Re: [Harp-L] Theory of scales

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

There's no better way of learning a piece of country than by exploring it yourself. But having a map sure as hell makes it quicker.
RD

>>> <Philharpn@xxxxxxx> 6/12/2006 6:24:27 >>>
All this talk about the value of music theory: What is a scale!? and so forth 
is really counterproductive. 

It has been said many times -- maybe even here -- that music theory is like 
grammar. Even if you don't understand it, what it is, how it works, you are 
using it.

Scales and their relationship to chords and how music works is all part of 
music theory.

Whether you choose to understand what music theory and what it involves -- 
you are still using it. 

Several of my harmonica teachers over the years figured out how the play the 
harmonica and get single notes, bent notes, overblows and other techniques by 
trial and error. It took them a long time. But not as long because they showed 
me how to do it not how to not do it.

Today -- and this has been true for perhaps 20 years now -- anyone who wants 
to master the harmonica can learn how to play it all PLUS all the underlying 
music theory in about a year, maybe two.

This is because so much information is available in books and videos that 
nobody needs to waste months trying to figure stuff out any more. All he has to 
do is pick up a book or listen to an instructional video or CD.

My theory about a major reason for this growth of information comes the fact 
that these books and recordings were written by musicians who understood what 
is possible on other instruments (piano, sax) and KNEW music theory. If a song 
could be played on the piano or sax, why couldn't it be played on a 
harmonica? And what really were the limits of the harmonica? Play a few scales. You can 
find out fast.

Why learn a scale? Playing a scale (and arpeggios--broken chords) is the 
fastest way to get familiar with the "sound" of a key. 

And keep in mind that nobody will ask you to play the A major key at a gig. 
Only a few songs are actually based on scales: the Yule tune Joy to the World 
(descending scale) and the Do Re Me song (ascending scale) from The Sound of 
Music.

The other thing is that once you learn the notes of a major scale, blues 
scale, pentatonic scale, Bebop scale, J scale, etc., you will know instantly how 
to play certain riffs that used to sound puzzling. "That guy is just playing 
the blues scale!"

Learning a few scales is really the easy way. Spending months of trial and 
error is the hard way.
You can learn new songs and old songs much faster.

Off the top of my head, I think Dave Barrett has material on this in his 
excellent series from Mel Bay. Keep on harpin'



In a message dated 12/5/06 1:21:38 PM, jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx writes:


> Some of us people who learn things by ear have
> really, really good ears and can get
> very creative and do some very original playing. But
> the right-brained
> thing does indeed make it especially hard to bring the
> Left side into
> things. Honestly, my first, knee-jerk, gut reaction to
> the idea of
> practicing a bunch of scales is that of being trapped
> and not being able to
> open up and move and/rock out' as you say. I want to
> go there but I dread
> it at the same time.
> 
> Hi Sam,
> 
>    Man, am I ever glad you brought this up. I really
> feel that this point is at the heart of the division
> between harmonica players who advocate theory and
> those who disdain it. Getting over this dread is, I
> think, the first step to learning all the theory you
> need to know, which is exactly as much as you care to
> learn. That isn’t to imply that theory has no value,
> only that a.) it isn’t necessary to make music and b.)
> you will learn to appreciate it, or not, depending on
> how it jives with your musical goals. If you want to
> sound exactly like Sonny Boy Walter Jr., you don’t
> need it. If you want to sound like yourself you may
> not need it either. But it is useful, and many of us
> who know some theory would probably never go back to
> not knowing it, and it may lead you to a sound you
> never would have gotten to on your own.
>    So, let me try to get on a soapbox here. Music is
> not based on theory. Theory is based on music. What we
> call “musical theory” is just a description of what
> happens in music. Just like taxonomy is a description
> of the natural world: calling something a rose doesn’t
> make it so, but it sure does help you talk to other
> gardeners about what you’re growing. 
>     In terms of learning, here’s an analogy: you can
> learn to drive a car without ever knowing anything
> about it. But try teaching your kid to drive without
> ever telling him what a clutch is or that the pedal on
> the left is the brake and the right is the gas and
> what that means. Oh sure, he could figure that out for
> himself, but um… well, let’s say it’s a little safer
> to discover music on your own than driving.  :D
>    A scale is just a collection of notes. Notes that
> we, humans, decided went together, because they
> sounded a certain way when put together. The blues
> scale, in fact, is really something we’ve deduced from
> blues music. No one told blues musicians that they
> should stick to these notes, and yet here they were,
> doing it anyway - many of them never realizing it. The
> sound comes first. The scale is just a way to describe
> the components of that sound. It is as limiting or as
> freeing as you want it to be. You’ve learned the blues
> scale, whether you know it or not, and you’ve
> practiced it a million times or more. Do you feel
> trapped by it? Does it keep you from rocking out?
>    Look at it another way. You describe your own
> learning process – which is a learning process older
> than blues – copying the riffs and licks of other
> players. What are licks and riffs but collections of
> notes that sound good together? In other words, what
> are they but tiny scales or parts of scales? If
> playing these licks and riffs over and over, learning
> them inside and out and experimenting with them is
> what helped you learn to play blues, then why would
> you be afraid that playing new collections of notes,
> learning them inside and out and experimenting with
> them will somehow harm what you’ve learned?
>     Again, “theory” is just a way to describe what is
> already there. We humans, whether thanks to God or
> nature or whatever, are blessed with reason, and that
> means we can see patterns that exist in the world
> around us, and we can use those patterns to learn
> things more quickly, to communicate with each other
> more effectively, and even to discover new patterns we
> didn’t realize were there.
>    I’ve heard it said on this list many times that
> “theory” somehow robs you of your “mojo.” I don’t buy
> that in the least. Listening to all the amazing music
> made in the world will quickly disprove that notion.
> Did Paul Butterfield lack mojo? Did Miles Davis? Did
> Ray Charles? Knowing that a certain note is the b3 of
> a certain chord doesn’t make you any less able to play
> it, any more than knowing that the clutch helps
> transfer rotation from one gear to another makes you
> less able to switch gears smoothly. What theory can
> do, what knowing the b3 of a chord can do, is maybe
> help you get a sound you wanted to hear but didn’t
> know how to play. What theory does is help you
> understand more about the parts that make up music,
> and maybe make it possible for you to add things to
> your own music that you never even knew were there.
>    Like I said before though, you don’t need it.
> Honestly.   I’m obviously partial to people knowing
> some music theory, but many musicians get along fine
> without it. Think about your own goals, and those of
> your student, and make your own decision. Me, I like
> knowing more and more about music, just like some
> people like knowing the names of all the flowers they
> see, or like knowing that Spanish moss is related to
> the pineapple. You can appreciate flowers and Spanish
> moss without knowing any of these things, but for
> some, that kind of knowledge does many things: it
> deepens their understanding and empowers them to do
> things they couldn’t do before, it helps them share
> their knowledge and experience with others, and
> sometimes, the knowledge itself is its own reward.
> 
>    Anyway, good luck with whatever path you choose,
> Sam. But whichever way you go, don’t be afraid. You
> can only add to what you know by trying new things –
> you can’t take anything away.
> 
>   --Jp
> 
> 
> 

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