Where's that confounded bridge??

[suzdoyle]

Wow, Allen! Thanks for the insider info about Sitar playing -- how long have you played sitar, and how did you learn? I play lots of instruments, but feel intimidated by the incredible complexity of the sitar. Any advice, should I dare to dabble in the realm of Sitar Bliss?? Thanks!SuzP.S. the Sitar/ Tabla concert I attended was with Gaurav Mazumdar on Sitar accompanied on Tabla by Kuntal Roy. They were incredibly talented, humble, and informative. Audience members were invited up to try the instruments and asks lots of questions. I was curious if Mazumdar's had callouses on his fingers -- sure enough, thickest ones I've ever seen! We have a wonderful organization in our little college town called FASIS, which is dedicated to bringing Indian culture to the West via concerts, workshops and other events. It's amazing!!

[allends]

Aug 19, 2008, 10:07pm, suzdoyle wrote:Wow, Allen! Thanks for the insider info about Sitar playing -- how long have you played sitar, and how did you learn? I play lots of instruments, but feel intimidated by the incredible complexity of the sitar. Any advice, should I dare to dabble in the realm of Sitar Bliss?? Thanks!SuzHi Suz,I feel guilty hijacking this thread but since you asked here goes:I've been playing sitar for 19 years now. It warms my heart to remember the startled reaction of a great player whom I met at a recent concert: he told me "Oh! You must be pretty good then!!!!". I became interested in the sitar because I had been a devotee of Indian philosophy and yoga for many years and a fellow meditation teacher had a sitar for sale. I found a wonderful teacher right away who helped me approach the instrument properly, you know: correct posture, hands & arms placement, correct fingering and wrist movement, etc. etc. etc.... Those lessons only continued for a year because he moved away. I haven't had another sitar lesson since but I learn by listening anyway so I'm doing fine. My suggestion to you is that one must approach sitar playing as a wonderful-but-demanding lifestyle. If you're mostly just interested in learning Indian music you might consider learning to play the violin in an Indian style. I took Karnatic violin lessons for a year and I learned so much from that fabulous experience! I highly - highly - highly recommend learning Indian music on the violin!!!!! All the theory, aesthetic, and lore (and Bliss) are available in abundance, plus violins are everywhere & cheap!Thanks for asking, dear soul. I have so few people to talk to about this sweet subject!Cheers,Allen

[suzdoyle]

Yowza, Allen!Thanks for the insights and suggestions about meandering towards sitar playing via the violin. That makes perfect sense, as the violin lends itself to jazz improv so well, and in my limited exploration of Indian music, it's all about improv and flow, albeit within a structure (sort of like life, eh?)I have a psaltery as well (very violin-like, but a bit more of ahaunting feel -- not a scary movie kind of haunting, but an ethereal, ancient feel) -- think I'll try exploring some Eastern musical styles on that as well.Well, this thread has woven itself from being about confounded bridges of songs to sitars and the yoga of music and life, and back to bridges between styles of music, and those exploring them.Sounds like a good flow to me. Suz

[suzdoyle]

P.S. I'm sloooooowwwwwwllllllllly working on an album of original chants for some local Kirtan/ meditation/ Taize groups -- probably will spend a year or so on it, just taking my time. Might you be interested in playing on some of the tunes? I'm interested in having it feel very omni-cultural, and plan to feature lots of different authentic instruments from various countries and cultures. Suz

[stephen]

Hey as mojo said if it works for you go with it, you can do all the analysis after. We are musicians first we go with what we feel and appeal to our ears, hearts and minds. For me theory is just a language making it eaiser for all of us to communicate what we've created with other musicians.

[suzdoyle]

Hey Guys n Gals;I was working on a new tune with a voice student, and realized that the Bridge modulated up to a 2 chord, which I found quite intriguing!Here's the Chord progression:Please Send Me Somebody to LoveVERSE: 1 1/3 4 b7 1 6 2(major) 5 1BRIDGE: 2 4(minor!) 1, 2 4minor 1, 2(major) 4(minor) 1 6(major) 2(major) 5I like the verse going to a b7 after the 4 chord, and then all the subtle shifts from traditional 1, 4, 5 chords in the Bridge.(The above number reflect the 1,4 & 5 chords being major, and the 2,3,6 chords being minor, unless indicated otherwise)Very tasty chord progressions, IMHO. ,Suz

[matthoggard]

What key is this in? I love major and minor together. 2 to 4 minor (depending on key) could be amazing. By the way, Ive used an Em for the bridge in the song this post was originally about. From GMaj to Em within the structure of the song works perfectly. Ill post it soon just have a couple of tracks to iron out.Suz your posts are always very helpful.M

[suzdoyle]

Thanks, Matt -- Most versions of the song I mentioned are in Bb. I really like the progressions. Sometimes I get too stuck in the idea of 1, 4, and 5 when dinking around with the blues, so this song just tickled my fancy!Looking forward to hearing your next version of the song!Suz

[bigdaddy123]

dude , trust your ears ,trust your instincts because you probably already know what's gonna sound the best . do you think the writers of those songs sat around worrying about theory ? No, they did what sounded good ,even if it went out of key which it often did. It's my humble opinion that the more music theory you learn ,the more your intuitive songwriting powers diminish. You lose the ability to write simplisticly which is what the industry really requires. And I'm not saying that music theory isn't a marvelous creation of God,worthy of study, I just think it should be studied sparingly. oh, the rest of your quote " telling myself its not as hard as it seems " I think it could be relevant. We all need to find our Bron Yar , Zep is one of my favorite bands since 16 years old .Rock and Roll!

[sgs4u]

Sept 13, 2008, 5:36pm, bigdaddy123 wrote: do you think the writers of those songs sat around worrying about theory ? probably not, you're right there Quote: It's my humble opinion that the more music theory you learn ,the more your intuitive songwriting powers diminish. You lose the ability to write simplisticly which is what the industry really requires. And I'm not saying that music theory isn't a marvelous creation of God,worthy of study, I just think it should be studied sparingly. using theory sparingly may indeed work well for you... but thinking one part of your knowledge diminishes as one increases, is malarky, hogwash, bullshitethe industry requires many different kinds of things. This guy asked for advice, not opinions that denigrate theory