Musical capabilities.

I am learning how to read music right now and already know how to read if it is very basic, but I voted for do not read, do improvise, because I don't fully know how to read a whole song from paper or anything.

My band does alot of improv and connect our songs together with it. Also, in our songs, the only thing we really work out is the time and key changes, and from that inbetween the changes we improvise the solos and all that.

I write songs though, I just don't write them on paper, I use Anvil Studio midi maker for that.

heheh im very weird, but i do qacttually make tons of music. all the fricken time. im like a fricken machine. whenever im bored i actually make up a sweet as tune in my head, not just like with one instrement, but actually with a whole band playing! i know im weird! whenever i get the chgance, i dont write it down on a peice of papoer, i actallly have a music program which i make music, i got it from my music class along time ago in 5th graade, i asked amy teacher if i could have a copy of it! the only problem though is that it is very limited and basic, so my music gets a little converted when i do put it in. i say i can make 3 songs a day. maybee ill release all my 300 plus songs some day....  i guess im like prog bassit

Edited by Eddy

Eddy wrote: heheh im very weird, but i do qacttually make tons of music. all the fricken time. im like a fricken machine. whenever im bored i actually make up a sweet as tune in my head, not just like with one instrement, but actually with a whole band playing! i know im weird! whenever i get the chgance, i dont write it down on a peice of papoer, i actallly have a music program which i make music, i got it from my music class along time ago in 5th graade, i asked amy teacher if i could have a copy of it! the only problem though is that it is very limited and basic, so my music gets a little converted when i do put it in. i say i can make 3 songs a day. maybee ill release all my 300 plus songs some day....  i guess im like prog bassit

I have voices in my head too, Eddy!...they say throw a brick thru Reed's window.

I identify notes absolutely and immediately - because I have perfect pitch. I can even identify clusters of notes - it used to be a party piece of mine until I got bored of doing it.

I read and write music like I read and write the English language - I passed grade 8 theory when I was 15, having skipped grades 6 and 7 because they were far too easy.

I specialised in composition as the major part of my degree - for which I got a starred first. Aural tests are a speciality of mine - I can spot most composers within a few bars, tell a violin from a viola, a cornet from a trumpet and a cornett from a sackbutt.

 

But at the end of the day, none of it matters - I have more tools at my disposal with which to enjoy and create music than most people (which is why I have an honours degree and a load of other bits of paper to say so), but anyone with a true artistic inclination can craft great art using the most basic tools, and ANYONE can enjoy music on their own level.

That said, acquiring these tools can make music even more enjoyable, as you gain greater understanding of the components and can appreciate technical tricks and become more aware of interplay between the different parts. You start to enjoy music on MORE levels, not HIGHER ones.

...and you can't acquire perfect pitch - you have to be born with it, I'm afraid. You can develop relative pitch though; once you know a given note, you can work out what another one is simply by understanding the sound made by intervals. Of all aural work, intervals are the most tedious for people without perfect pitch - but also the most important.

you have perfect pitch?!

lucky

I'm a 3 chords or nearest offer guitarist of many years' standing, but I wouldn't claim to have any in depth musical knowledge - I can follow the top line of a score, understand time signatures and that's about it.

My partner is a classically trained musician and singer who also composes. Her perspective on a lot of music I enjoy is very interesting - for her, the musical structure is the first thing which grabs her attention, whereas I tend to respond to a particular sound (e.g. moog or mellotron). She's not a big prog fan, but the bits she does like she likes a lot.

Reed Lover wrote: I have been reading and writing music for three decades. I used to transcribe music for Francis Rossi. It was really difficult, and I got laid off. After that I went down,down deeper and down!

Difficult? I'm no music maestro, but Quo only knew three chords..

I read music for piano... and I site read for voice.. but I can also read music for percussion... which due to rhythm... took a lot of getting use too...

Shocktaktix wrote: I wouldn't say I have perfect pitch, as I do not believe such a thing exists and anyone who claims to have that facility is a fantasist.

You've obviously never met someone who has it then - or because you don't have it, you don't understand how anyone could

I have met two other people that have it in my entire life - and would agree that in those two it was a little hit and miss, as they could not do clusters, and got confused by notes outside of their singing range. Within their ranges, they were 100% though.

I must be very lucky, as I can identify every note on most pianos (when they're out of tune it's difficult - as you might understand!) - and any other instrument except, perhaps, those of far Eastern origin...

Edited by Certif1ed

..oh really, have they??