On Mar 1, 4:01 pm, max.agin...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> Hi everyone!
>
> I am an adult beginner in all things musical, in what concerns both
> playing an instrument as well as knowing theory. It would be great if
> you could help me
>
> (i) pick an alternative book to replace the one I am currently using
> and
>
> (ii) tell me how I can get out of the situation I currently find
> myself in (in terms of being minimally "musically competent").
>
> From searching the newsgroup, I have identified the following titles
> as being often suggested for those who are NOT looking for an academic
> textbook:
>
> - the Master Theory series
> - AB Guide to Music Theory
> - What Makes Music Work (Seyer et al)
> - Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians (Wyatt
> and Schroeder)
>
> What I know, don't know and what (I think) I need [I am sorry this is
> not clearer]:
>
> - My goal is to be able to functionally play an instrument (the bass
> guitar) as an amateur while understanding what I am doing.
Your direction will in part be dependent on what kind of music you
want to play. If you are studying Blues, that would take one direction
and Rock a slightly different path after the basics are learned and
Jazz will require more study to understand what is going on as there
is generally more going on than in some other forms of music.
>
> - My high school education had one big hole, and that hole was music.
> Until last year, all I knew was the sequence of the notes in the C
> major scale.
Sounds like you are in the US and are a victim of the "Every Child
Left Behind" program that has taken over the US.
>
> - I am generally quite competent with "abstract systems" (math,
> programming), and had thought that learning basic music theory would
> be a breeze compared with getting basic skills in playing an
> instrument -- wrong! Actually, I am completely stuck on the theory
> side. As I mention again further below, is the answer to this "rote"?
> (It is fine with me if the answer is affirmative; I just don't know!)
Your theory and performance studies can enhance each other. One good
approach is to start to learn scales (the common ones, major, minor
and the forms of minor) and to study them and the intervals at the
same time. Having these tools at your fingertips will greatly help you
to grasp the subsequent concepts that are necessary.
>
> - Using a book ("Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory" -- I know
> many abhor series of books of this kind, but the Amazon reviews
> actually suggested it was helpful for adult beginners and I hadn't
> thought of checking Usenet before choosing one), by now I have learnt
> about concepts such as notes, different types of scales and
> intervals. I know these "in theory"; I can neither listen to them in
> my mind nor I am able to tell you what are the notes of the G major
> scale without first writing down the C major scale, seeing where the
> half-step intervals are (I know they are between E-F and B-C) and
> proceeding from there by "****fting" the sequence of intervals so that
> it starts on G... Is this just a question of rote? [If the answer is
> yes, then I will practice it over and over again. I simply don't know
> if I am lacking understanding or if the way is to simply "mechanize"
> it. Please point the way! : )]
In the beginning, rote learning can be the best way to go! Learn the
scales. Learn to play them and sing them and hear them. Learn the
various intervals so that you can effortlessly use this tool as you
study harmony and melodic theory. What ever your learning style is,
you must get this kind of information into your head. I suggest that
in your "ear" so to speak is an im****tant part of learning and is
definitely worth the time that you spend on this.
>
> - I also have fruitfully read stuff online (including some excellent
> threads in this newsgroup), but I need something more structured --
> not in the "intense hand-holding" sense, but rather "here is how all
> these things fit together".
>
> - I am having a hard time following the discussion of chords in my
> current book because I have to stop and think every time I see a
> reference to an interval ("go up a major third from E" -- hmm, what is
> that? Let us see, a major third is 4 half-steps, and the transition E-
> to-F is one of those two exceptions which is just one half-step away,
> so that makes [counts mental fingers]... G#!").
>
> - Using the Hal Leonard method book for my instrument, I am happy with
> the little technical progress I have made until now. But, in my
> current situation, I could just as well be a trained monkey or a
> robot!
That is a stage that will pass as you put those skills together.
>
> It would be great if you could suggest either one or more books from
> the list above or some other title that escaped me.
The best one is the one that YOU can understand. A good teacher can
set you on the right path more easily than anyone can over the
internet. A live person (if properly trained) can quickly see what you
do understand and what is necessary for you to understand the things
that are confusing to you. Then, the teacher can supplement
information that you missed in the beginning and fill in the blanks to
help put things in their proper perspective as you take this journey.
If that is not possible, the road is not nearly as smooth.
>
> Also, and perhaps most im****tantly, how does one get over this
> situation where any reference to a scale or an interval requires lots
> of arithmetic to figure out "what the next note is"? I *will* memorize
> all of them if you tell me that is the way to do it. : )
This is simple. Practice. Once this material is familiar, it is really
quite simple. Memorization is best for some, playing it is also good
for many, singing them is very good for learning them from an aural
standpoint. I teacher would probably try to have you do exercises that
would present this material to you in a physical (playing over and
over), visual (written exercises as one example) and aural, singing
and listening to the relation****ps. Put them all together and they
become easy.
>
> Any help would be great. I love music, go to live concerts
> independently of being able to get friends to come with me on that
> particular night and remain utterly clueless. I can (and do) devote
> time to learning it, but both the average hours as well as the
> vagaries of my work schedule are not conducive to fruitfully engaging
> an instructor.
>
> Thank you so much for any time you devote to this.
In the meantime, one good way to start is to simply learn the Blues
scale and play this with recordings to help you get the concepts of
using a scale over harmony into your ear. You make a lot of mistakes,
but you listen and you start to learn to listen to what you play.
There is only 6 different notes in this scale and you can find blues
tunes to play with in Jazz, Rock, R&B and Blues genres. It will give
you something useful to do as you spend time looking for the proper
books to use if you must do this by yourself and it will give you some
confidence and something to do for a teacher if you find one. This is
not the all and end all, but it is a path that many have found useful.
Really effective styles of teaching generally have the use of Rote
learning of things (music tunes and scales etc) as a basis for putting
the pieces together. The point being that if you listen to the
concept, and you can remember the concept and recognize it when you
hear or sing it that the proper presentation of what you have learned
by doing will set this knowledge into your head and make it useful for
the understand of more complicated uses of this principle as you
continue with your study.
So until you decide on a course of action, memorize and play by ear
scales, folk tunes, pop tunes, nursery rhymes and anything else that
you can learn by any means that you can. The bigger your musical
experience "war chest" is, the more tools that you will have for a
teacher to put to use and that will eventually mean something to you
if you have to go it alone. In other words, it is an aural discipline.
You must learn to hear things and to remember things that must be
understood! The more you can do, even if you think it is trivial or
useless at this time, will eventually be something that you will
understand and be able to use in the future.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask either in public or in private.
If you are truly interested, you will be happy to know that there are
many people that will help you to learn. That is one of the nice
things about good musicians. They are happy to share.
LJS
>
> Peace,
>
> Max
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