Minor vi chord as subdominant?

[christianm77]

That’s an interesting perspective. You mean - play your voice in that feel, don’t try to pastiche a genre?

[mrcee]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Music is more of an art than a science. Try and be creative at all times or just be honest that you're a mere technician. And there's nothing wrong with that either. I posted before about some Caribbean musicians that I knew, GREAT players who could play anything from Giant Steps to Confirmation to Calypso and most things in between that weren't impressed with Bird and Diz et al's forays into Latin music. They love those guys but felt they should leave the Latin alone.

I've heard Frank Sinatra do somethings in the uptown Country Soul vein. Covering the likes of someone like Ray Price, Eddy Arnold or Jim Reeves and it sounded ringa-ding-ding phony to me.

I had a Salsa record, recorded in the seventies in NYC with top names. NY session ace Vinnie Bell (inventor of Dano's Coral Sitar etc) was on the date on electric guitar. I was intrigued because guitar isn't usually used on straight Salsa. If they're looking for a stringed instrument they'll use a Tres. Anyway Vinnie didn't try to cop a real Latin guitar style, he played jazzy. IMO it was interesting and only partially worked but I tip my hat to him for being himself and trying to add that to the music.

[christianm77]

Yeah I've been thinking that for a while. Easy to say, hard to do.

To me, encapsulated in two words... Bill & Frisell....

[mrcee]

Yup, Bill Frisell is an excellent example.

[mrcee]

Yeah I've been thinking that for a while. Easy to say, hard to do.

To me, encapsulated in two words... Bill & Frisell....

Hard to do for sure. It's a whole different process from learning theory and technique and requires the player to dig deep into music and themselves to figure out what's really happening with themselves in relation to the music. You hear stories about advanced players sitting at the feet of a mentor not to learn theory or technique but something more subtle.

A truly creative musician is playing their life. The technical aspects of it are just a means to that end. I usually don't participate much in theory threads. I'll learn some things and my theory is good anyway but I'm more interested in the history and conceptual things, and the music itself. That's where the creative rubber meets the road.

County Soul Rock guitarist Wayne Perkins played the solo on Bob Marley's Stir It Up. He happened to be recording in London, I think, on a different session in the same building and was asked to come play a solo on Marley's tune. I believe he said that he wasn't really sure how he'd fit in but agreed to try. It's a classic effects drenched Rock sort of solo but worked great.