Re: improving/the sky is crying

[Mike Curtis <wd6ehr@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> In message "improving/the sky is crying", you write:
> 
> > > <"No rules" in music??>
> > > 
> > I thought I said no rules within certain parameters...1-4-5...2-5-1...
> > Sorry if I left something out.  What I ment by no rules is, you don't 
> > have to copy everybody else and if you want to write a song with odd time 
> > sigs and wierd changes then do so.

I didn't take it like that, either.  My comment was general in nature and
not a reply to anything specific.

> As a beginner I got a lot from this "No rules" statement.  I didn't take
> it literally, nor did I think it meant that way.  As an engineer I have
> tried to tackle the harp and music in the same manner as science: seeking
> exact answers for specific questions.  Sometimes this is fruitful, but then
> I run into an answer like, 'you gotta feel it man'. Or 'its not what notes
> but how you play 'em daddy-o'. Or words to that effect :)  I figured thats
> what Chris meant by, no rules. 

And that's what I picked up, too.  In fact, I kind of thought Chris and I
were rather parallel in concept.

When I hear things like "Ya just gotta have soul, man", or similar, it
recalls to my mind the old saying "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance,
baffle them with baloney" (G rated version) That's the last thing an
aspiring musician needs to hear - "You've been cast adrift in a sea of
cacophony - trust introjection".  A few general rules gives a student
something to work with.  Once (s)he learns "the rules", then they can be
broken effectively - or as I prefer to view it - "New avenues of the good
old rules can be explored".  There is far more to life that I-IV-V
progressions and 4 beats to the measure - and these are well within the
confines of well structured music.

Either way, once you're proficient on the instrument, it's a lot of fun
experimenting with melodies, rhythms, harmonies, chord structures,
dissonances, timbres, dynamics, and rests in manners that others have yet to
try (as far as we're aware, of course :-)



 -- mike