by Mike Overly
Let’s state the case simply, symbolic music is complex. By symbolic music, I mean the written symbols and signs of music and guitar that are needed to produce one sound. This lesson will present seven ideas needed to play a melody. Harmony uses additional symbols and signs and will be presented later in a different lesson. So, stay tuned.
Symbolic music on guitar is complicated because it takes seven ideas to make one sound: 1. key letter, 2. time signature, 3. tempo, 4. dynamic, 5. tone number, 6. note or rest, and 7. strum. Before we go any further, let’s ask a simple question: What is the difference between a thought and an idea?
For many, this question may seem a bit esoteric, but really it isn’t. Think of it this way. A thought is an energy that moves in time through the space of the mind to find an idea to bring back to the thinker. Here’s an example. Consider this question as a thought: How much is 1 + 1? Now, consider the answer as an idea: more than 1. Easy enough, the thought question found the answer idea and brought it back to the thinker. Let’s continue.
I’m sure you noticed that I didn’t answer the question the way you were probably expecting me too. This is because all that is needed to answer the question, how much is 1 + 1, is the concept of “oneness.” In other words, 1 + 1 is more than 1. Or, said a different way, how much more than one is 1 + 1? The answer is again 1. The point is, we don’t need to learn or know anything new to answer the question... 1 is all we need!
This “1 + 1 is more than 1” example is analogous to Russian Nesting Dolls. By that I mean, after we know that 1 + 1 is 1 more than 1, we can “nest” the concept of “one more than one” into a new word... two. In other words, after all that thinking about 1 + 1, we can now simply say the number 2!
I can hear you asking, “What does all this have to do with playing music on the guitar?” Well, here’s what. Consider this thought question: How do I make one sound on the guitar? And it’s idea answer: “nest” seven ideas. Let's say it again, symbolic music is complex because it takes seven ideas just to play one sound! To help organize these seven ideas, we'll divide them into two groups.
In the first group, before you play, there are three ideas needed: key letter, time signature and tempo. In the second group, as you play, there are four ideas needed: dynamic, tone number, note or rest, and strum. Let’s look at each of these seven ideas one at a time.
The first idea is key. Key is simply the letter of tone 1, and is symbolized by a letter in a circle. Let’s compare this with the “key-signature” of traditional staff-notation.
Traditional staff-notation uses a staff, a clef or a key signature which limits you to playing a song in only one key. In contrast, the revolutionary Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar (TN®MM) does not utilize a staff, a clef or a key signature. By eliminating these elements, you can play any song in any key! This is impossible with traditional staff-notation. Here’s why. The key signature represents the unseen letters of the staff, and when you change the key signature, all the unseen staff-note letters change. This is not the case with theTN®MM, because when you change the key, all the tone numbers remain the same, and only the letter of tone 1 changes. Let's proceed.
After the key letter is known, the second idea is the time signature. The TN®MM uses the same stacked meter and value time-signature as traditional staff-notation.
The third idea is tempo, the rate of speed of the steady beat. The TN®MM uses the same beats-per-minute sign as traditional staff-notation.
Now, let's review the three ideas needed before you play “nested” into one thought: key, time signature and tempo.
Next, let’s present the four ideas that are needed as you play. The first idea is the dynamic sign, which tells you how quiet or loud to play a sound. The TN®MM uses the same dynamic signs as traditional staff-notation, for example: piano (quiet), forte (loud), mezzo-piano (medium quiet), and mezzo-forte (medium loud). It's interesting to note that traditional staff-notation does not use mezzo (medium) by itself, but only as a qualifier to piano and forte. I find that curious.
And here's something strange. Traditional staff-notation defines the dynamic sign piano as soft, and forte as loud. This doesn't make any sense. Here's why. Ask your child this question: What is the opposite of loud? I'm sure they said quiet and not soft. So, how did traditional staff-notation get the dynamics of acoustics wrong? In other words, why does traditional staff-notation teach loud and soft, but never quiet and hard? The simple answer is, they confused force with dynamic. It helps to think of it this way. While it's true that a hard force is necessary to produce a loud sound, and a soft force is needed to produce a quiet sound, force and dynamics are not the same and should not be used interchangeably.
