitars. Or like why no matter how much I try to tune I don't feel like I'm in tune with the recording of Here Comes Your Man (though I also wonder if they didn't tweak that recording and increase or lower the overall pitch, essentially changing the tuning from how I'm tuned...seems like they did to me). Lately in particular I'll feel like the bass note I'm playing clashes slightly against the chord the guitar player is playing...but when we check to see if we are in tune with each other we are. And they don't seem to notice. Our strings are in tune with each other...but their chord is probably out of tune with itself and therefore out of tune with what I'm playing. Maddening.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Drum Tuning
The kit I borrow once a week sounded REALLY GOOD last night...I think the owner spent some quality time tuning it over the weekend. I like the results.
Drum tuning is a funny thing. The most common advice about drum tuning (from drummers, magazines, and such) is "do whatever sounds good to you" which is really no advice at all. But in recent weeks I've had a couple of guitar players try to give me advice about drum tuning which was basically "do what I think you should do."
I know that people mean well and want to help...but I don't really LIKE help...especially help that I haven't asked for. Especially help that feels like I'm being told my way is wrong. I like figuring stuff out for myself. If I need help or want an opinion, I'll ask. I know that I should be more open to input and that I could probably learn alot that way...but it is hard enough for me to gain confidence in my own abilities. I don't need pot shots from the peanut gallery.
So that kind of talk annoys me anyway...but in the cases in question...it has been with respect to this kit that I'm not even privvy to tuning. It isn't my kit and I'm not messing with it. So telling me how I ought to tune it is no help. It isn't mine to tune. You don't tune another man's drums when he's being nice enough to loan them to you.
And in the end...there is no "right" way to tune a drum kit so long as you don't damage the drum. Anything goes. Anyone who tells you differently doesn't know what they are talking about. It really IS all personal preference.
I'm still learning and deciding about my own method and preferences for drum tuning. It is one of those things that is half science and half art. I'm still learning the science part (what you do to get what effect)...and I haven't really even begun to reflect on the art part...well...I've just recently begun.
The two guitar players both really wanted me to tune to a note. I find this funny. I mean, I guess it makes sense because they play instruments that are tuned to notes. To them "tuning" = "find the right note". There are certainly drummers who follow this approach. But I know enough about my preferences already to know that I'm not a drummer who will ever probably tune to a note.
First off...I suck at tuning by ear. I have trouble with that and always have. Getting a guitar string in tune to pitch for me is hard...never mind a drum that has two heads and 12 to 20 lugs to work with. Tuning to a pitch just isn't going to happen for me.
But beyond that, I just don't think it is WISE to tune to a pitch. The drums need to be separate in sonic space from the pitched instruments (in my opinion). It is a contrast thing. For me that means them NOT being tuned to a pitch. Tune to a pitch and at some point you are going to have dissonance with the band (you might be playing a drum note not in the key of the song). If things are more nebulous that seems less of a risk. Sure, even if you don't try the drums will be tuned to a note...but I just think it is better that it be less defined.
I'm more concerned with tone. And I'm still figuring out how to get the best tone. Full but focused. The drums should be in tune with themselves...and then the snare to the rack toms and then to the floor toms should descend and not sound "bad" as far as moving from drum to drum goes (sometimes something just sounds out of place flat or sharp). But I'm not so worried about what the note is or if the drums are tuned in 3rds or whatever. Just that it sounds good moving from drum to drum. Maybe tuning to relative pitches is happening by accident because that's what sounds good...but it isn't on purpose. I also like the floor tom to be almost as low as possible without being lower than the bass. You end up setting a lower limit. You can only go so loose with the bass drum without it sounding "flappy"...so go for the lowest possible note on the bass drum...and then the floor tom should be as low as possible but higher than the bass drum. And so on.
And then there's getting the ring out and the unwanted overtones and the sympathetic vibrations. There's tweaking. Speaking of which...I just ordered snare wires with the center wires missing...which is supposed to reduce sympathetic vibrations, which I've had trouble with on the new Sonor because the bass drum is so powerful.
Anyway, I'm figuring it out and getting better at knowing what I want and how to get it. But it's a new game. And my preferences will grow and change and evolve.
And I kinda think the drum tuning talk from guitar players is just that...talk. I'd love to sit them down with five drums and 10 heads still in the packages and say "go for it" and see what happens. Two or three hours later they can get back to me about their theory of drum tuning.
