Music Geek

Here I am on my first night off in a while and what am I doing? Exploring the world of Hexatonics and Melodic Minor Scales.

I was reading Peter Hum's Blog where he mentioned the death of Charlie Banacos who taught about Hexatonics and I remembered a previous post about a web site by Peter Martin who had posted recently about the aforementioned Melodic Minor Scales.

After some thought I have scratched out some exercises that will get me started off for PRACTICE MONTH aka January.

More to come on this and other geekiness soon.

Acquiring the abstract.

There has been some discussion amongst my fellow musos as to the state of music. Much has been made of the downturn in the economy and there is some degree of nervousness in the air. I see what is happening now as a time of opportunity and I put forward a point of view that has been under the radar for some time now.

Art, in general, but specifically music, is a part of the fabric of civilized society. You hear, see and touch things every day that are a result of the creative process whether it be music in a film, the design of an auto or, the feel of a shirt. These are concrete examples that were conceived and designed by many people, not a few of whom are artists. There is another level which art exists and affects us all.

Most people can recall an event where, after witnessing art (hearing a concert, viewing a painting/sculpture), there was an emotional response. If there happened to be more people in the room that response may have been magnified and manifested as a physical response (smiling, crying) as well. This is the benefit of art. On our own we can feel something within us that has been triggered by an abstract representation. When we are lucky enough to be with others who have been affected as well suddenly the group has a moment of shared experience which can be very powerful.

There is a realization that we have too many TVs, cars, kitchen gadgets (well maybe not that), clothes etc. The purchase of these material items felt great at the time and have provided some basic pleasure, but what is the long term outcome? As an example, you can drive their car to a store, buy the latest Blue Ray version of a movie, go home and make popcorn in their popcorn maker, or microwave and watch said feature on a wide screen high definition TV while wearing silk pyjamas. Some of the art that does exist in this scenario is the design of the car, writing the script and music, acting and various scene and costume sets in the movie and the design of the pyjamas. All good and worthy of a degree of attention but removed from your immediate experience.

Now I put forward another scenario. You agree to meet friends at a venue (bar, concert hall) that has live music, make a great dinner (I strongly suggest that here is where the kitchen gadgets really come to their own), go to the show/pub/whatever, listen and react to what you are hearing, talk about it with your friends (not during the performance please). What has happened? You set up a time to be with people (a community), had a nice dinner (creative experience) and talked about what you where hearing (community interaction). I suspect that in six months time you may still be talking about this experience as opposed to movie night in.

So there you have it. Go forth and experience art first hand and acquire something abstract.

What I didn't know.

I have recently been introduced to the Indian system of rhythm called Konokol. This method of counting has been a real eye and ear opener for for me and I have been working at it since January. Recently an opportunity presented itself to use it in a real world situation.

I had a rehearsal with a group of young violin players for their end of year concerts and had been given charts and a CD to look over before we got together. I have been busy as of late so I quickly glanced at the charts and skimmed over the CD to catch any tricky bits. One tune stood out as a potential problem, "le reel du fossé" by Mes Aïeux. I had heard it many times before as it is a favourite of my daughters so I thought "No worries" and drove off to the rehearsal.

Well, what I didn't know was that it had a section in 13/8 with shots and, a bar of 9/8 and leading back to 4/4. Now there are those for whom this would be a walk in the park, but I was having difficulty. I was humbled. So I think to myself, this looks like a job for Konokol. Within a short period of time, after determining that the shots where on beat 10, not 11, I had a grasp on it.

How do I verbalize it? Like thus, taka dimi taka taka dimi takita. Simple, no?

I highly recommend John McLaughlin & S. Vinayakram's "Gateway to Rhythm" DVD to musicians of all levels and experiences.

Thanks for reading,

Tom McMahon