One of the things I do as practice is when a record peaks my interest, I will sit down and learn to play it--but from memory. Now--usually, its recent memory....but, it's a kind of ear training....since eventually, I turn the record on in the studio and pick up "the rest"....
...but, this morning's was a tune that I made so much better. I jokingly thought about Xeno commenting on not being able to figure out my musical taste--I thought "because I apparently hear more interesting stuff than is actually there!"
I also recently put on Sheryl Crow's "If It makes you happy" and realized I've been playing that main riff wrong all these years I've used it as a amp tone test, because the open dissonant voicing shows overtones of saturation clearly....
The first finger-picking song I ever learned was "The Fisherman" by Leo Kottke. This was back in 1970 or so. I played it the way I figured it out for many years. In 2000, when I was doing a gig, I played it and a guy came up to me after and said, "You sure changed that one." So later I went back and listened to the original. Man, I had really changed it up through the years. I never did go back and re-learn it the "right" way.
Registered: 07/11/01
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you are a better person than me twice over: you listen to music and you practice.
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Reading assignment: The Practice of Practice. Moose mentioned it....and I'm a geek--I had to look it up, it was on Kindle so....it's an interesting study of what "practice" means to different musicians--many of whom claim to "never practice".
Reading that, I sorta consider myself lucky to be "woke" to all the fun that can be had practicing stuff. I mean, what technique would someone practice at the experience level I am? I DID rearchitect my picking a few years ago to play more fluidly with less tension....as I am starting to feel age in my joints so to speak....and I thought I better change that while I can so that I can play my signature blistering leads (sic) well into old age....
I'd like to know " if it makes you happy" original riff...it's skanky cool grunge.
In the band we purposely re-arrange songs. Mostly out of being lazy but often to eliminate something that works in a band context but not unplugged. Often it's arranged from memory...and you might know how a late-fifties memory is so spot on...
Recently we learned "Help is on its way" by Little River Band. There's a middle free time ballad'y section...there was a middle section. Hah. We added a modulation and Solid Gold ending...
I fudged the Felder part on Hotel Ca live re-creation a number of times. I watched Joe Walsh do Funk 49 4 feet away from my eyes and I still cannot get his vibe. I watched James Burton do Suzy Q and Hello Mary Lou for me only and I still cannot play it... I chalk that up to , well, not being very good
Edited by motown59 (03/20/1802:53 AM)
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kel
"I love what you guys are trying to do up there" ...from an audience member at one of my gigs. Gear: Fender Medium pick
Registered: 07/11/01
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Loc: Westborough, MA, USA
Originally Posted By: Popmann
Reading assignment: The Practice of Practice. Moose mentioned it....and I'm a geek--I had to look it up, it was on Kindle so....it's an interesting study of what "practice" means to different musicians--many of whom claim to "never practice".
Reading that, I sorta consider myself lucky to be "woke" to all the fun that can be had practicing stuff. I mean, what technique would someone practice at the experience level I am? I DID rearchitect my picking a few years ago to play more fluidly with less tension....as I am starting to feel age in my joints so to speak....and I thought I better change that while I can so that I can play my signature blistering leads (sic) well into old age....
Well, OK, starting several years ago I stopped using a pick so much. Many of my guitar heroes don't use one, and I think if I had it to do all over again, I'd have tried to figure that out a long time ago. So I sort-of practice that - not caring that it's quieter, kind-of ... letting the amp do the work, or the mic, or whatever. Trying not to be so bash-y with my right hand.
Maybe I'll check that out. Thanks for the tip.
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Registered: 05/17/04
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Loc: The West Coast of Florida
One of my favorite things is to play with pianists that "make chord changes better"..... in jazz its on the fly, prolly different from one chorus to the next, and quite fun as the sololist to "romp around in".
I'm a big fan of this.
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Registered: 07/11/01
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But that's kind-of different, isn't it? I mean it's less remembering things differently than using strong chord substitution to create different moods and feelings. One is purposeful, the other is being a doofus.
I'm much more of a doofus.
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As a kid, my house was full of a lot of instruments. The entire family had a hand in the musical end of our church services. Dad on his '52 Tele. Mom on organ and choir conductor, aunt on piano. I remember singing solos as young as 5 years old. When the Beatles hit, grandma gave me her old arch top Silverton and a Turner mic and told me to go make music.
Except for the summers, all there was, was school. I picked up playing by ear really quick. I honestly only had to learn a few songs outright before a light went off upstairs, and the whole chord relationship in music, came to me. 90% of learning any song, was mental. If I had ever heard a song, I 'just knew' how to play it. I'd 'think' play the songs the whole time I was away from the instruments. When I got home...it just worked. I never really had to practice playing anything after that first '!'. However, the song I heard in my head was often out of key to the actual song. I couldn't afford many records at the time. I could only hope I'd catch a song on the old 16 transistor radio, but that and my guitar/piano were never in the same place at the same time. I played: Help! In G...no, it's in A. Day Tripper G, no E Yesterday G, no F Hey Jude E, no F
Side note: It took having a son who also picked up the guitar to show me the proper way to play Here Comes the Sun.