Drum tuning is a funny thing. The most common advice about drum tuning (from drummers, magazines, and such) is "do whatever sounds good to you" which is really no advice at all. But in recent weeks I've had a couple of guitar players try to give me advice about drum tuning which was basically "do what I think you should do."
I know that people mean well and want to help...but I don't really LIKE help...especially help that I haven't asked for. Especially help that feels like I'm being told my way is wrong. I like figuring stuff out for myself. If I need help or want an opinion, I'll ask. I know that I should be more open to input and that I could probably learn alot that way...but it is hard enough for me to gain confidence in my own abilities. I don't need pot shots from the peanut gallery.
So that kind of talk annoys me anyway...but in the cases in question...it has been with respect to this kit that I'm not even privvy to tuning. It isn't my kit and I'm not messing with it. So telling me how I ought to tune it is no help. It isn't mine to tune. You don't tune another man's drums when he's being nice enough to loan them to you.
And in the end...there is no "right" way to tune a drum kit so long as you don't damage the drum. Anything goes. Anyone who tells you differently doesn't know what they are talking about. It really IS all personal preference.
I'm still learning and deciding about my own method and preferences for drum tuning. It is one of those things that is half science and half art. I'm still learning the science part (what you do to get what effect)...and I haven't really even begun to reflect on the art part...well...I've just recently begun.
The two guitar players both really wanted me to tune to a note. I find this funny. I mean, I guess it makes sense because they play instruments that are tuned to notes. To them "tuning" = "find the right note". There are certainly drummers who follow this approach. But I know enough about my preferences already to know that I'm not a drummer who will ever probably tune to a note.
First off...I suck at tuning by ear. I have trouble with that and always have. Getting a guitar string in tune to pitch for me is hard...never mind a drum that has two heads and 12 to 20 lugs to work with. Tuning to a pitch just isn't going to happen for me.
But beyond that, I just don't think it is WISE to tune to a pitch. The drums need to be separate in sonic space from the pitched instruments (in my opinion). It is a contrast thing. For me that means them NOT being tuned to a pitch. Tune to a pitch and at some point you are going to have dissonance with the band (you might be playing a drum note not in the key of the song). If things are more nebulous that seems less of a risk. Sure, even if you don't try the drums will be tuned to a note...but I just think it is better that it be less defined.
I'm more concerned with tone. And I'm still figuring out how to get the best tone. Full but focused. The drums should be in tune with themselves...and then the snare to the rack toms and then to the floor toms should descend and not sound "bad" as far as moving from drum to drum goes (sometimes something just sounds out of place flat or sharp). But I'm not so worried about what the note is or if the drums are tuned in 3rds or whatever. Just that it sounds good moving from drum to drum. Maybe tuning to relative pitches is happening by accident because that's what sounds good...but it isn't on purpose. I also like the floor tom to be almost as low as possible without being lower than the bass. You end up setting a lower limit. You can only go so loose with the bass drum without it sounding "flappy"...so go for the lowest possible note on the bass drum...and then the floor tom should be as low as possible but higher than the bass drum. And so on.
And then there's getting the ring out and the unwanted overtones and the sympathetic vibrations. There's tweaking. Speaking of which...I just ordered snare wires with the center wires missing...which is supposed to reduce sympathetic vibrations, which I've had trouble with on the new Sonor because the bass drum is so powerful.
Anyway, I'm figuring it out and getting better at knowing what I want and how to get it. But it's a new game. And my preferences will grow and change and evolve.
And I kinda think the drum tuning talk from guitar players is just that...talk. I'd love to sit them down with five drums and 10 heads still in the packages and say "go for it" and see what happens. Two or three hours later they can get back to me about their theory of drum tuning.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Thoughts On Playing Slow
So one of my bands has these "cock rock" tunes that require playing relatively slowly. When I was playing with the grunge ensemble that fell apart I had noticed that the slow songs were the hardest (stuff like Plush or Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots...or Cumbersome by Seven Mary Three). I'm finding the same thing now. Fast is hard in it's own way...but fast is kind of something you can easily build up to. Slow is tough, though.
Playing inconsistently when I play slowly is probably a huge groove killer (and what prompted the comment about playing behind the beat). It's something worth working on.
I imagine the only real way to work on this is to play with a metronome and improve my sense of internal timing at slow bpms.
