[HAM] (BF Test #9) Theory v. Feel v. Ear etc.

[joe d]

To me, theory is all the wonderful data that comes after the fact...playing 
and feel is training your hands/mind to feel it and play it....basically 
apply that theory to time and feel. But they both go hand in hand  - one 
hand washes the other (cue the twilight zone music).
They exist because of each other. It's like...blowing my mind scooob!

There are those rare/lucky individuals who can hear something once and 
regurgitate it by simply hearing it once or twice, and those who need to 
understand the theory of music and listen to it in order to start practicing 
it (then feeling it and learning to play it). Most of us fall into the 
latter category.

Once the basics of music are understood, the best way to approach it (for me 
at least) is to hear/listen to it then try and transcribe by ear (on paper 
or into memory) using these basics (the rudiments/basics of music are the 
tools for the job).  Then if the song already exists and has been 
transcribed properly, then getting the sheet music and going over it that 
route, then practicing to get the feel.

So the question "does a musician think theory or feel when playing on the 
gig?"... the answer is both (with feel taking over moreso with a song 
learned).  The player knows the theory of the song/etc...then they practiced 
it enough to feel it (training the hands/mind to feel it).  So essentially - 
it's both.

When i went to school and learning music, I did it an odd way and skipped a 
lot of theory classes to go shed in the piano room instead. It was because I 
wasn't feeling any of it to my liking so i had to make a choice to go in 
that shed and learn to feel (jazz/funk/blues). i loved what i was hearing - 
but my hands weren't trained to expel what I was feeling.  And as that 
progressed, i stumbled naturally on the theory - so in many cases, the 
theory expanded after the feel (and in other cases - the opposite would be 
the case).

Maybe get the Mark Levine book - "Jazz Piano" (or my teacher Randy 
Halberstadt's book is also a gem). They do a great job to get a person up to 
speed a bit easier.  Then of course, as these books will also 
state...immerse yourself into listening.
That's very important.  It's more difficult to try and learn what you've 
never heard.




>From: David Damroze <damroze at excite.com>
>Reply-To: The Hammond Forum <hammond at zeni.net>
>To: The Hammond Forum <hammond at zeni.net>
>Subject: Re: [HAM] (BF Test #9) Theory v. Feel v. Ear etc.
>Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 10:25:57 -0700
>
>
>On May 16, 2007, at 10:00 AM, Scott Hawthorn wrote:
>
> > At 09:45 AM 5/16/2007, Randal Muir wrote:
> >> What I find annoying is that I need someone, or rather an
> >> organ freak to point all this stuff out before I take notice of it.  i
> >> particularly like #8 and how he then drops the bass right down low and
> >> really grinds with the pedals. stunning effect.
> >
> > Hey Randal,
> > Well, the idea with these examples is to raise your consciousness about
> > stuff like this so that next time, you will recognize it without my
> > nagging. You just watch and see...
>    Hey Scott ,
>   This all brings together a question I've had for some time regarding
>how
>   much of the theory is going through the musicians mind while
>improvising ,
>   and how much of it is feel , ear , whatever you want to call it.
>      For instance , a gospel player who grew up in the church , heard the
>   music all of his(her) life and just plays because they " know " what
>sounds right.
>     Or , to put it another way , are the musicians actually thinking
>"13th " " 9th "
>   etc  in the moment , or is it after later analysis that these are
>shown to be what was played ?
>    Or does it depend on the musician ?
>   My keyboard skills are fairly rudimentary . But I've been in jams
>where I decided ' what the heck'
>   and just let my fingers go wherever and people seemed to dig it.
>     Is it possible for the right brain to take over and play , even if
>the left hasn't a clue ?
>
>David D.
> >
> >
> >
> >
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