And if that isn't bad enough, it took having a grandson to show me the proper finger picking style to Julia, Dear Prudrnce, Happiness is a Warm Gun.
Was it just the key? That's not abnormal, I wouldn't think. Not that's off topic....at all....just saying that for the 99.9% of people without absolute pitch....learning in a different key is kinda "the way it goes".
Which is why "what key are we doing this in" is so important to understand at the theory level.
Registered: 10/16/01
Posts: 10626
Loc: Litchfield, NH, USA
You know, THAT's a hell of a good question and topic.
If you're a steady, gigging band, I think it really depends on several key points...
Is there a reason to NOT do it right?
Can all members tolerate doing it wrong?
What effect will this have on getting bookings?
Will people care or notice the difference?
A couple of my bands covered a lot a Steely Dan material, and without me covering mµ major chords properly, it just wouldn't have been the same.
Plus, when you're playing out, these people know the songs and they love it when the band gets the guitar, keyboard, bass, drum, or sax solo right. They don't care about how well you improv as long as you can rip that same solo note for note.
If I had done an improvisational version of ELP's 'Hoedown' instead of how it was written, people would have looked at me like I had three heads. Same holds true for my guitarist's guitar solo in 'Sultans Of Swing'.
However, with that said, I also believe that there's that side of us that creatively sees a opportunity in many existing songs to change them up through rearranging the key, tempo, or musical content to make something a bit different, or more your own.
This is what makes us an artist and not just a musician.
. . Falcon
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Registered: 07/11/01
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You know what's funny? I only do a tune in a different key if doing it in the *right* key would require me to tune my instrument down. IOW - a lot of SRV stuff is in Eb. It's a pain in the ass to retune, so we always did that stuff in E.
_________________________ The internet, and the whole technology sector on which it floats, feels like a giant organ for bullshittery—for upscaling human access to speech and for amplifying lies. - Ian Bogost
Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
Registered: 07/11/01
Posts: 29777
Loc: Westborough, MA, USA
To Falcon's point:
I think if you totally change things up, that's different. My power trio did a sort-of of funkier version of Love The One You're With which people really liked. We did a lot of tunes people wouldn't necessarily know - people liked a version of the Dylan tune "Sweetheart Like You" for example, not a tune people know exactly, but we did it in our style.
But saying that - we had to do things like "Walking on the Moon" or "Houses of the Holy" the quote-unquote right way.
You can get away with things, but you need to bring people along with you for the ride, I think.
_________________________ The internet, and the whole technology sector on which it floats, feels like a giant organ for bullshittery—for upscaling human access to speech and for amplifying lies. - Ian Bogost
Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
#1566643 - 03/20/1805:02 PMRe: Playing songs incorrectly....for the better?
[Re: FalconEddy]
TimsterTimster
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Nothing I play is correct. Me and my bud love doing 1/2 of the dark side of the moon songs all in a row in no particular order so eclipse may come after time than into brain damage than do eclipse again. Sometimes throwing wish you where here right in the middle.
I don't want to hear anyone play music "the right way" as defined by the past recording.
Witness who I can't decide if it's my fave or second fave husband and wife team in music today doing the song I recently "heard differently"....not as differently as they did. They just decided to make the verse a Dmin comp.
Kudos to Doug for the intro....it never even occurs to me to learn that kind of stuff--let alone figure out how to voice that on guitar to not sound stupid.....talk about a motherfucking mad man good player. Just saying....
Registered: 07/11/01
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Kind-of cool, but I can't stand her voice. No doubt she can sing, just absolutely not my thing.
_________________________ The internet, and the whole technology sector on which it floats, feels like a giant organ for bullshittery—for upscaling human access to speech and for amplifying lies. - Ian Bogost
Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
That's spelled "Sang". You should hear them do Mariah Carey tunes with just her an an acoustic....they did the entirety of Mayer's Continuum on a couch with her pup sleeping in her lap. #CaviliersRule
Cool band, nice video too. Love the slide, that's kooky. The piano guy gets some camera love for his contribution. Vocalist has some pipes…and isn't afraid to use them! That's the torchy affected stylized vocals that are popular these days.
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kel
"I love what you guys are trying to do up there" ...from an audience member at one of my gigs. Gear: Fender Medium pick
Registered: 07/11/01
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I liked the slide too. A cool arrangement. I just really didn't love her voice - I recognize it's powerful and the woman knows how to use it. Her voice is just not my cup of tea, was what I was trying to say.
_________________________ The internet, and the whole technology sector on which it floats, feels like a giant organ for bullshittery—for upscaling human access to speech and for amplifying lies. - Ian Bogost
Professor Truth T. Sweetness says,"Mind your manners!"
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