Below is my first attempt at embedding an mp3 player into a blog post. Still working out the kinks. It doesn't seem to want to let me put the name of the song within the player or to allow you to fast forward or rewind. But this is the only code I could find that would allow an embedded player in Blogger. I guess Blogger isn't great for such stuff. But it works. Kinda. You might have to hit the play button twice.
This song starts fast, but at about 3:30 we switch into a slow "cock rock" bit. That's the kind of stuff I have trouble maintaining my tempo on.
Playing inconsistently when I play slowly is probably a huge groove killer (and what prompted the comment about playing behind the beat). It's something worth working on.
I imagine the only real way to work on this is to play with a metronome and improve my sense of internal timing at slow bpms.
Below is my first attempt at embedding an mp3 player into a blog post. Still working out the kinks. It doesn't seem to want to let me put the name of the song within the player or to allow you to fast forward or rewind. But this is the only code I could find that would allow an embedded player in Blogger. I guess Blogger isn't great for such stuff. But it works. Kinda. You might have to hit the play button twice.
This song starts fast, but at about 3:30 we switch into a slow "cock rock" bit. That's the kind of stuff I have trouble maintaining my tempo on.
Finding the Groove: Playing Behind, Ahead, On-Top
So there's these concepts of playing behind, ahead, or on-top of the beat. It has never come up in real life for me before, it's just been something I've read about in magazines. But last night someone asked me to play "behind the beat" (note to myself...this was for the second half of "Movin' On"). I guess it's time to start thinking more about this.
Here's a decent video:
Honestly, this is a very advanced concept. I'm not sure that it is necessary in the situation it was brought up to me. What I really think was happening last night was that the guitar player was rushing and that I was playing inconsistently (not staying one tempo) because I'm not used to playing slowly and because I was unfamiliar with the song. That stuff needs to get fixed first...and then...yeah...laying behind the beat would be ideal for the song in question.
I don't feel like we are rehearsing the tunes hard enough to get to that point, though. We basically play through things once...once a week. That's not rehearsing, that's playing. To get to a fine point like playing behind the beat...we need to be working more...like take an entire 3 hour rehearsal on one song and really work it rather than just play it. Right now most all of the advancement I am making with these songs is in my private practice by myself. Working on groove in that situation (where I'm playing with a recording by myself) is tough. If we really want to groove as a band...that's a group effort. We have to know the songs stone cold like the back of our hands...and then we can work the finesse. I think musical communication is pretty strained in this situation, though, so I'm not sure how we'd get to that point. We don't all have the same language or means to communicate. So we can't just talk to each other or write something down and have it be resolved. If we aren't able to communicate musical concepts well to each other in those ways, there needs to be more room to explore and screw up together. Jam it out...change things...jam it out more...fix it...come together. For now, that isn't happening.
So I think the main thing I have to do is learn the songs inside out the best that I can under the circumstances. That's the best shot I can have at getting to a groove point. For now, I'm still just barely holding on to the basics. Groove is a good prize to keep my eye on...but I kind of have to be patient with myself and acknowledge that beyond me just needing more practice and experience...the situation isn't ideal to foster such subtleties either.
Here's a decent video:
Honestly, this is a very advanced concept. I'm not sure that it is necessary in the situation it was brought up to me. What I really think was happening last night was that the guitar player was rushing and that I was playing inconsistently (not staying one tempo) because I'm not used to playing slowly and because I was unfamiliar with the song. That stuff needs to get fixed first...and then...yeah...laying behind the beat would be ideal for the song in question.
I don't feel like we are rehearsing the tunes hard enough to get to that point, though. We basically play through things once...once a week. That's not rehearsing, that's playing. To get to a fine point like playing behind the beat...we need to be working more...like take an entire 3 hour rehearsal on one song and really work it rather than just play it. Right now most all of the advancement I am making with these songs is in my private practice by myself. Working on groove in that situation (where I'm playing with a recording by myself) is tough. If we really want to groove as a band...that's a group effort. We have to know the songs stone cold like the back of our hands...and then we can work the finesse. I think musical communication is pretty strained in this situation, though, so I'm not sure how we'd get to that point. We don't all have the same language or means to communicate. So we can't just talk to each other or write something down and have it be resolved. If we aren't able to communicate musical concepts well to each other in those ways, there needs to be more room to explore and screw up together. Jam it out...change things...jam it out more...fix it...come together. For now, that isn't happening.
