Theory, scale choice

[Drew]

For me it was Satch, specifically this song. Hordes of Locusts was a running up. But, this song blew my mind.

 

[TheDoktor]

Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth is one of my favs for some of the "outside" choices he makes (he confesses to not being a "theory guy".) For example he starts the solo for the song "Harvest" (an acoustic ballad) with this out of nowhere phrygian dominant/ gypsy jazz sounding thing before moving into classic rock/blues pentatonic. It really causes you to perk up your ears for that solo in a rather quiet, soothing song.

 

[danktat]

the band was playing in 3 different time signatures, somehow making it work, and when they all hit the one simultaneously and then took off together it was such a musical orgasm. Mind bogglingly satisfying.

I remember seeing them play the old Spectrum here in Philadelphia back in '96 or '97. They were in the middle of a jam........the lights go out for like 10 seconds.......when they come back on, each person was on a different instrument. DIDN'T MISS A NOTE! Went out again......they were all on another instrument.......did it a couple of more times until everyone had a chance to jam out on everyone else's instruments and then back to their own. If you would listened to a recording of it, you would have never known they did that. It would have just sounded like a normal Phish jam without actually SEEING it.

 

[Aahzz]

I remember seeing them play the old Spectrum here in Philadelphia back in '96 or '97. They were in the middle of a jam........the lights go out for like 10 seconds.......when they come back on, each person was on a different instrument. DIDN'T MISS A NOTE! Went out again......they were all on another instrument.......did it a couple of more times until everyone had a chance to jam out on everyone else's instruments and then back to their own. If you would listened to a recording of it, you would have never known they did that. It would have just sounded like a normal Phish jam without actually SEEING it.

Well that's awesome

 

[Involt]

Heck yes, SO many players! It’s not just about the theory either (since many great players claim to not be that knowledgeable about music theory - which might make them even more impressive IMO). The list is endless.

Recently I saw a player on Instagram called Matteo Mancuso. Obviously trained in classical guitar techniques, which I am not, and super impressive (which I am not either lol).

Hehe..Matteo Mancuso is an outsider, not classifiable in any way. He has developed his own, unteachable and unreachable, right hand technique. As a matter of fact, he has five picks, one for every single finger, that he eclectically uses according to the instant convenience

 

[Sybo]

Any guitarist who played for Steely Dan opened my eyes.

All day long!

 

[László]

This talk about music theory reminds me that: (1) my knowledge of theory is insufficient to be able to do what I actually do, which is something of a paradox; and (2) if I have a stroke, it'll probably be because parts of my brain exploded while trying to figure this stuff out (I mention this in case my doc needs help diagnosing the cause of my stroke. Just tell him or her that my brain exploded once I got past the Circle of Fifths).

How on Earth does anyone even process enough information to know offhand, 'An alternative to mixolydian over the 4 is lydian dominant which is lydian with a flat 7 or you can look at it like mixolydian with a sharp 4'?

I don't know if it's a sign of genius, or if Jake's pulling a fast one, 'cause who's even gonna know, right?

[Note: If you're the person who's gonna know, keep it to yourself so I don't get even more depressed, K?]

Here's me listening to someone lecture on quantum physics:

It all makes sense when I'm listening to the explanation, but afterward there's no f#ckin' way I could explain it to anyone, and within 15 minutes the whole lecture would be run through a mental blender and I'd be just as confused as I was before listening to it.

Here's me listening to someone lecture on music theory:

It all makes sense when I'm listening to the explanation, but afterward there's no f#ckin' way I could explain it to anyone, and within 15 minutes the whole lecture would be run through a mental blender and I'd be just as confused as I was before listening to it.

Here's me thinking about it later:

"How did those bits of brain get on the wall behind my head??"

 

[Derek Neufeld]

Roben Ford is where I got the Mixolydian over the IV Chord from. I am a shameless thief of riffs and ideas from whoever lol.
I like his style but find him annoying on his utube tutorials because he smacks his lips a lot at the end of sentences when talking. My bad though, downside of Aspergers.

A good musician is a good thief! Musically that is lol

 

[jak3af3r]

How on Earth does anyone even process enough information to know offhand, 'An alternative to mixolydian over the 4 is lydian dominant which is lydian with a flat 7 or you can look at it like mixolydian with a sharp 4'?

Lots of mental practice. I had at least two classes where a chord would be written on a board and you would write all the possible scale choices associated with that chord or chord progression. Kind of like all those work sheets in elementary school for multiplication and division.

That said, I can't remember long division to save my life. And I also can't remember every name to every scale BUT I can still see chords/progressions like B7b9/13 to EM7 and know the scale (B C D# E F# G# A) works over that B and (E F# G# A B C# D#) works over E.

 

[Steve's addiction]

Jeff Beck for me. Can't play his stuff but just pulling out pieces of what he does is enough for me

 

[Bag]

Any guitarist who played for Steely Dan opened my eyes.

That's because they get tired of diatonic and gin.

I love steely Dan especially Elliott Randall's guitar work on reeling the years. I
t was genius and so ahead of it's time .
His use of the entire neck is effortless and brilliant.