Lost Within A Dream

As I lay here softly sleeping lost within a dream
Love is always everything it seems
The moon floating so prettily, it sets my spirit free
When I dream this dream of you and me

Stardust keeps on falling on the two of us entwined
Is this really you or just my mind
Am I merely dreaming or are you dreaming this dream too
Is this shining vision really you

I wake up in the morning wipe the stardust from my eyes
Can you just imagine my surprise
Lying there so lovely is this dream I’ve dreamed come true
When I look across our bed at you

Then I see that smile upon your face
Laughter, tears filled with beaming grace
Suddenly a shooting star appears
I draw you near, so near

Patterns In Sound

Music – the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.

Noise – random or unpleasant sound.

Playing music for the trained musician is manipulating patterns in sound. The patterns manifest themselves in melodies, bass lines, rhythmic figures and harmonic structures. The ways that these components fit together are many and varied. It is interesting to note that the basic rules of music theory aren’t man made ideas, they are the result of people listening to what sound does with itself and were compiled over many years.

There are savant players, but for many of us musical freedom is achieved through an intense study of scales, bass lines, chord changes and rhythms until we start seeing the inherent patterns in music and can start to extrapolate upon them and come up with new ways to play within the system.

We can insert uncommon musical patterns into tunes as long as we do it properly. In general it is done by going out of the norm and coming back in. In most types of music there is a tone center which must be dealt with and genre considerations.

Listen to the blues lick and note the descending whole tone scale fit in where it normally should not be. It fits because it is a pattern within itself and is properly resolved back into the blues structure.

The Importance Of Proper Technique

The Importance Of Proper Technique

It goes without saying that practice makes perfect.  Practice will even improve natural talent and when it is coupled with consistent lessons with a knowledgeable teacher the only limit is the inherent ability of the student.

It is important when learning an instrument and how to play that the student comes in contact with the best teacher available as soon as possible.  One should not think that it is a good idea to get comfortable with the instrument and learn a few things on their own and then get an instructor.  Unless you are one of those very few people, people who are born with the ability to play as in being a savant, you end up doing more damage to your playing then you realize.  First impressions are very strong both physically and mentally, especially in matters of technique.  It can take the student six months to correct an incorrect first impression experience on an instrument.

Even savants would benefit from being shown how to properly physically approach an instrument as far as hand and body position.  What feels naturally comfortable is not always the best way.  In your everyday life you don’t hold your hands and body in a manner conducive for playing. You need to be shown and allow your hands and body to open up to the correct physical positions.  Eventually you will adopt your own particular playing style though it is really best to wait until you have mastered the “proper” way to play before you start making personal technique decisions.

The Old Man

What Is The Difference Between Major & Minor?

What Is The Difference Between Major & Minor?

In music, what is the difference between major and minor?

C Major & Minor Music Scale

This is an extremely loaded question with mountains of information waiting to tumble down upon us. To make it easier to handle let’s narrow it down to what is the “effect” of major and minor in music, and more importantly, what is the effect on the listener.

The foundation of Western Music is the major scale and the harmonic possibilities (chords) within it. This series of notes comes to us directly from the Greek modes. If we take the note series C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C there is a half-step between E&F and B&C, all other notes are a whole step apart. The Greek modes go from A-A, B-B, etc. all the way to G-G with the half step intervals shifting position because E&F and B&C are a half step apart and all the other notes are a whole step apart regardless of where they are used or what scale they are being used in. There are 7 Greek modes: the Ionian mode is from C-C and is commonly referred to today as the Major scale and the Aeolian mode is from A-A and is commonly referred to today as the Minor scale. These 2 scales, major and minor, share the same notes, the only difference between them is where they start and stop. Another way to put it would be to say how they resolve or come to rest within the listener’s ears.

The major scale is used to denote: good, air, light, positivity. The minor scale is used to denote: evil, darkness, mystery, sadness.

When we play or compose music properly, what we are really doing is giving voice to feelings and emotions that reside within us. These feelings and emotions that are communicated are not in result of some man made system of audio processing, they are the result of the effect that these particular patterns in sound have and always have had on human beings. The study of music theory in the West has always been based on what the sound is telling us. We listen and then make up rules on music theory and harmony.

If you’re writing a happy song chances are your first chord would be C, and if you had just lost a loved one Cm.

Composer vs Arranger

What is the difference between being a musical composer and being a musical arranger?  While a composer creates the original melody and harmony the arranger takes the composition and filters it thru the melody, harmony, bass lines and rhythm of the style of music and pairs it with the intended ensemble.  In a lot of cases the distinction between the two is very fuzzy.  When Beethoven wrote the 5th Symphony he composed it while arranging it for the orchestra at the same time and at least in Beethoven’s case made it almost pointless to do anything with the work other than to leave it as it is.  The 5th Symphony would not work for Peter, Paul and Mary or Maroon 5.

For me it brings up the question of the symbiotic relationship between a songwriter (composer) and an arranger in modern day popular music.  If you look at the credits on Michael Jackson’s Thriller album it lists a variety of composer’s, arranger’s (8), instrumentalists, etc.  The arrangers are listed as sectional and Quincy Jones is listed as the producer which in this case means one generally in charge of the entire production.  I would put forth that Mr. Jones was actually the arranger of the entire album.  He took a wonderful group of musicians, oversaw their efforts and channeled them thru his vast amount of musical experience, knowledge and God given talent.  Thriller would not have been the album it was without the incredible talent and composition of Michael Jackson (and others) and the amazing arrangement and production skills of Quincy Jones.