Improvised solo with theoretical knowledge

[kris]

I"m curious what your opinion is....:
Are you able to assess the level of theoretical knowledge of a musician by listening to his solo?

[djg]

I"m curious what your opinion is....:
Are you able to assess the level of theoretical knowledge of a musician by listening to his solo?

not if the solo is good you cant.

[Christian Miller]

I"m curious what your opinion is....:
Are you able to assess the level of theoretical knowledge of a musician by listening to his solo?

That’s an interesting question!

I think no, but with caveats.

Chord scale people tend to play a certain way. You can usually hear it.

Some of the horn players don’t really dig into the details of the changes. Prez, Chet Baker. More melodic soloists.

But then there’s players who are play all kinds of sophisticated harmony and then I am surprised that they don’t know any theory.


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[kris]

not if the solo is good you cant.

For me, it"s a mystery.... It is not known if the musician plays excellently because he has a brilliant ear and has a great musical imagination....or a musician has great theoretical knowledge and skillfully uses this knowledge by playing nice solos....

[djg]

For me, it"s a mystery.... It is not known if the musician plays excellently because he has a brilliant ear and has a great musical imagination....or a musician has great theoretical knowledge and skillfully uses this knowledge by playing nice solos....

i think you cant play a great solo without having a brilliant ear and great imagination. theory is optional.

[Tal_175]

For me, it"s a mystery.... It is not known if the musician plays excellently because he has a brilliant ear and has a great musical imagination....or a musician has great theoretical knowledge and skillfully uses this knowledge by playing nice solos....

Soloing implies coming up with specific lines while theory is general and abstract by definition. The obvious ways to generate specific ideas from theory tend to sound uninteresting and predictable. So, I don't think one can solo well with theoretical knowledge without musical sensibility. I think theory can improve practice efficiency and learning speed for those who don't have crazy good ears and endless creativity.

[ragman1]

It's usually a combination of both ear and knowledge, one's not much good without the other. The skill to make it work, of course, is the other necessary ingredient.

[39cord]

Tal_175 puts it in a nutshell and says it well.

To answer your question my opinion is yes.

Sometimes you are able to hear the technical training and stuffing a square peg in a round hole that kinda fits. Technically it's perfect but your ear says I’m not completely onboard with it.

One of the local guys in my area was referenced respectfully not so long ago here in this category so his work has been familiar for many decades and has been useful. He is a professor. Looking at his study guides and having listened to the band he plays in Tal knows about what he is saying.