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Do you know what note you're on?


Roland Rock
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[quote name='phlebas' timestamp='1363995892' post='2020875']
Once I know the key, the notes are scale/chord tones - so in C I don't think of open E as E, but the root of iim and as the fifth of the V chord.

Seems more useful to think of it that way since 95% of the tunes I play are completely diatonic.
[/quote]
Shouldn't that be 'root of iiim and as fifth of the VI chord'.

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I don't think, "I'm going to play C, then G then A etc" but I could tell you which notes I am playing if you asked - so 'yes' I suppose.

If anything, I wish I knew all my scales better. I can tell you if a note sounds wrong or right but it takes a few seconds to be certain it is actually a member of the scale (although often obvious from the position)

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I could name quickly every note , but I don't think notes , just roots and patterns, but just because I can name the notes quickly doesn't mean I know the theory that connects them, only the patterns that crop up time and time again when I learn songs.

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[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1363711451' post='2016385']
I always remember an interview with Jon Anderson of Yes done at the time of the release of his first solo album. Because he'd composed all the music himself but had no conventional musical training (or at least compared with his bandmates in Yes), he said that every note had to be individually considered from all the ones available. [/quote]

It was Vangelis in more than a few places... just listen! Great though..

Oh and while I'm on, re. post topic: Actual music note name about 10% of time, the rest as a position within whatever pattern I'm using at the time. I couldn't possibly process F# as a 2nd in Em but I can quickly recognise it by its shape as the right passing tone up from E to G of the E minor if that makes sense.

Edited by visog
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[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1364070815' post='2021689']
Weirder than that, it is B. Somewhere European, and there is still a B. Bach used it at one point as a signature inside the music (or so i read, may be apocryphal)
[/quote]

Germany and Norway at least, probably more countries as well.

Yes, Bach did that quite a lot, part of this signature being that the four notes formed a cross, thus not only denoting Bach's faith, but this theme and this cross were also used in Bach's music about Jesus' sufferings on the cross. If the lyrics for example have the word "Leiden" (suffering), you can bet that this cross is found in the melody.

[/BachChat]


As to the history of H and B, for those interested, and in simplified form:
IMS, some time in the late Middle Ages, the first "black key" note to be written down was a Bb, and it was written/drawn as a rounded B note, "B rotundum" or simply "rotundum". The regular B was written/drawn as a squarish one, the "B quadratum" or simply "quadratum".

Someone misread, and interpreted the square B as an H, and the round B as a B, and since some countries have had H for B and B for Bb.


best,
bert

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I have to know what note I'm starting on. After that I just sort of remember it if I've practised enough. I have some silly ways of remembering where to start though. Like 'Fly Away' by Lenny Kravitz starts on A for 'Away'. 'Bohemian Like You' starts on B for 'Bohemian'. Still trying to think of a way to remember that Hey Joe starts on C though! :D

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[quote name='phlebas' timestamp='1363995892' post='2020875']
Once I know the key, the notes are scale/chord tones - so in C I don't think of open E as E, but the root of iim and as the fifth of the V chord.

Seems more useful to think of it that way since 95% of the tunes I play are completely diatonic.
[/quote]

I'm sure I've probably just misunderstood what you've said - but in C the II chord is indeed minor, but it's Dm, the V chord is G7 and its 5th is D.

Probably due to my lack of confidence and insecurity, but I do know every note I play, and it's relationship to the chord or scale that I'm playing over.

Edited by ambient
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1364155518' post='2022674']
I played my first E# a few weeks ago, I started a thread about it! :)
[/quote]

You bragging loser! It's already months ago I mentioned I could play both the E and the Bb. I think you'll find that's slightly more impressive. :P


best,
bert

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[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1364155479' post='2022673']...Still trying to think of a way to remember that Hey Joe starts on C though! :D
[/quote]

Extrapolation of the lyrics..?

'[i]Hey, Joe, (you stoopid [b]C[/b]***...), where're yo' goin' with that gun in yo' hand[/i]' etc...

Sorry; I'll get my fringed shirt...

Edited by Dad3353
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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1364169347' post='2022839']


Extrapolation of the lyrics..?

'[i]Hey, Joe, (you stoopid [b]C[/b]***...), where're yo' goin' with that gun in yo' hand[/i]' etc...

Sorry; I'll get my fringed shirt...
[/quote]

Brilliant! I'll never forget it now :D

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I tend to know which note I'm playing if I've transcribed the track as I picture the sheet music in my mind in order to remember it - regardless of which string / position on the neck I'm playing but keeping an eye on what key & chord I'm playing in so I can apply shapes and scales if I need to.
If I'm writing / jamming / working stuff out then I use shapes and what i call "interval pictures" so it's easy to move a riff or run from one chord or key to another if I need to.

Trying to remember open string harmonics and their pitch is something I always struggle with though.

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