Okay, now that we know that dynamics is quiet and loud, the second idea is pitch as tone number. In traditional staff-notation a tone number is called a scale-degree. Simply stated, tone 1 is the key letter and is the first sound of any scale.
Let’s state the case simply, symbolic music is complex. By symbolic music, I mean the written symbols and signs of music and guitar that are needed to produce one sound. This lesson will present seven ideas needed to play a melody. Harmony uses additional symbols and signs and will be presented later in a different lesson. So, stay tuned.
Symbolic music on guitar is complicated because it takes seven ideas to make one sound: 1. key letter, 2. time signature, 3. tempo, 4. dynamic, 5. tone number, 6. note or rest, and 7. strum. Before we go any further, let’s ask a simple question: What is the difference between a thought and an idea?
For many, this question may seem a bit esoteric, but really it isn’t. Think of it this way. A thought is an energy that moves in time through the space of the mind to find an idea to bring back to the thinker. Here’s an example. Consider this question as a thought: How much is 1 + 1? Now, consider the answer as an idea: more than 1. Easy enough, the thought question found the answer idea and brought it back to the thinker. Let’s continue.
I’m sure you noticed that I didn’t answer the question the way you were probably expecting me too. This is because all that is needed to answer the question, how much is 1 + 1, is the concept of “oneness.” In other words, 1 + 1 is more than 1. Or, said a different way, how much more than one is 1 + 1? The answer is again 1. The point is, we don’t need to learn or know anything new to answer the question... 1 is all we need!
This “1 + 1 is more than 1” example is analogous to Russian Nesting Dolls. By that I mean, after we know that 1 + 1 is 1 more than 1, we can “nest” the concept of “one more than one” into a new word... two. In other words, after all that thinking about 1 + 1, we can now simply say the number 2!
I can hear you asking, “What does all this have to do with playing music on the guitar?” Well, here’s what. Consider this thought question: How do I make one sound on the guitar? And it’s idea answer: “nest” seven ideas. Let's say it again, symbolic music is complex because it takes seven ideas just to play one sound! To help organize these seven ideas, we'll divide them into two groups.
In the first group, before you play, there are three ideas needed: key letter, time signature and tempo. In the second group, as you play, there are four ideas needed: dynamic, tone number, note or rest, and strum. Let’s look at each of these seven ideas one at a time.
The first idea is key. Key is simply the letter of tone 1, and is symbolized by a letter in a circle. Let’s compare this with the “key-signature” of traditional staff-notation.
Traditional staff-notation uses a staff, a clef or a key signature which limits you to playing a song in only one key. In contrast, the revolutionary Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar (TN®MM) does not utilize a staff, a clef or a key signature. By eliminating these elements, you can play any song in any key! This is impossible with traditional staff-notation. Here’s why. The key signature represents the unseen letters of the staff, and when you change the key signature, all the unseen staff-note letters change. This is not the case with theTN®MM, because when you change the key, all the tone numbers remain the same, and only the letter of tone 1 changes. Let's proceed.
After the key letter is known, the second idea is the time signature. The TN®MM uses the same stacked meter and value time-signature as traditional staff-notation.
The third idea is tempo, the rate of speed of the steady beat. The TN®MM uses the same beats-per-minute sign as traditional staff-notation.
Now, let's review the three ideas needed before you play “nested” into one thought: key, time signature and tempo.
Next, let’s present the four ideas that are needed as you play. The first idea is the dynamic sign, which tells you how quiet or loud to play a sound. The TN®MM uses the same dynamic signs as traditional staff-notation, for example: piano (quiet), forte (loud), mezzo-piano (medium quiet), and mezzo-forte (medium loud). It's interesting to note that traditional staff-notation does not use mezzo (medium) by itself, but only as a qualifier to piano and forte. I find that curious.
