off chord

Dean Parks · Post by **Dean Parks** » 13 May 2009 10:37 am

I'll chime in here with a view that has served me (and other music professionals I know) very well for some time now:

There are many languages and/or structures that describe the mechanics of music (theory). Knowing more than one language is a good thing, not a bad thing.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 13 May 2009 11:10 am

Dean Parks wrote:I'll chime in here with a view that has served me (and other music professionals I know) very well for some time now:

There are many languages and/or structures that describe the mechanics of music (theory). Knowing more than one language is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Good advice, Dean!

Woody Guthrie wrote:Believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
If you ain't got the do re mi

J. Michael Robbins · Post by **J. Michael Robbins** » 13 May 2009 11:12 am

Dean Parks wrote:I'll chime in here with a view that has served me (and other music professionals I know) very well for some time now:

There are many languages and/or structures that describe the mechanics of music (theory). Knowing more than one language is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Dean,
Will you expound on this a little bit, please?
Thanks,
Mike

Dean Parks · Post by **Dean Parks** » 13 May 2009 12:58 pm

J.M.R.-

It's just nice to really know a term I'd never understood ("off chord"), especially the accordian example earlier in this thread. I had thought "off-chord" would have implied "wrong" or "too far out".

Now, if someone uses the term "off-chord", I get it (tho I'd have to ask a question or 2 to really find the chord).

The fact is, I think that anyone who can play music by ear has developed his own framework of music theory, and there are not many words involved. (Erroll Garner and Wes Montgomery are examples of excellent musicians who had no real verbal music theory framework that I'm aware of.)

Later we can learn "what to call" the things we know about music, if we want. As we collaborate with other musicians from various backgrounds, it's like learning a new language: new words or frameworks describing things we maybe already knew.

By "good thing, not a bad thing" I mean that no one needs to get bent out of shape because some other musician is using a different framework.

J. Michael Robbins · Post by **J. Michael Robbins** » 13 May 2009 6:26 pm

Dean,
I think that is well put.
Thank you,
Mike

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 14 May 2009 2:18 am

Hi Dean- there is a youtube clip of Wes teaching a pianist a tune and calling the changes, so I think it's a long standing myth that Wes didn't know theory or couldn't read chord symbols...