General Music Chat

hope your gig went well planetguy, I do appreciate your kind gesture of offering me a free drink..

it took me a moment to recall which gig...but i got the ol noggin' cooperatin'.
yeah, thanks. the gig went fine and it was a blast having one of my favorite drummers joining us (VAL & MAL...we usually play duo).

re the drink offer....you're most welcome and it holds for anytime you're "in the neighborhood". we're playing up in Macon MO this saturday but i don't imagine that's too close to you either.

No it makes sense. The C# F# G# B E and are all in the key of C#. Is that important? And the rest of it makes perfect sense.

To Me, all a key provides is your point of reference. Wait till you get into transposition.... You'll see the beauty of this...

Also,. scales, in and of them selves, are tracks of direction...with respect to that key... By no means are they required as a hard and fast rule. SO, you can jump tracks... and pull off some interesting lead work...(Presuming you have the skill to jump gracefully)

I should also add... WHen you master the formal scales (WHich sadly, I have not taken the time to do) , you will discover that these scales can serve as "black-box" inserts into the arrangement of any piece you want. (Keeping in mind the key of the piece)

p-dog....that's one of the many cool things about music, eh? there's not ONE way of approaching it, understanding it, or creating art (or what passes for art) with it.

i think the only "right way" is the one that works best for each of us and let's us accomplish what we set out to do.

guitar is a very interesting bird as far as instruments go. an "unschooled" gtrst (as in someone that doesn't necessarily know their scales or much about theory) can function quite capably and sound great (esp in the blues or rock genre).

for instance if you can learn and can play out of an E "blues box"....and the singer wants to transpose up to F.....well, ya just slide up one fret and voila! there ya go.

now, that's NOT something you can do on trumpet, sax, piano, trombone, vibes, steel drums, or...... for those instruments you actually have to KNOW the notes that you are playing....you have to know the nuts and bolts of the scales and intervals. i mean ya can't just slide yer hand up a 1/4 inch or strap on a capo and be playing the same lick in a different key!

that's not a cut at gtrsts... i'm one myself. just an observation.

i place no musical value on the amount of theory knowledge anyone has....it always comes down to the final results.

One problem. Many solutions.

One problem. Many solutions.

ONE problem???

IF ONLY!

yeah you're probably right

Can someone at least give me an idea of starting point?

Can someone at least give me an idea of starting point?

As you have mentioned that you have only recently gotten into the blues, I think the best place to start is by listening, lots and lots of listening to great blues. Listen to the greats and find out who they listened to and check that out, listen all the way back to the roots of the blues, and the blues is ultimately at the roots of jazz, rock, R&B, funk, ska, reggae, so it'll certainly be worth your while to learn the sonic history of the blues.

Besides that, try find a good blues band playing around your town and watch them .. ask the guitarist if he teaches.

No it makes sense. The C# F# G# B E and are all in the key of C#. Is that important? And the rest of it makes perfect sense.

To Me, all a key provides is your point of reference. Wait till you get into transposition.... You'll see the beauty of this...

Also,. scales, in and of them selves, are tracks of direction...with respect to that key... By no means are they required as a hard and fast rule. SO, you can jump tracks... and pull off some interesting lead work...(Presuming you have the skill to jump gracefully)

I should also add... WHen you master the formal scales (WHich sadly, I have not taken the time to do) , you will discover that these scales can serve as "black-box" inserts into the arrangement of any piece you want. (Keeping in mind the key of the piece)

p-dog....that's one of the many cool things about music, eh? there's not ONE way of approaching it, understanding it, or creating art (or what passes for art) with it.

i think the only "right way" is the one that works best for each of us and let's us accomplish what we set out to do.

guitar is a very interesting bird as far as instruments go. an "unschooled" gtrst (as in someone that doesn't necessarily know their scales or much about theory) can function quite capably and sound great (esp in the blues or rock genre).

for instance if you can learn and can play out of an E "blues box"....and the singer wants to transpose up to F.....well, ya just slide up one fret and voila! there ya go.

now, that's NOT something you can do on trumpet, sax, piano, trombone, vibes, steel drums, or...... for those instruments you actually have to KNOW the notes that you are playing....you have to know the nuts and bolts of the scales and intervals. i mean ya can't just slide yer hand up a 1/4 inch or strap on a capo and be playing the same lick in a different key!

that's not a cut at gtrsts... i'm one myself. just an observation.

i place no musical value on the amount of theory knowledge anyone has....it always comes down to the final results.

Yep There are multiple ways to music. It parallels language and how we use it. We can launch the same phrases from several different tongues, and thus many different expressions all leading to or from a common idea.

