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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2014 0:58:37 GMT
Ye gods ,this is a tricky one,for myself ,I learnt everything for the first ten years by ear,nothing else,I just listened ,played along and worked out for myself what the sounds meant,I often reached the right place by a convoluted route,it tought me a lot. i watched people play and tried to mimic their fingers,that's hard if they have long spindly fingers and if you are like me you have short fat ones ...so you adapt. i suppose what I mean is ,..listen ,copy ,but don't get too hung up on making it sound perfect. it was many many years before I started reading chord books,but by that time my fingers were ready for the challenge. i think retrospectively the theory might have helped me get to where I am earlier but I believe it would have changed the way I play,we all walk a different path .
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Post by melodeous on Mar 4, 2014 1:40:10 GMT
I haven't needed to sight read yet, being a solo player with a pretty good ear, but I can read scores. Slowly. I bought the idiot's book to reading music and spent some time boring myself to the point of understanding. I also have a handy little auto transcriber in the form of software (Tuxguitar) that was a download a couple years ago. It's tabbing software that scores as well.
Like others, I can't see the umbilical between theory in one hand and an instrument in the other. I write a lot. Maybe there's a silent neural pathway at work but I doubt it. I think it's probably years of connecting chords that's at work instead.
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Post by richyrich on Mar 25, 2014 16:48:56 GMT
Im no master on theory, thats why i am currently learning it with 2 different tutors, one of them told me that having a good sound knowledge of music theory is the difference between a player and a musician,i have a million questions going around in my head about diminished and minor chords to mention a few, i think if i am able to understand how to build my own piece of music then i am able to understand how other pieces are built and how i might manipulate those peices of music to create my own take on it,hope that makes sence, thats what music theory is for me.
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dadog
Strummer
Posts: 47
My main instrument is: Fylde Alchemist
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Post by dadog on Apr 29, 2014 18:38:09 GMT
That's what you do, Scotch. Give it a go. Stacks of good advice above. Essentially music is a way of putting out sounds that stir all sorts of emotion. Techniques build around the sort of music you want to play. Theory, as has been said, isn't written in stone and by itself, is mechanical and unemotional. How you give music 'feeling' is up to you. Sit down and play, work around what you want to say and if a chord alludes you, find one, build it around the root note and you'll come up with what you want. It all depends so much on what you want to play. I have met so many musicians who are technically perfect but emotionally lack lustre. Three chords and the right song can move some to tears.
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Post by andyhowell on Apr 30, 2014 8:07:52 GMT
That's what you do, Scotch. Give it a go. Stacks of good advice above. Essentially music is a way of putting out sounds that stir all sorts of emotion. Techniques build around the sort of music you want to play. Theory, as has been said, isn't written in stone and by itself, is mechanical and unemotional. How you give music 'feeling' is up to you. Sit down and play, work around what you want to say and if a chord alludes you, find one, build it around the root note and you'll come up with what you want. It all depends so much on what you want to play. I have met so many musicians who are technically perfect but emotionally lack lustre. Three chords and the right song can move some to tears. Good advice. Here's another tip from Martin Simpson. Be prepared from time to time to just sit down and deliberately start playing from a different starting point. It works! For example, if you are playing a lot in DADGAD try starting a tune in G rather than the usual D positions. Often I just want o sit and play tunes and arrangements I am familiar with. But on other days — when the spirit is right — I take this advice and try and do something very different for me. It is fascinating to see where you get to!
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