Re: existential crisis -- time to hang up my guitar?


"Derek" <derek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1193520915.890872.236190@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I wasn't just talking about reading, though I do think it is important
to be able to read and write the language you are working in. For you
IT guys, how hard would it be to your job without knowledge of the
language you were operating in?

that comparison has some validity, however, programs are either event driven
or procedural - from start to finish.

a song can be written from start to finish without any knowledge of music
theory. or it can also be programmed on a machine without any knowledge of
the language or the package it is written in. it is possible to 'write' a
database application without any knowledge of programming whatsover, just
drag and click a GUI front end and select queries for how you want the data
presented as usable information.

but like music, you can sit there and write a score or song in the same way
you can write a program in a programming language.

however, programming is logic, not inspiration.


Btw Rich, my reading skills aren't up to sight reading ability
either. It is a pain in the ass to work on.

I am talking about all of it, including theory as MK pointed out
above. Today, it is pretty easy to not learn much about music and
just play guitar. We have a special language written for us (tab),
countless tools to get us up to speed.

Jazz is about improvisation, MK, but you gotta know how to read a
chart to play the melody and see what chords/key a tune is in. Also,
turnarounds, breaks, etc.

Anyway, I see plenty of players who are really good on the instrument,
but couldn't tell you what they are doing at all. Play great by ear,
and are able to hear what the rest of the band is doing.

i just read an interesting old interview with John Paul Jones in another NG.
session musicians of the day weren't great sight readers, bass music was
virtually non existent other than reading the chord boxes, knowing scales
and applying them to the key you were in then working with the drummer.

knowing a lot of theory and being able to apply it doesn't necessarily
relate to score paper. knowing what someone means when they are talking
about intervals is going to help you a lot more than knowing what six dots
clumped together vertically means and it's not an easy feat to be able to
sight read that. most people generally have to learn a piece, deciphering
the dots.

That level of development is great, however, I think that is the point
in all the animosity that Keith was trying to make, and if so, I tend
to agree, at least for me personally.

Good players are a dime a dozen, but good musicians are a bit more
uncommon.

and rarer still are those who can transcribe a piece of music by ear to a
score ***.


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