One critical factor in music, is the musical 'memory". A series of half steps, down or up a scale is typically reminiscent of a slope, which Our minds anticipate and then traverse, just before the actual execution of the note(s). What I find fascinating , is that instruments might impose mechanical constraints , and will drive the manner in which we exploit the 'travese'. Say I run four counts of a chromatic scale on the guitar with my finger patterns, in "C". To effectively repeat that on a trumpet, Now I must bring in the lips PLUS I must re adapt the finger pattern to suit the instrument. While this could seems trite to the advanced musician, The implications are enormous to the poet. Think about it... If the C-run invoked a specific sentiment and emotion, Its not the mechanics per say...Rather, Its the musical memory / anticipation of a musical phrase, that works with any instrument. To play that run on the guitar or the trumpet, should effectively hold the same value. Therefore, Music must be somewhat an innate and universal language, that means the same thing , regardless of the tongue which delivers it .... Having said that, Blues comes from the soul... The same old 1,4,5, ensues, but one guy gouges the heart and extracts the tears, while the other guy keeps it light and banal...
SOrry for the ramble...

You have the general scales above, but basically, if you have some wit, you can take any melancholic chords and turn them into blues.

I take Wiki with a grain of salt as for 100% accuracy, but this time, it does offer a lot of good information to get you started, but I'll advise you to do your own research and if you really want to feel it, travel to the places it started. You're never the same after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

Whatever you do, please don't take those signature chords and just play the same shuffle and Delta blues. This is the reason I stopped going to my husband's blues jams because of these boring people all get up and play the same sh*t and then after want to grab their wankers and act like they're the first and foremost authority on blues.

Learn it, play it, then make it your own. People can say what they want about Jack White, but he took it and made it something different. Wild, chaotic, raunchy, and punky. And I love him for it!

Chaeya

You have the general scales above, but basically, if you have some wit, you can take any melancholic chords and turn them into blues.

I take Wiki with a grain of salt as for 100% accuracy, but this time, it does offer a lot of good information to get you started, but I'll advise you to do your own research and if you really want to feel it, travel to the places it started. You're never the same after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

Whatever you do, please don't take those signature chords and just play the same shuffle and Delta blues. This is the reason I stopped going to my husband's blues jams because of these boring people all get up and play the same sh*t and then after want to grab their wankers and act like they're the first and foremost authority on blues.

Learn it, play it, then make it your own. People can say what they want about Jack White, but he took it and made it something different. Wild, chaotic, raunchy, and punky. And I love him for it!

Chaeya

The way I see it a blues song is like a house... Anybody can live in it, but only a very few can tap and arranged the furniture in optimal 'fen shway" .

You have the general scales above, but basically, if you have some wit, you can take any melancholic chords and turn them into blues.

I take Wiki with a grain of salt as for 100% accuracy, but this time, it does offer a lot of good information to get you started, but I'll advise you to do your own research and if you really want to feel it, travel to the places it started. You're never the same after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

Whatever you do, please don't take those signature chords and just play the same shuffle and Delta blues. This is the reason I stopped going to my husband's blues jams because of these boring people all get up and play the same sh*t and then after want to grab their wankers and act like they're the first and foremost authority on blues.

Learn it, play it, then make it your own. People can say what they want about Jack White, but he took it and made it something different. Wild, chaotic, raunchy, and punky. And I love him for it!

Chaeya

The way I see it a blues song is like a house... Anybody can live in it, but only a very few can tap and arranged the furniture in optimal 'fen shway" .

The problem is you can't get people to be honest enough about the fact that they just suck in certain genres, or they just suck period.

For instance, I know as a R&B singer, I suck, I got only so much soul then it gets raunched out. I'm honest about it, but yet people keep trying to get me to sing these R&B songs. Sorry, mate, not gonna happen. I have my own style and that's just the real of it.

The problem with these blues jams or probably any jam is these guys who get up there and do the same sorry as shuffle blues and lame ass guitar solos. These guys usually form the main clique of the club, so they all go up together and they know the choice drummers and bass players and get in with them. They'll waltz in at different times and get preferential treatment and get called up on stage over people who were there before them and who were on the list. Then you get the hot dog who thinks he's the badass of the bunch because he's loud and has his little slide tool that goes wheer, wheer, wheer all over the place. The crowd are usually local drunks and think because he puts on a good loud show that he must be badass, as they know f**k all what constitutes a good guitarist, so he comes every week and attempts to dominate the whole gig.

Can't stand blues clubs now, just listening to all the drama Cisco tells me about and the many times I've had to calm him down then have him talk me out of going down there to cuss some people out.

That gets my dandruff up more than politics.

Chaeya

No it makes sense. The C# F# G# B E and are all in the key of C#. Is that important? And the rest of it makes perfect sense.

To Me, all a key provides is your point of reference. Wait till you get into transposition.... You'll see the beauty of this...

