guitar

I'm using this post to express my frustration towards and respect of the guitar. I've been playing for 5-6 months and it has by far been the most engaging and frustrating subject i have studied. The best way I can think of it is learning a new language. At first I had no knowledge of theory so I started with that and that becomes like the vocabulary of nouns and adjectives that can be said at any given time. But then of course is the problem of speaking them fluently which has been the more difficult part for me. I have built all sorts of model boats and cars and have done woodworking before, and the subtelty and technique involved in guitar is similar. Guitar is very mathematical, not only in the theory, but in the way it is played: the angle the pick hits the string, the arch of the stroke, the way the whole arm must be exactly precise. There are so many variables and sounds that must be controlled and it has all been very frustrating and fascinating. I have been learning Spanish over this time period too and it is similar in idea to the guitar except one is done with your hands and the other with your mouth. I hope to be more fluent in both areas in the future.

Arts Week Performance

I thought our performance did really well to highlight what improvising is about. It was impressive that we took suggestions from the crowd and actually made coherent music out of it with some feeling behind it. Since suggestions like "Burning Monkey" can't be composed, they must go on feeling, and that was one of the nicest parts of this class: that people like me who have played before but have limited knowledge of theory can find their way into the music. When I was playing, especially on saxophone, it was like crawling around in the dark unti I found something that works and then I would crawl around and find another note that works. It sounds painful but it was fun and I think our whole group actually benefited from our lack of knowledge because it forces you to go by ear and feeling rather than previous knowledge. This way we played notes that shouldn't have been played and probably sounded extremely strange but eventually worked out, making it all the more interesting. I think we could have benefited from a longer playing time, because its hard to get a good jam going right away and sometimes the best parts only come after fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes of experimenting. On the other hand it would have been tough for the audience to listen to a 40 minute jam.

culture and music

As I struggle to learn guitar I can’t help but think of all the players who are self-taught, although I’m not sure self-taught is the right word. It is definitely possible to teach yourself how to play an instrument, but I don’t think you can teach yourself what sounds good, I think that is all in your ear. If someone isn’t telling you every step of the way why this note is good and that one bad, the kind of recognition of what sounds good is more of what the culture you live in thinks sounds good. If nobody is teaching you any theory on why this and that sounds good, then it is up entirely to your ear to decide what to play, and your ear decides based on what it has heard already, which is your culture’s music. The interesting question would be, what does someone play who has never heard any music, what would they think sounds good? Or is it an impossible question, is it impossible for someone to have not heard any music at all?