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Soloing And Building a House


bayoubill

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My grandson can whiz though scales and arpeggios. When he picks up his guitar that's what he plays. I asked him to play a song. He started playing bits of a guitar riff from a tune he liked. Then I asked if he knew one melody to any tune. He knew none. Long ago I told him the key to playing music is to know music and how people understand and perceive it.  I said he should learn as many melodies as he could and be able to play them in a singing style. He did not do that. Well all I could think of was an analogy of being able to build a house and everything it involves and having many many tools and not know how to use them.  No matter how many tools you have to build a house, until you know how and  what it takes to build that house you not going to have a house. He smiled shook his head yes. When I left the room he resumed his speed scale workout GEEZER.gif.7f906e70723678ac71499ab42f4d65bc.gif

 

Edited by bayoubill
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Ah youngsters. Sometimes no matter what you say they have to do it their way?
I remember my trumpet teacher beating into me for double tonguing and triple tonguing. Yet I was stubborn and had to do it my way for a few months. Took his advice finally and wow I really progressed? Of course 30 years later I don't play the trumpet and only my first love, keyboards ?.  I was able to amazingly still demonstrate to my wife's cousins child who is taking trumpet now.  As a side note he looks like he is stopping trumpet for his piano lessons. Told his parents he rather practice the piano. Smart Kid ?

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6 minutes ago, synkrotron said:

Well, at least he picks up a guitar and can do something with it.

One day, if he joins a band or decides to write his own stuff then what he has picked up may come in handy.

Until that time, it is scales and arpeggios...

Yep better then nothing. I was shocked I still remembered the key fingerings and got an okay tone out on the trumpet in the lower notes ? after all these years.

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Bill, I have seen some incredible players that could read anything you put in front of them. Couldn't come up with an original tune on their own.

 

Seen great players in bars that amazed me in their command of the instrument, and after 30 minutes of listening to them my wife would turn to me and say,  "I'm ready to leave." They couldn't entertain her. (most of the people in the bars were musicians!)

 

I could never figure it out. Other than the reason I keep playing and have devoted a very large chunk of my life to it is I love it. I really do. So it's my personal enjoyment that matters in the end of it. Not what others think of me.

 

 

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21 hours ago, bayoubill said:

My grandson can whiz though scales and arpeggios. When he picks up his guitar that's what he plays. I asked him to play a song. He started playing bits of a guitar riff from a tune he liked. Then I asked if he knew one melody to any tune. He knew none. Long ago I told him the key to playing music is to know music and how people understand and perceive it.  I said he should learn as many melodies as he could and be able to play them in a singing style. He did not do that. Well all I could think of was an analogy of being able to build a house and everything it involves and having many many tools and not know how to use them.  No matter how many tools you have to build a house, until you know how and  what it takes to build that house you not going to have a house. He smiled shook his head yes. When I left the room he resumed his speed scale workout GEEZER.gif.7f906e70723678ac71499ab42f4d65bc.gif

 

I think of a solo as an alternative melody with different phrasing and alternative time sigs.

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