the melody is first in solo playing
I've been talking with a friend about 4 mallet playing and we got into this discusssion i thought i'd post here. We were listening to some different players who play in a 'Burton' style and we started discussing it.
I don't know whether I'm guilty of this or not; however, in my head the following is always present.
I think many times 4 mallet players sacrifice the melody for the '4 mallet wizardry'. I listen to guys playing solo and for many I always feel like that last thing on the mind is the melody. I wonder if that's one of the things that keeps 2 mallet players playing with only 2 mallets.
My philosophy is unchanged after many years. The melody comes first. Maybe I never do it when I perform, I think I do, but after all these years playing I realize that sometimes how I think I play is not how others hear it.
When I practice though, it's always on my mind. With a good melody or line, you usually don't even need a chord. Any of you who know me, know who taught that to me.... J. S. Bach. The more I study Bach and especially the violin sonatas and partitas, the more I get an idea of how I think this instrument should be played. Or how I would love to play it.
This is not something I ever noticed in listening to Gary play, but with many good players on the web that I check out, I realize that I'm always thinking that they've given up the melody for the approach.
True independence is a fantasy with this instrument, and also with an instrument like a guitar. That's not a bad thing, it's just how our instrument is laid out and how we play. (btw- I still argue that this instrument is more like a guitar than a piano).
We'll never play or sound like a piano. To make several lines move at once on our instrument I think some deception is involved, and that master of that art is Bach.
Anyway I digress. Has anyone else thought like this? I do think there are a few players around who have mastered this approach and have figured out how to keep it all in balance. I hear a melody when I listen to them play.
Again I might be as guilty as some of the others I listen to and think about this, however, I work really hard at making the melody the primary focus when I play, whether it shows or not!
Let me know what you think.
cu
tony
I don't know whether I'm guilty of this or not; however, in my head the following is always present.
I think many times 4 mallet players sacrifice the melody for the '4 mallet wizardry'. I listen to guys playing solo and for many I always feel like that last thing on the mind is the melody. I wonder if that's one of the things that keeps 2 mallet players playing with only 2 mallets.
My philosophy is unchanged after many years. The melody comes first. Maybe I never do it when I perform, I think I do, but after all these years playing I realize that sometimes how I think I play is not how others hear it.
When I practice though, it's always on my mind. With a good melody or line, you usually don't even need a chord. Any of you who know me, know who taught that to me.... J. S. Bach. The more I study Bach and especially the violin sonatas and partitas, the more I get an idea of how I think this instrument should be played. Or how I would love to play it.
This is not something I ever noticed in listening to Gary play, but with many good players on the web that I check out, I realize that I'm always thinking that they've given up the melody for the approach.
True independence is a fantasy with this instrument, and also with an instrument like a guitar. That's not a bad thing, it's just how our instrument is laid out and how we play. (btw- I still argue that this instrument is more like a guitar than a piano).
We'll never play or sound like a piano. To make several lines move at once on our instrument I think some deception is involved, and that master of that art is Bach.
Anyway I digress. Has anyone else thought like this? I do think there are a few players around who have mastered this approach and have figured out how to keep it all in balance. I hear a melody when I listen to them play.
Again I might be as guilty as some of the others I listen to and think about this, however, I work really hard at making the melody the primary focus when I play, whether it shows or not!
Let me know what you think.
cu
tony
posted by Tony at
6:28 AM
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