Intro to triad chords, updated

[amyFB]

this has been a really engaging thread with great contributions that have my head whirling around in a good way!

I want to add the important thought about the chart I posted.

It is intended as an introduction. A doorway opened a crack with some sweet light visible for almost immediate positive effect.

This weekend I'll be leading my workshop on triads at an annual retreat that the phila folk song society runs - if you need something to do send me a PM for the event details.

I'll see if i can video the workshop. although it will be 60-90 minutes, it is fully hands on and I typically have a mix of newbies and intermediate players so my presentation jumps around to help all levels. (i've tried and failed a number of times to do this at home alone - something about the interaction with students adds a necessary element to the show)

[Wyllys]

I learned to drive a car. As time passed I learned about the parts of the car, how they were connected, etc. I suppose I could have studied the parts and their functions first, but in the end I'd still have had to learn to drive, knowing all the parts but having gone nowhere in the interim.

W

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

I learned to drive a car. As time passed I learned about the parts of the car, how they were connected, etc. I suppose I could have studied the parts and their functions first, but in the end I'd still have had to learn to drive.

W

And if you were learning to repair a car or design a car, the learning of the parts and connections would have come much earlier. It all depends on your goal.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by SunnyDee

And if you were learning to repair a car or design a car, the learning of the parts and connections would have come much earlier. It all depends on your goal.

Sorry, I thought the main objective in this section was to learn how to drive...

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Sorry, I thought the main objective in this section was to learn how to drive...

It certainly could be - assuming we are speaking metaphorically, and I wasn't really referencing anything else you said personally. I was just alluding to the way we learners get very conflicting advice regarding learning "the parts and connections." I think it often has to do with an understanding of goals. For people who want to be able to perform other people's music in front of an audience with a band, the advice to "just play," "don't worry about theory," "practice more, think less," "learn more songs," etc. makes sense. But for those who want to compose, who will end up playing multiple instruments, possibly never for performance, but for creation, the goal is different, and it makes sense that they might want to think about the theory even as they are still learning technique. Often those who are "anti-theory" seem to assume that we can't learn both at the same time.

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by SunnyDee

It certainly could be - assuming we are speaking metaphorically. I was just referring to the way we learners get very conflicting advice regarding learning "the parts and connections." I think it often has to do with an understanding of goals. For people who want to be able to perform other people's music in front of an audience with a band, the advice to "just play," "don't worry about theory," "practice more, think less," "learn more songs," etc. makes sense. But for those who want to compose, who will end up playing multiple instruments, possibly never for performance, but for creation, the goal is different, and it makes sense that they might want to think about the theory even as they are still learning technique.

besides each of us having different goals, we each have a way of learning that works best for us that is based on a combination of personality, age and influences in our lives.

I just attended a really interesting workshop on the aging workforce and it touched on the fact that many companies today have 4 or even 5 generations of people working there, and the Gen X, Y & Z ers learn completely different than the boomers and traditionalists.

Gen Zers are considered "digital natives" - first time i ever heard that term - but it sure is true!


the trad guitar player might just pick up the guitar and start whacking away at the strings, with a chord chart handy.
the boomer might do the same thing, but also has an mp3 to play along with
Gen X, & Y are online looking for video lessons
Gen Z has virtual guitars

[Wyllys]

Know any good virtual luthiers?

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Know any good virtual luthiers?

i'm a boomer, we don't know about no stinking vr

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by amyFB

Gen Z has virtual guitars

It's funny, but true. I composed a whole piece last year with virtual flute, harp, and English horn that I would never be able to play on instruments, and I can do all this for free with open source software and virtual instruments that are created by universities, museums, and conservatories from sampled recordings of some of the finest instruments in the world. It's amazing.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by SunnyDee

It's funny, but true. I composed a whole piece last year with virtual flute, harp, and English horn that I would never be able to play on instruments, and I can do all this for free with open source software and virtual instruments that are created by universities, museums, and conservatories from sampled recordings of some of the finest instruments in the world. It's amazing.

Not as amazing as the original performances from which the samples have been taken...

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Not as amazing as the original performances from which the samples have been taken...

They are not created from performances. - No musicians were harmed in the making of this virtual piano.
Sample libraries are created by very exacting, painstaking methods of recording each note in many different volume levels, at many velocity levels, energy levels, etc, taking into account noises like sympathetic resonance, string noise, pedaling, sustain, etc, and then mapping each and every one of those sounds to a note, key, or string or whatever so that the actual sound of the instrument is captured. On a piano, you might have 25 or so recordings for every key on the piano so that a human can play a midi keyboard at different velocities or whatever and still get the feel of a real acoustic instrument.

No surprisingly, the best ones by companies aren't free, but still for less than $200 I could download the sound of Billy Joel's piano, meaning even on stage live, Billy Joel is playing a virtual instrument. He's using a Kawai VPC1 controller that makes no noise on its own and a Synthogy Ivory II American Concert D virtual piano.

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Not as amazing as the original performances from which the samples have been taken...

That seems a moot point when it is likely that the original instruments would not be accessible today.

Digital natives have access to a huge variety of information that us boomers are only getting our old hands on in the last ten or so years. Dang, some of u still have trouble remember right or left mouse click!

I'm a bit jealous.

[SunnyDee]

Originally Posted by amyFB

That seems a moot point when it is likely that the original instruments would not be accessible today.

This is true of the archived ones, yes. Particularly nice with famous vintage pianos. But, see above, they don't use performances.

[mattbn73]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

I learned to drive a car. As time passed I learned about the parts of the car, how they were connected, etc. I suppose I could have studied the parts and their functions first, but in the end I'd still have had to learn to drive, knowing all the parts but having gone nowhere in the interim.

W

You also probably learned to drive incrementally, learning specific tasks, driving components etc. Very basic driving maneuvers were probably more of a sequential checklist of steps. you may have initially had to think actual words for some of the steps and talked yourself through things which are now subconscious.

Things which are sequential, verbal/symbolic , rote and comprised of many compartmentalized aspects later become holistic and subconscious. specificity doesn't ALWAYS follow holistic understanding . There are components of both art every stage.

Learning to play twinkle twinkle and other simple tunes with triads doesn't have to be huge technical ordeal. You can still just assimilate things as needed, but if you never focus on the category itself, it's not going to happen by accident. I don't think the triad relationships necessarily become self evident by just playing a lot of tunes. Just my take...

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by mattbn73

You also probably learned to drive incrementally, learning specific tasks, driving components etc. Very basic driving maneuvers were probably more of a sequential checklist of steps. you may have initially had to think actual words for some of the steps and talked yourself through things which are now subconscious.

Things which are sequential, verbal/symbolic , rote and comprised of many compartmentalized aspects later become holistic and subconscious. specificity doesn't ALWAYS follow holistic understanding . There are components of both art every stage.

Learning to play twinkle twinkle and other simple tunes with triads doesn't have to be huge technical ordeal. You can still just assimilate things as needed, but if you never focus on the category itself, it's not going to happen by accident. I don't think the triad relationships necessarily become self evident by just playing a lot of tunes. Just my take...

Not exactly.

I rode along with my parents as they drove from the farm into town and back. I probably watched the school bus driver, too, but can't really temember. Living on 40 acres, when it was time to drive we started on the tractor and lots of room.

IIRC, it was a lot easier than learning to ride a bike...

Further thought regarding the nature of music, the learning, playing and teaching thereof:

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

This is why physicists continue to find ever smaller particles, components or phenomena ad infinitum...and why mathematicians are prone to slip into madness and dementia.

Tra-la-la...