General Music Chat

'music is a gift'

Perhaps, but it doesn't come gift wrapped. It will give you back actually more than you put into it but there is a threshold of effort that you must expend or that 'gift' will be left lying on the floor in a corner closet some where.

I think sometimes that exceeding that 'threshold' might be the way genius uses to open the door.

Talbot

I just thought it sort of preposterous that music can be mastered if you only put enough effort and practice and study into it, some people will never be able to get past a sixth grade level of skill playing a guitar no matter how much they invest in it.. works the same way with mathematics.. you can tell yourself you will master mathematics with effort and study, but the fact is lack of gray matter and wrinkles in their brains will keep them from truly mastering it.. anybody can add 2+2 and therefore everybody is a mathematician .. as well as most everybody can play a C chord too on a guitar or piano who claims to be a musician

i don't believe anyone "masters music". people can show enormous talent in one or even a cpl areas but to "master music"??? not possible. there are always new vistas to explore... different genres, techniques, ways of superimposing chord subs, new exotic scales, etc, etc.

i stand by what i said above.

there's nothing wrong w striving towards being the best you can be and remaining hungry throughout the journey. and that's exactly how it should be.

just don't expect to arrive...unless you plan on settling, compromising, and being satisfied w where you find yourself.

myself...i wouldn't have it any other way.

Amen

The trip is worth the pitfalls.

Talbot

I've met a few people in my life whom I would say have "mastered" music. One in particular, a Polish pianist/producer, spent nearly 20 years rehearsing 8-10 hour days and studying Russian & Slavic symphony. Yet his wife steals the show on a jazz saxophone whenever they play together!

And he wouldn't say that he has arrived yet either.


It's a process that can never be completed.

LOL, I just want to sound good.

I guess I was blessed with decent ears cause I can hear what works and what doesnt, and as far as guitar, I can play anything that I want to play or hear in my head, so Im satisfied with that.

For some of u multi instrumentalists like Planet Dude, do you find it hard to say get your guitar brain and your piano brain and your bass brain all on the same page? I see the music rushing at me from piano, guitar and bass, and it seems I interpret music a little different on each, but it's slowly coming together.

in a word....no.

when building a deck i'm using a hammer, circular saw, screwdrivers, postdigger, etc. they all work differently, but it's no mental adjustment at all going from one to the next. same with using different musical instruments.

when playing/prctng guitar i'm thinking about things like:
tone
attack
time/feel/groove
the harmony i'm playing over
appropriate scales/modes/arps
how to blend w whatever else is going on
being a good accompaniest (one of my fave things to do, and something i take a lot of pride in)
and above all trying to have something to say

...and those are exactly the things i think about when playing other instruments

so, then it just comes down to staying up on the physical mechanics of each instrument.

when you play a D Maj pentatonic scale over a CMaj7 chord the notes of that D Maj pentatonic ( D E F# A B) will yield the 9 3 #11 6 7 of the CM7 chord. ...and it will do so whether you're playing gtr, bass, piano, whatever.

LOL, I just want to sound good.

I guess I was blessed with decent ears cause I can hear what works and what doesn't, and as far as guitar, I can play anything that I want to play or hear in my head, so I'm satisfied with that.

That should be all you need as a good guitarist and a good writer.

You wouldn't believe how many people can't hear even a little bit of music in their skull..tis a pity to be sure.

I don't even try to master music, I just try to put everything I have into every note. Make every note count. Make every solo say something.

I think the best advice I ever got, I think it was Ritchie Blackmore, who said try to copy sax solos. Tenor sax and guitar have pretty close to the same range, but trying to get guitar as smooth and fluid as sax is not easy.

That's the number one thing I notice about most non professional guitar players, too choppy. OK that and out of tune...or trying to play too much.

A friend told me long ago the best thing to do is use your guitar as another voice, and know when to play and when to play. (those were his exact words, when to play and when to play.) Think about it.