So I think the main thing I have to do is learn the songs inside out the best that I can under the circumstances. That's the best shot I can have at getting to a groove point. For now, I'm still just barely holding on to the basics. Groove is a good prize to keep my eye on...but I kind of have to be patient with myself and acknowledge that beyond me just needing more practice and experience...the situation isn't ideal to foster such subtleties either.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Bossa Nova
I've been trying to learn the bossa nova for over a year now. Trying is probably the wrong word...wishing perhaps. I bang at it for a week, get discouraged, and set it aside. It's a mental block. There's something that hasn't clicked for me yet. There's a switch I've got to flip...and once it has flipped it will be easy as pie. For now it feels impossible, though.
I spent yesterday scouring the web for help. I was pretty unimpressed with what's out there. For one thing, I don't seem to be able to find an agreed upon figure. It varies in how it is played and how it is notated. Which is confusing.
I can play the high hat and snare together...and I can play the bass and high hat together. But I can't play the snare and bass together...never mind all three together. I know that I just have to keep slowing it down and deconstructing it...but I can't help but feel like there's some secret that I'm missing. Some key that would make me go "Ohhhhh...I get it now." Alas...I solider on.
I spent yesterday scouring the web for help. I was pretty unimpressed with what's out there. For one thing, I don't seem to be able to find an agreed upon figure. It varies in how it is played and how it is notated. Which is confusing.
I can play the high hat and snare together...and I can play the bass and high hat together. But I can't play the snare and bass together...never mind all three together. I know that I just have to keep slowing it down and deconstructing it...but I can't help but feel like there's some secret that I'm missing. Some key that would make me go "Ohhhhh...I get it now." Alas...I solider on.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Theory: Some Charts
Some cheat sheets(Click to make images bigger).
Major Chords:
Minor Chords:
Circle of 5ths and Chart of Keys:
Major Chords:
Minor Chords:
Circle of 5ths and Chart of Keys:
Theory: Chords of the Major/Minor Scales
Major Chord Progressions
If we take the major scale: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
And we build a triad off of each note of the scale using only notes found within the scale, we get this:
I C-E-G (1-3-5 Cmaj)
ii D-F-A (1-b3-5 Dmin)
iii E-G-B (1-b3-5 Emin)
IV F-A-C (1-3-5 Fmaj)
V G-B-D (1-3-5 Gmaj)
vi A-C-E (1-b3-5 Amin)
vii B-D-F (1-b3-b5 Bdim)
VIII C-E-G (1-3-5 Cmaj)
The major scale follows this whole-step/half-step pattern:
w - w - h - w - w - w - h
The chord scale follows the same pattern:
I ii iii IV V vi vii VIII
w w h w w w h
Now, all you have to do is remember which type of chord each number represents.
I ii iii IV V vi vii VIII
w w h w w w h
maj min min maj maj min dim maj
Minor chord progressions
Minor chord progressions are charted out much like major progressions, but the order of major and minor chords change.
i ii0 III iv v VI VII i
w h w w h w w
Types of chords
Minor chord: 1, 3b, 5 notes in the scale.
Major 7 chord: 1, 3, 5, 7 notes in the scale.
Minor 7 chord: 1, 3b, 5, 7b notes in the scale.
Dominant 7 chord: 1, 3, 5, 7b notes in the scale.
Diminished chord: 1, 3b, 5b, 6 notes in the scale.
Augmented chord: 1, 3, 5# notes in the scale.
6 th chord: 1, 3, 5, 6 notes in the scale.
Suspended chord: 1, 4, 5 notes in the scale.
Golden Progression
FYI, a very common chord progression is I-IV-V-I
If we take the major scale: C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
And we build a triad off of each note of the scale using only notes found within the scale, we get this:
I C-E-G (1-3-5 Cmaj)
ii D-F-A (1-b3-5 Dmin)
iii E-G-B (1-b3-5 Emin)
IV F-A-C (1-3-5 Fmaj)
V G-B-D (1-3-5 Gmaj)
vi A-C-E (1-b3-5 Amin)
vii B-D-F (1-b3-b5 Bdim)
VIII C-E-G (1-3-5 Cmaj)
The major scale follows this whole-step/half-step pattern:
w - w - h - w - w - w - h
The chord scale follows the same pattern:
I ii iii IV V vi vii VIII
w w h w w w h
Now, all you have to do is remember which type of chord each number represents.
