NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/alt/guitar/9931

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 2.0 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Mark Basinski)
Newsgroups: alt.guitar
Subject: Re: Blues Soloing / Blues scale
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Date: 16 Nov 92 17:26:28 GMT
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 I read an interview with Pat Metheny once where he said "People are
always asking me 'what scales do you use?' - To me that is like asking
'what verbs do you use?'"

        Let's face it, scales and licks etc. are the lexicon, they are just
the stuff that the language is made from. You *do* need to know that
stuff, and like any language, the basic stuff can be learned by studying
a book or (longer and maybe more difficult) by just listening to the
language. But that is only the basic stuff. To actually communicate, you
have to listen much more, and you have to have something to say - that's
not to imply that, in blues, something to say can be expressed in any
other way except the music (thought it might be "damn that woman!" or
"OW! BAby!" etc). It's just that the real music happens in many places,
in your head, in your heart, in your fingers. If you're thinking about
scales and licks, you're not saying anything...all that "basic" level
has got to be drawn upon subconsciously. You can hear this in some
of the old blues players - their technique is crude (at best) and as far
as "licks" go, they maight only have 2 or 3, but they WAY they play them
is what counts. Zappa said of Elmore James: "It's true that he played
that one lick (reedle-dee-deedle-dee-dee-dee, etc) over and over
and over, but you got the feeling that he really meant it."
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Mark Basinski      Internet: [e-mail]