[kenneybonz]

what a great freakn thread.. here it is 745 and i have been at it since 6 figuring out the phaser part for candyman after getting juuuusssst enough to get me in the right direction..
what i have now, for having gotten assisted or cued was that i got to figure a whole lot out for myself..
as a result, and thanks to u guys for the help, i got something i know how to do and what it needs to make it sound right..
so i was JUST thinking that i'm glad they leave to to figure things out that i saw this thread.. thanks y'all
tom

[G'Dad]

An interesting discussion.

Living in France I have had to and will continue to do so for a long time learn a new language and do believe that music itself is also language.

To learn both you do need to know some theory but of course that only takes you so far - for example I can read a lot of things in French, conjugate my verbs, order my pronouns etc and have a reasonable vocabulary BUT…..

You then have to go out and speak to people!!! Hear and use the language in practical situations.

This IS different as your mind needs to work quickly as conversations never follow any rigid pattern, you need to ad lib and one of the most difficult things you need to do is hear what is being said. The spoken word does not come out like the theory, there are accents and slang terms and sometimes they just go so fast several words run into one.

I feel this is also true of music, you can learn the theory but it is a different ball game to go out and play. Yeah the theory gives you routes to take and place to try but you need to hear what is going on to really develop as a musician.

It is great to have the tabs to refer to and learn from but the starting place has to be to try it yourself, not that I always follow this advice and sometimes just go straight to the tab.

I have an ex pro guitarist as a friend and I class him as a musician as he can pick up tunes effortlessly, me I learn songs and play them and it’s altogether a different thing, but like the language with some theory behind me and people to help I am getting there and that to me that is what it is about - getting better.

So please keep giving us the theory guys and we will try and apply it and work out stuff for ourselves knowing we have a great safety net here with the community and the tabs.

[LazyLightnin]

"Do you know what the universal language is? , it's just MUSIC!" -Jimmy Cliff

[Henry]

Interesting topic, it made me think some. For me it's like, never having had any formal lessons, I got used to figuring out tunes by ear at an early age, it always seemed like the natural thing to do. Only I feel at a loss whenever I try to explain things to somebody else. I may have a hearing ability that is superior to many others'(and don't get me wrong, this can be quite annoying sometimes), maybe it's a gift from God to make up for my poor eyesight; I don't know. I forced myself to learn at least the basics of music theory and scales and modes and stuff only many years after I started playing, it all made some kind of sense, but I still can't think about those things when playing or else I'll get lost. I think in pictures and weird patterns I made up myself... Another player at a rehearsal might ask me, "What scale can I play over that chord?" and I go like, "How am I supposed to know, I just play what sounds good to me..." I'm very instinctive in my playing and it's very hard to put that into words.
Also, being kind of a "born-again Deadhead" (in lack of a better term, certainly not "neo" since I've known them for over 25 years), I don't have a vast collection of stuff as many others here and simply don't know a lot of the versions of certain tunes mentioned. Anyway, if I do feel I can help with something, I will be glad to do it.

[Django]

Wow I am relieved that this thread wasn't about 'I don't want to give away my little secret because I don't want anyone else in ...hometown here... to know what I know. You dig, big competetion in GD tribute bands!
Seriously, thanks everyone for the shared info.