And here's something strange. Traditional staff-notation defines the dynamic sign piano as soft, and forte as loud. This doesn't make any sense. Here's why. Ask your child this question: What is the opposite of loud? I'm sure they said quiet and not soft. So, how did traditional staff-notation get the dynamics of acoustics wrong? In other words, why does traditional staff-notation teach loud and soft, but never quiet and hard? The simple answer is, they confused force with dynamic. It helps to think of it this way. While it's true that a hard force is necessary to produce a loud sound, and a soft force is needed to produce a quiet sound, force and dynamics are not the same and should not be used interchangeably.
Okay, now that we know that dynamics is quiet and loud, the second idea is pitch as tone number. In traditional staff-notation a tone number is called a scale-degree. Simply stated, tone 1 is the key letter and is the first sound of any scale.
The third idea is rhythm, and it has two components: the note of sound, and the rest of silence. The TN®MM uses the same notes and rests as traditional staff-notation, for example: quarter, half, dotted-half, and whole.
The fourth idea is not a music idea, but rather a guitar idea: strum. Four strums are needed to play guitar efficiently: two strokes: down and up, and two ghosts: down and up. A stroke is a strum which produces a sound and a ghost is a strum that produces no sound.
Now, let's review the four ideas needed as you play into one thought: dynamic, tone number, note or rest and strum.
Okay, let's end this lesson by "nesting" the seven ideas needed to play one sound into one recapitulated thought: 1. key, 2. time signature, 3. tempo,4. dynamic, 5. tone number, 6. note or rest, and 7. strum.
Globally-renowned guitar and bass instructor, Mike Overly easily combines the worlds of deeply-rooted academic study with a well-textured performance resume. His pathbreaking 12 Tone Music Publishing products, including: Guitar & Bass EncycloMedia, Guitar & Bass Fretboard Facts, Guitar & Bass Fretboard Flashcards and the newly released Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar, provide valuable illuminating insights to playing guitar and bass while simplifying the learning process.
Join Mike at www.12tonemusic.com to explore and expand your knowledge of these two iconic instruments through a variety of reviews and interviews, tips and tricks and free lessons of remarkable originality, all presented in a family-friendly forum. Plus, as an added bonus, you get to follow Mr. Pick as he introduces you to fun fretboard games, jokes, riddles, quotes and more. Be sure to read the 12 Tone Music Blog where Mike offers a behind-the-scenes look at the development of his unique approach to solving the problems of modern musical notation and traditional guitar and bass methods.
Mike Overly's unmatched perspective on fretboard education has something for everyone ~ from the amateur hobbyist to the serious professional player ~ as well as any music enthusiast who wants to come along for the ride.
The fourth idea is not a music idea, but rather a guitar idea: strum. Four strums are needed to play guitar efficiently: two strokes: down and up, and two ghosts: down and up. A stroke is a strum which produces a sound and a ghost is a strum that produces no sound.
Now, let's review the four ideas needed as you play into one thought: dynamic, tone number, note or rest and strum.
Okay, let's end this lesson by "nesting" the seven ideas needed to play one sound into one recapitulated thought: 1. key, 2. time signature, 3. tempo,4. dynamic, 5. tone number, 6. note or rest, and 7. strum.
Globally-renowned guitar and bass instructor, Mike Overly easily combines the worlds of deeply-rooted academic study with a well-textured performance resume. His pathbreaking 12 Tone Music Publishing products, including: Guitar & Bass EncycloMedia, Guitar & Bass Fretboard Facts, Guitar & Bass Fretboard Flashcards and the newly released Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar, provide valuable illuminating insights to playing guitar and bass while simplifying the learning process.
Join Mike at www.12tonemusic.com to explore and expand your knowledge of these two iconic instruments through a variety of reviews and interviews, tips and tricks and free lessons of remarkable originality, all presented in a family-friendly forum. Plus, as an added bonus, you get to follow Mr. Pick as he introduces you to fun fretboard games, jokes, riddles, quotes and more. Be sure to read the 12 Tone Music Blog where Mike offers a behind-the-scenes look at the development of his unique approach to solving the problems of modern musical notation and traditional guitar and bass methods.
Mike Overly's unmatched perspective on fretboard education has something for everyone ~ from the amateur hobbyist to the serious professional player ~ as well as any music enthusiast who wants to come along for the ride.