I ii iii IV V vi vii VIII
w w h w w w h
maj min min maj maj min dim maj
Minor chord progressions
Minor chord progressions are charted out much like major progressions, but the order of major and minor chords change.
i ii0 III iv v VI VII i
w h w w h w w
Types of chords
Minor chord: 1, 3b, 5 notes in the scale.
Major 7 chord: 1, 3, 5, 7 notes in the scale.
Minor 7 chord: 1, 3b, 5, 7b notes in the scale.
Dominant 7 chord: 1, 3, 5, 7b notes in the scale.
Diminished chord: 1, 3b, 5b, 6 notes in the scale.
Augmented chord: 1, 3, 5# notes in the scale.
6 th chord: 1, 3, 5, 6 notes in the scale.
Suspended chord: 1, 4, 5 notes in the scale.
Golden Progression
FYI, a very common chord progression is I-IV-V-I
Theory: Major and Minor Scales
Found a page with a nice concise bit on major and minor scales.
And I quote:
Major Scale in Every Key
C = C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
D = D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D
E = E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E
F = F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F
G = G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G
A = A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
B = B - C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A# - B
C# = C# - D# - E# (=F) - F# - G# - A# - B# (=C) - C#
Db = Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - C - Db
Eb = Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - D -Eb
F# = F# - G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E# (=F) - F#
Gb = Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb (=B) - Db - Eb - F - Gb
Ab = Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - G - Ab
Bb = Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb
To simplify, you can memorize this formula to form a major scale = whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - whole step - half step or w - w - h - w - w - w - h.
Natural Minor Scale
When you play all the notes in a minor key signature, you are playing the minor scale. To guide you, here are the minor scales in every key:
C = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C
D = D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C - D
E = E - F# - G - A - B - C - D - E
F = F - G - Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F
G = G - A - Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G
A = A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A
B = B - C# - D - E - F# - G - A - B
C# = C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A - B - C#
Eb = Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb
F# = F# - G# - A - B - C# - D - E - F#
G# = G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E - F# - G#
Bb = Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb
To simplify, you can memorize this formula to form a minor scale = whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step or w - h - w - w - h - w - w.
Harmonic Minor Scale
To play a harmonic minor scale, you simply raise the seventh note of the scale by a half-step as you go up and down the scale. For example:
Natural C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C
Harmonic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C
Melodic Minor Scale
When you raise the sixth and seventh notes of a scale by a half step as you go up the scale and then return to the natural minor as you go down the scale. For example:
Melodic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C (as you go up the scale)
Natural C Minor Scale = C - Bb - Ab - G - F - Eb - D - C (as you go down the scale)
And I quote:
Major Scale in Every Key
C = C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C
D = D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D
E = E - F# - G# - A - B - C# - D# - E
F = F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F
G = G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G
A = A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
B = B - C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A# - B
C# = C# - D# - E# (=F) - F# - G# - A# - B# (=C) - C#
Db = Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - C - Db
Eb = Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - D -Eb
F# = F# - G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E# (=F) - F#
Gb = Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb (=B) - Db - Eb - F - Gb
Ab = Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - G - Ab
Bb = Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb
To simplify, you can memorize this formula to form a major scale = whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - whole step - half step or w - w - h - w - w - w - h.
Natural Minor Scale
When you play all the notes in a minor key signature, you are playing the minor scale. To guide you, here are the minor scales in every key:
C = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C
D = D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C - D
E = E - F# - G - A - B - C - D - E
F = F - G - Ab - Bb - C - Db - Eb - F
G = G - A - Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G
A = A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A
B = B - C# - D - E - F# - G - A - B
C# = C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A - B - C#
Eb = Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db - Eb
F# = F# - G# - A - B - C# - D - E - F#
G# = G# - A# - B - C# - D# - E - F# - G#
Bb = Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb
To simplify, you can memorize this formula to form a minor scale = whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step or w - h - w - w - h - w - w.
Harmonic Minor Scale
To play a harmonic minor scale, you simply raise the seventh note of the scale by a half-step as you go up and down the scale. For example:
Natural C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C
Harmonic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C
Melodic Minor Scale
When you raise the sixth and seventh notes of a scale by a half step as you go up the scale and then return to the natural minor as you go down the scale. For example:
Melodic C Minor Scale = C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C (as you go up the scale)
Natural C Minor Scale = C - Bb - Ab - G - F - Eb - D - C (as you go down the scale)
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