Learning when to use "wrong" notes

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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Not that I disagree with anyone, but just to add my two pesos as to what I do for wrong notes.

Mostly it is a matter of when. While I studied classically as a youth, I mostly write thru unstructured jamming. Our tendency is much more to keep wrong notes at certain TIMEs not certain wrong notes. I.e. two common examples would be to keep a wrong, out of scale note, before a chord change, tension and all, before a rich note change is heard. Or to use them in passing to make a run fit. The other common wrong note I see popping up in our compositions is making a chord that should be diminished, regular.

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Joe Zawinul once said that he'd never played a wrong note in his life. Now, either Joe was a narcissistic idiot, or maybe he let us in on a bit of wisdom there. Your choice.

I agree wholeheartedly with Jan here. Use your ears, play, experiment. Don't think about it in terms of wrong" or "right". Like Zappa said: go ahead an move some air molecules. Thankfully, we have critics to tell us whether it's good or not, so we don't need to worry about that part.

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such sweeties.

Such sweet explanations.




It means a lot.


It's why I love Kvr.


Thanks.

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JumpingJackFlash wrote: You're thinking of the Melodic Minor.
What exactly is your problem with it? I'd be happy to explain it, but I'm not sure exactly what you (mis)understand already, and you probably won't care anyway.
Yes that was the fellow. Sorry I didn't have the time to pursue him down that musical street.

Please don't think I don't care. I care very much. I have utmost respect and dare I say reverence to those that know the difference. Thank you for offering, I may take you up on it one day!

cheers.

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jancivil wrote:
codec_spurt wrote: please, do not ask me to play a scale a different way if I am going down the neck as opposed to up it.
You did not misquote me, or even quote me out of context. In my favour, I would just say that I came across a little too literal perhaps. I was displaying my ignorance on the matter, which you duly noted further on in your reply. So be it. Fair call.

jancivil wrote: The terms of the ascending vs descending melodic minor are drawn from practice, there is a certain kind of feeling for each, a musical reason, an actual idea that became described/codified in 'music theory'. A certain pull ^6 ^7->8, b7 b6->5 for instance. it isn't arbitrary. following your consideration of that thing as if arbitrary, you state that you feel the very idea of 'scales' is arbitrary, as though ultimately people make guesses? that's just inchoate.

I obviously was inchoate, because I don't think I explicitly implied that I found anything arbitrary about the structure at all. I simply implied that I did not know what that structure was. I had a feeling for it. In fact, I have instinctively found it out for myself in my self-tutelage of classical guitar. It makes more than perfect sense to me. My joy at this self discovery was on a par with learning to play 'Whole Lotta Love' the proper way for the first time. No mean feat ;-) I do not think people make guesses at this structure, or to take your argument further, to play notes willy-nilly at random. Oh no, that would never do. I still do not understand it. I understand that others do. I still hold them in the highest of musical regard.


jancivil wrote: It occurs to us you appear confused and maybe ought to be asking rather than telling.
When you say 'us', you imply yourself and who else? Yes I am confused. That was what my post was about. I stand by my confusion. And am not ashamed or embarrassed by it. And I thought I was 'asking'. At no point did I tell anyone anything, or perhaps I did and you could point that out to me and I will duly apologize.

Yours, humbly, in want of enlightenment, and not afraid of further due humility - codec_spurt.

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