At a certain point, you want to expand beyond the standard guitar chords such as C, D, E minor and the like. You may get out on the web and read about chords that have letter names with numbers after them, like G 13, C 9, or A augmented. I’m referring to these chords as…… Continue reading The “no music theory” introduction to exotic chords and how to use them
We’ve all been there. You get excited to learn a new song and dive right in. As time goes by – maybe a lot of time – you get frustrated and give up before the tune is really presentable. Getting a song “just right” takes work. A lot of work. Learning songs perfectly requires time…… Continue reading 5 Steps to learn a song perfectly. (Or at least almost perfectly.)
I found a paragraph in this article about the modern music industry interesting. “We’re not in the music space,” Spotify founder Daniel Ek told the New Yorker in 2014. “We’re in the moment space.” While Ek’s statement seems counterintuitive, it’s important to remember that Spotify makes monthly payments to rights holders in exchange for the…… Continue reading Moments, not music
In the world of music psychology, you often hear discussion about our sense of aesthetics, our perception of musical beauty. People offer various theories as to why we find certain aspects of music attractive or not. Often, for instance, it’s postulated that appealing melodies duplicate the human manner of speaking. These melodies don’t just offer…… Continue reading Are music aesthetics learned or innate?
I’ve been reading a book entitled “Decomposition—A Music Manifesto” and it mentions the work of an obscure composer, Conlon Nancarrow. Nancorrow toiled away in Mexico City during the 20th century, writing eccentric music for the player piano. He did not actually play the piano, rather, he composed by cutting holes in the piano rolls by…… Continue reading The strange music of Conlon Nancarrow
I wonder whether this is the most important question for a musician to ask. Finding the answer could be the difference between a lifetime of middling, stilted playing and one of real, consistent virtuosity. What do I even mean here? Let me attempt to add context by first quoting a recent blog post of mine…… Continue reading What should you think of when playing music?
Reddit, if you don;t know, is a useful site where people discuss all sorts of topics. I just stumbled across this great collection of links to all the reddits related to creating music. How to get the most out of reddit as a musician.
Let’s face it—the blues are weird. Your standard 12 bar blues contains three major chords and yet the main scale we use to play over the blues is the minor pentatonic. A minor scale over major chords… a bit strange, no? But that’s part of what gives the blues its unique sound. Ideally, listeners of…… Continue reading Combining the Pentatonic scale with wall shapes to play the blues
Warning: this is a rather philosophical post with limited practical value. 😉 In the world of music psychology and such you often see music compared and contrasted to language. This makes sense as both music and language use sound. Some would argue that they both use sound to communicate. In language, we know if a statement…… Continue reading Emotional meaning in music
While bumbling around on Twitter I came across this article. Hypercreators Own The Music Industry & You Need To Become One The article seeks to answer the question: how does one succeed in the music creation business? The short answer is: work harder (e.g create more.) The article is about all kinds of music but its…… Continue reading Hypercreators
Wil Forbis Music 