The day may come when you do play with others and then it may be helpful but if you are just learning
as @John_E said: [quote=“John_E, post:79, topic:26848”]
you don’t have to worry about them much.
[/quote]
I think a lot of beginners overwhelm and frustrate themselves by trying to absorb too much too fast.
Just go through the the B2B course one step at a time and have fun
I struggled a lot with learning theory when i was in school and I didn’t really care much about it. Just memorizing the keys/flats/sharps is boring and I’m not one to put too much effort into learning things like that, just for the sake of learning them… but when i started applying it for composing and analysing songs, it was pretty easy to learn. It’s much easier when you understand something vs just trying to memorize it.
I think modes are like that too, the way almost everyone teaches them in the key of C and describes them all as alterations to the major scale is just not very good. People learn the formulas but don’t develop context for how the modes sound an how to use them.
I think the reason modes are taught that way is that they are just ridiculously easy to visualize on a keyboard that way, and when you do, a whole bunch of other stuff just clicks (if it hadn’t already before, anyway) about how really the only thing that matters at all is how the intervals fit together, and how keys are actually related in cycles.
Howdy @John_E ,
Yeap. Agree. That Root - upper & lower fifth and that Root - octave is pretty simple and easy to remember.
@JoshFossgreen ,
Tnak you for your replay. Yeah, I knowticed the Nashville system is a side topic in the following modules. To be honest I tried my best to underdtand and practice the main content and tried to ignore the Nashville stuff, always having in mind to get it later (maybe)
Just think of the Kraftwerk song Numbers. Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht. It’s that simple.
Another advantage of the Roman literals:
You can use uppercase/lowercase for major/minor.
Yeah it’s just a nicer notation IMO.
Ahh yes, the Düsseldorf Number System
It’s funny, I just listened to Computer Love in German a couple months ago and realized I liked it better than the English version. Different lyric rhythm actually made a difference
Slightly different vibe than the English version, I like it.
Kraftwerk
Me too. RIP Florian.
So much good in that movie.
Maybe think of it this way…
I could say, “play, E 1 bar, then A 1 bar, then 4 bars of E, 4 of A, then B 1x, A 1x, E for 2, B for two… then repeat…”. Orrrrrr, I could say " Lets play a I, IV, V Chicago Blues in E".
I would say that that is incredibly useful, and magic. IMHO
It seems to be pretty well covered already but if you plan to get involved playing jams with other experienced players or join a band with experienced players the answer is yes. You will need to know it and if you can count it’s really not that difficult to learn or understand.
Do tell!
Hi Alex: You might want to learn this at some point, some day in the way out future but for right now I would tell you to just play and don’t worry about it.
This system was designed in the 50’s to help the studio musicians get around easier on the sheet music instead of trying to interpret the musical score on the sheets.
It does make sense once you figure it out but in all honesty if you can’t find the note your being told to play by someone spouting out the 1-4-6-5 in order to sound cool, don’t sweat it. Finish the course and you’ll be playing just fine by then without this.
My $.02… Might not be worth two cents, but here it is. This “system” is not something made up. It has existed as long as western music has been around. Western music is based on a set of intervals, whole steps and half steps, that define the scale. Along those same lines, in any given key, chords are identified by the numeric scale position in addition to an identifier of Major, minor, diminished, etc. The chord progression exists regardless of how we define it. That said, the number system existed long before the “Nashville Number System” (NNS). So how does the NNS come into play? Nashville has long been known for its many recording studios. Many vocalist would come to Nashville without having their own band. Vocal performance is constrained by one’s own vocal range and as such songs had to be performing within the range the singer could perform. While recording, it may be discovered the vocalist might need to sing the song a different key than what the score was originally written. Since chord progressions are constant, meaning the intervals that form chords and the intervals between the chords don’t change, if we identify the chords based on an interval system, and as an extension of that, chord progressions, a group of studio musicians could play the same progression in any key. The NNS is literally nothing more than a way to call out the chord progression. If you say “This song is a simple one, four, five progression.” you are using the Nashville Number System regardless of what you call it. That is to say, the Roman Numeral System, the Nashville Number System, or anything else you want to label it is just putting a name on what I like to call music theory.
Great advice. Music isn’t hard, but like you said you have to find “your” way to make it work. Two of the world’s greatest guitar players can’t read a lick of music but they figured out what sounds right and how to do it. Any guesses who as to who they are?
Actually, Hendrix and Clapton come to mind, but I’m sure there are others…
I didn’t know about Clapton, that’s wild. The two I was referring to are Glen Campbell and Tommy Emmanuel.