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Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: Following the leader (in reply to guitarbuddha)
In reading through the recent posts, I don't really see a huge argument here. No one is disputing that either the big picture or the details can be dispensed with. There is a certain sound we will be going for, and these concepts are tools that help us get there ("Music is an ocean; music theory is a boat," Segovia is supposed to have said). We must know or have a sense of the chords we are playing over, and of course tempo matters here because at some speed, harmony becomes melody or texture (note that in my pieces, tempi are slow and more easily lend themselves to measure-by-measure playing). That being said, playing a succession of arpeggios that merely follows the chord chart is not the most evolved way to improvise. D's endorsement of function is of course important (you would play different over a G chord if it was going to tonic C than if it was coming from dominant D), but not contrary to the study of chords. Coming up with a line that recognizes the harmony in a novel and economic way is considered by many to be the summit of skill. All of us must study chords, scales, and songs.
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