Re: i like to play.... blues
This is all well and good guys, but the original post asked how to expand out of the pentatonics. An esoteric discussion off all things blue is good from time to time, but what we have here is simple mechanics.
Everyone in this thread is right to some degree. It's all about heart, emotion, letting out your feelings. But simply put, you can't do that without a knoweldge of the mechanics. Ok, you can, but you're going to sit in front of the stereo trying to cop certain sounds while being very frustrated for a long while.
Imagine if you will a person who cannot speak due to a lack of knowledge. The only thing they can do is show emotion. They can laugh, cry, scream, sob, sigh, etc., but that's it. How can that person say what they want to say? How can they convey their thoughts and feelings? They must learn the language. Once they've learned the language, they can more efficiently communicate. But, just because they HAVE learned to speak doesn't mean they stop using emotion as well. They still laugh, and cry, and everything else. But they can now couple those emotions with the apropriate words to convey the exact feeling. Of the two examples, the former is very limited in their ability to convey thought, while the latter has the necessary tools to convey thought and emotion at the same time.
This, I believe, is the thought OSA is expressing. It's also the part that the guys who say "blues is all about feeling" miss consistently. If you 'play the blues', and say it's 'all about feeling', and don't strive to expand your knowledge, you're letting yourself down, taking the easy way out, and are a prime example of why naysayers maintain "Blues is easy". They're right, of course. That part of blues is easy.
Re: i like to play.... blues
Wow telecast! You so elequently expressed exactly what I have not been able to say. Thank You!
Re: i like to play.... blues
Quote:
Originally Posted by telecast
This is all well and good guys, but the original post asked how to expand out of the pentatonics.
and that was answered early on......now we's just talkin'.
It's all good.
Re: i like to play.... blues
Quote:
Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
Wow telecast! You so elequently expressed exactly what I have not been able to say. Thank You!
second that.
Re: i like to play.... blues
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbrowne
second that.
I'll third that. That was good!
Vast musical vocabularies are good I believe.
Re: i like to play.... blues
So, to answer the original post, first, learn the diminished scale and then apply it on the IV chord. You'll like it. Diminished fingerings are simple repeating patterns and can be found everywhere on the net. I think you'll get the most bang for your buck from that. Should take you an hour to master at most.
Re: i like to play.... blues
Hey guys, I've been away since posting. OA, Telecast, Sliding Tom, MP, everyone is bringing something good to this thread. OA, I agree completely about backing the vocalist.
As a pure amatuer at this stuff I'm really taken by the musicians who work within the framework and intent of a song and pull different approaches out to suit. It's the language thing Telecast brought up.
I'd rather listen to an imaginative guitarist playing cool rhythm progressions and occasional leads behind a vocalist anytime, regardless of music genre. A bit off topic but that's why I admire James Honeyman-Scott and Johnny Marr's work. (The Pretenders and The Smiths for anyone not familiar)
TT
Re: i like to play.... blues
TT, my fav is Mike Campbell for TP and the Heartbreakers. The guy doesn't take up a lot of space, but adds outstanding guitar hooks that support the vocals. The songs are not focused on his playing, but woudn't work without it. That's cool.
Re: i like to play.... blues
4th that!!! and:
learn the diminished scale and then apply it on the IV chord
Geeze, Chuck,
It's good to see you shining your light and sharing in your treasure trove of knowledge.
*smooch*
Makes Perfect Sense, 2 Mi
Re: i like to play.... blues
What Annie said, about sharing...'cause I need all the help I can get. And sometimes I just don't feel like spinning a platter 25 times until I can figure it out.
Re: i like to play.... blues
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigMikeD.
What Annie said, about sharing...'cause I need all the help I can get. And sometimes I just don't feel like spinning a platter 25 times until I can figure it out.
That's why, with music on CD anyway, I slow them down with the Tascam CD GT1 and loop the parts I'm interested in. I still don't know what they're doing in terms of theory but I learn that what I'm hearing and think is soo cool is quite literally, right under my fingertips. It gives me great pleasure to pull of some of the stuff I like but a week later I don't remember it, or more accurately, know when to use it. So it slips away.
At this point I'm just playing for my own enjoyment and enjoy the small victories.
OA, what you said about Mike Campbell sums it all up for me. "Not taking up much space" indeed.
Gotta go caulk a bathtub.
TT
Re: i like to play.... blues
Mike Camble:yay :yay :yay :yay :yay :yay x1000
