advanced intermediate 20 year beginner calmly starting over
Hello All, and huge thanks to David for creating this site! I have only just begun on the LOA and although having considered myself a long time serious student, this has been a beautiful and excruciating lesson in what I dont know. All these years playing to the greats and reading and listening everything with much study, all by ear, without the most important ingredient. Music theory! Ugh...A true life lesson in there.
Is there anyone else out here that has made this mistake? Much of the advanced bending , licks and turn arounds are like old friends practiced almost everyday, with and without ampification. When not thinking about how or what I am doing they come out fairly cleanly. The minute I begin to " think" about what I am doing , it falls apart and I dont know which side of the harmonica is up! It is obvious that to become a great player that can accompany a band the basic music theory MUST be understood, but I am having such a problem with it, I feel like an idiot.
So..I am calmly starting over, just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and how you overcame the stumbling block?
Any suggestions ?
Mike
One way to look at theory: It's just giving names to things you already know intuitively.
Another way is explaining why this lick sound more emphatic while that one sounds sort of sly, because of which beat they start on.
Or, Why does that note sound good against this chord and weird against this other chord later in the 12-bar verse?
But why paralyze yourself processing all this stuff while playing, especailly if it's new and unfamiliar. Instead, try doing it while listening. Too much stuff in your head in real time can mess you up, as you note.
True story:
Toots Thielemans is the daddy of jazz harmonica and knows his theory inside out. One day I was driving him to a radio interview and something came on the radio that inspired him to whip out his chromatic and play along, delivering an amazing solo that fit perfectly with the song.
As I listened, I tried to figure out what key he was playing in by what slide moves he made and other little clues. When he was done, I asked him, "Was that in Bb minor?"
He looked blank for two or three seconds, and finally said, "Uh, yeah." In other words, what key he was in, what scales, how they fit against the chords – he knew all that stuff but it was the furthest thing from his mind in the moment of playing.
Great Toots story, Winslow - thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the Toots anecdote.. great!
Mike
Think of yourself as a racing driver who just found out from a book that there's a 5th gear you never even knew about. You don't HAVE to use it. But it'll be cool when you get the hang of it :)