Victory Pete
Banned
I am curious about how many players use scales and theory in their playing.
VP
VP
I think this question would be valid across practically all instruments. Scales are a big part of my practice regimen....not as much now as they were years ago, but I still use them as warmup exercises before I get to work on learning something.
Eons ago, when I was in college, my jazz ensemble instructor was the bass trombonist for Clark Terry before he took the university gig. Whenever Clark was nearby, he'd drop by to visit. One lucky weekend I got to go to dinner with him and my instructor. Wanting to take advantage of this opportunity, I was not shy about peppering him with questions. One of his responses stands out in my memory.
"I've got all these ideas in my head when I'm soloing, but I just can't seem to get them to my fingers."
Clark looks up and says: "You don't know your scales, do you?"
"Of course I do. Any music major worth his salt knows his scales."
"How many octaves? Do you do just one? How many in a row? Do you just play a scale, stop and then start another one?"
He described my scale work to a T.
So, I began relearning my scales in multiple octaves, in quick succession and it made a huge difference in my playing and technique. His point was that without the proper technical grounding, nevermind the theory behind scales (which is useful but not necessary), that I would not progress as a player and a musician until I had mastered my scales. He was absolutely correct.
A friend from way back used to rent a rehearsal room next to Eric Johnson (or knew the owner who rented the room to EJ - can't remember which way anymore ). He said Eric would come in at 11pm and do only scales until the morning. All night long. Just scales.
Some people know how to play something,yet can't articulate what it is they're doing
He said Eric would come in at 11pm and do only scales until the morning. All night long. Just scales.
I'm self taught and play strictly by ear/feel. I can play all sorts of chords and scales but I don't even think/care about the names of them. I just know where to put my fingers to get the sound that I want.[This approach works with women as well ] This frees up my mind to concentrate on my singing and allows me to sing and play things at the same time.
I'm self taught and play strictly by ear/feel. I can play all sorts of chords and scales but I don't even think/care about the names of them. I just know where to put my fingers to get the sound that I want.[This approach works with women as well ] This frees up my mind to concentrate on my singing and allows me to sing and play things at the same time.
The real problem is thinking of theory as a series of rules - its not. Its a language,
On the other hand, if I need to tell a bass player the form and the chord progresion quickly, it is a lot easier to just say, "rhythm changes in Bflat." than to sit there and say, "put your finger here for two beats, here for two beats," etc......
get a bass player that can HEAR the right notes.
You beat me to it.
it ain't rocket surgery. people make music and recording way more complicated than it needs to be.
I'm hung like a Naiant