Also,. scales, in and of them selves, are tracks of direction...with respect to that key... By no means are they required as a hard and fast rule. SO, you can jump tracks... and pull off some interesting lead work...(Presuming you have the skill to jump gracefully)

I should also add... WHen you master the formal scales (WHich sadly, I have not taken the time to do) , you will discover that these scales can serve as "black-box" inserts into the arrangement of any piece you want. (Keeping in mind the key of the piece)

p-dog....that's one of the many cool things about music, eh? there's not ONE way of approaching it, understanding it, or creating art (or what passes for art) with it.

i think the only "right way" is the one that works best for each of us and let's us accomplish what we set out to do.

guitar is a very interesting bird as far as instruments go. an "unschooled" gtrst (as in someone that doesn't necessarily know their scales or much about theory) can function quite capably and sound great (esp in the blues or rock genre).

for instance if you can learn and can play out of an E "blues box"....and the singer wants to transpose up to F.....well, ya just slide up one fret and voila! there ya go.

now, that's NOT something you can do on trumpet, sax, piano, trombone, vibes, steel drums, or...... for those instruments you actually have to KNOW the notes that you are playing....you have to know the nuts and bolts of the scales and intervals. i mean ya can't just slide yer hand up a 1/4 inch or strap on a capo and be playing the same lick in a different key!

that's not a cut at gtrsts... i'm one myself. just an observation.

i place no musical value on the amount of theory knowledge anyone has....it always comes down to the final results.

Actually ass. The best players don't think in scales and notes. Trumpet, flute , sax,,,, They think in very different ways than a stuck up bass player like you. You are so far from the real truth, you don't have a clue.

Real players KNOW there ax so good they only think about the musical expression that is already created in their mind and already sung with their soul, and then translated to there ax.
Dude You are not a musician when you try to spew this sh*t.
You are so hung up on notes and scales you will never ever be free to musically express anything.
I've seen your types before. You are all negative. You will never be free.
Now I'm waiting for my ass whooping and your silly ass repetitive threat of violence.

You have the general scales above, but basically, if you have some wit, you can take any melancholic chords and turn them into blues.

I take Wiki with a grain of salt as for 100% accuracy, but this time, it does offer a lot of good information to get you started, but I'll advise you to do your own research and if you really want to feel it, travel to the places it started. You're never the same after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues

Whatever you do, please don't take those signature chords and just play the same shuffle and Delta blues. This is the reason I stopped going to my husband's blues jams because of these boring people all get up and play the same sh*t and then after want to grab their wankers and act like they're the first and foremost authority on blues.

Learn it, play it, then make it your own. People can say what they want about Jack White, but he took it and made it something different. Wild, chaotic, raunchy, and punky. And I love him for it!

Chaeya

The way I see it a blues song is like a house... Anybody can live in it, but only a very few can tap and arranged the furniture in optimal 'fen shway" .

The problem is you can't get people to be honest enough about the fact that they just suck in certain genres, or they just suck period.

For instance, I know as a R&B singer, I suck, I got only so much soul then it gets raunched out. I'm honest about it, but yet people keep trying to get me to sing these R&B songs. Sorry, mate, not gonna happen. I have my own style and that's just the real of it.

The problem with these blues jams or probably any jam is these guys who get up there and do the same sorry as shuffle blues and lame ass guitar solos. These guys usually form the main clique of the club, so they all go up together and they know the choice drummers and bass players and get in with them. They'll waltz in at different times and get preferential treatment and get called up on stage over people who were there before them and who were on the list. Then you get the hot dog who thinks he's the badass of the bunch because he's loud and has his little slide tool that goes wheer, wheer, wheer all over the place. The crowd are usually local drunks and think because he puts on a good loud show that he must be badass, as they know f**k all what constitutes a good guitarist, so he comes every week and attempts to dominate the whole gig.

Can't stand blues clubs now, just listening to all the drama Cisco tells me about and the many times I've had to calm him down then have him talk me out of going down there to cuss some people out.

That gets my dandruff up more than politics.

Chaeya

Yeah I hear ya... Actually, to add to it, Blues is one of those genres which I really believe one must actually experience before they can properly express it. All those guys you described...what blues have they really experienced? What!?...did da cappucino machine broke down or sumptin?"

One of the clubs here in my town, holds a blues open mic frequently.... There is a young kid, 19 years old named Darius Jackson. This kid came from Georgia He's good enough that he can comfortably pull off Jimi Hendrix routine ...He can 'Chuck-Berry' his way across a stage and his lead proficiency is outstanding (For a kid his age, he's way ahead of many others)

When I see him perform, its like I sense a hunger in him to get right with the music...like he's got something to say that needs to come out..His heart is 10000% into it. I'm guessing that is the bare min requirement , necessary on a journey of blues repotoire.

As I said before, very few people have that within themselves...And it's always obvious when they step up to the plate. I love the blues and in certain ways I feel I can relate to a lot of it... But I don't believe I have the bare mins...So for now I just fake my way through it...But I'm honest about it and will say that I'm just faking it.

You are so hung up on notes and scales you will never ever be free to musically express anything.
I've seen your types before. You are all negative. You will never be free.
Now I'm waiting for my ass whooping and your silly ass repetitive threat of violence.

feel threatened much?

no worries...you're proud of how much you don't know. and let's face it ya don't need a bunch of theory to wow the crowds at your next Guitar Center big shindig, eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng1nJ3u7 ... r_embedded

oh man, that's good for a belly laugh every time!

i tell ya...if i were you i'd lay off the twinkies for a cpl of weeks and buy a metronome w all the money you save!

No actually I don't . Your lack of brains is showing again.
Why don't you go give yourself a whooping. It won't knock any sense into you but at least you won't be out on the street looking for your welfare check.

Now thats funny.