Re: [Harp-L] Are there pro harp players who do not know theory?

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ken,
I also do not think about theory while playing, at least rarely.  But
when talking about a song with other musicians or figuring out which
key the song is in, which harp and position to use, I certainly do.
Also, my having thought about theory in the past makes it much easier
to choose the good sounding notes for a style of music because I have
studied that style in the past and my ear and muscle memory gravitates
to the good notes.

My question is are you unaware of what I listed as basic theory
essentials.  Unaware is different than consciously using them
regularly or not.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:18 PM, Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Mike,
> I think I may have gotten an eyebrow-raise from you at that Austin coffee
> shop when I mentioned that I do not think in terms of scales, ever, when I'm
> playing.
>
> But one of the bases of my music is your list of stuff to know, below, and
> of course it is tremendously useful, probably unomittable if one wants to
> play music your colleagues might throw at you, and is undoubtedly
> unomittable if you want to compose music.
>
> Once I have analysed and absorbed a piece of music I rarely think of any of
> the elements on your list while playing it.  As you know, this kind of thing
> happens naturally.
>
> I recall that when I was a newbie and didn't understand the concept of
> improvisation, I believed you had to have all this stuff running in your
> head constantly, and you had to think 32 bars ahead - I thought I was a
> fraud for not experiencing playing this way.
>
> The stuff I do actually think about when I'm working is whatever theoretical
> ideas I'm developing for my own uses.  For instance, I have developed an
> approach to soloing that allows me to tell myself, and the audience, a
> 'story' that we can all follow, hopefully.  A theory, I guess, in the sense
> of music theory (as opposed to a 'conjecture').  Since I'm improvising the
> story as I go along, my theory gives me interesting places to jump to - and
> surprise myself with - places I might not go without thinking about it, just
> a little.
>
> Possibly the main reason I think about it while playing, when perhaps I
> should just be soloing and that's that, is that I'm constantly discovering
> new stuff that goes into my theory of musical storytelling, but only if I
> keep a bit of thinking going in the middle of it all.  I'm often pleased
> when I hear recordings of solos I did sans any thinking, but I have found
> that keeping conscious of something, whether one's own personal ideas or
> scales and chords or whatever, helps you keep growing and changing.  -K
>
>> Major scale
>> Blues Scale
>> Minor
>> flat 3rds
>> the circle of fifths
>> 1st, 2nd and third positions
>> the 12 bar blues progression
>> I, IV , V chords
>> half steps and whole steps
>
>