Re: developing musicians and a musical culture

[Daryl <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

John Coltrane's a great example to bring up when trying to make the point 
that
musicians are more creative when they don't know anything...

Daryl Shawn
highhorse@mhorse.com


> I really think you're wrong here...scales and chords can only get you so
> far, as well as can stifle musical creativity.  I have played guitar for
> 9-10 years, and I know a few basic scales and just chorforms that i've
> either picked up or made up, but I do not at all think that I would be
> better off creatively if I knew more.  The most creative guitarists are 
>the
> ones who bend and even break traditional music theory.  Some of them know
> the theory and some of them don't even know which "rules" they are 
>breaking.
> IMHO, we are totally limited by twelve-tone equal temperament.  There's 
>no
> reason to stick to eleven octave divisions except for the fact that that 
>has
> been the norm for the past few hundreds of years.  Ever hear someone 
>start
> integrating microtonality into western music?  It's amazing, and mostly
> reliant on people who do not wish to grasp those scales and chords.  
>There
> is no "proper place" where someone should move their fingers to.  I think
> that putting more creativity into the music, and playing what *you* think
> sounds right is a total substitute for the "fundamentals".  I forget 
>exactly
> which jazz musician said it, I think it might have been Coltrane, "There 
>are
> no wrong notes".