> Wouldn't it be interesting if a group of musicians devised a way to
> improvise using melodic development as the starting point and the harmony
> and form or lack of it arising out of the melodic interplay and
> developmental techniques being used? This might be part of what Ornette
> Coleman was/is trying to do but I don't know his music well.
This has been done for over a hundred years in European, Asian and
American indigenous music; i.e., "folk music". By "folk music," I
don't mean any of the modern musicians playing modern folk or
arranged standards. Frankly, I find that kind of music a bit
sterile.
Let me talk about some folk music that I know a bit about: American
old-time. It's largely Scottish, English and Irish music that has
passed through the filter of the Appalachians. Although a lot of it
can be boring, especially when played by "archivist" types who play
the tunes over and over the same way, there is a very strong
tradition of improvising over the melody.
When you play old-time music with three strong lead-players, one of
them will play an elaborated version of the head while the others
will devise melodic lines that flow around the melody. The harmonies
can be surprisingly sophisticated: a common tension is playing a
third against a minor chord. Dissonance is often important. And
then there's the challenge of harmonizing against microtones which
are a common melodic technique.
In old-time the melody is paramount. While there are accepted
changes used for various tunes, you can do a lot with
reharmonization, often in surprising ways.
As a rhythm player, I've been moving into interesting areas with
chord substitutions while trying to accomodate the melodic efforts of
old-time lead-players. Sevenths usually won't cut it. Suspensions,
superimpositions, sixths, ninths and elevenths can work under
certain circumstances, depending on how the melody and
counter-melodies are developing. The harmonizations must fit the
tunes. And often the harmony must deliberately clash with the melody
to establish tension.
If you go back to medieval and Asian music, you'll find harmony
entirely absent. The melody and counter-melodies are the important
element. Probably comes from the use of Just Intonation. It wasn't
until we had tempered intonation and were able to stack thirds that
we were able to have harmony at all.
So the point of this little (?) disquisition is that when you have a
problem in one area, look in other areas for the solution.
Cross-fertilization and hybrid vigor can produce some amazing
results!
The Scandinavians and French have done some interesting things with
jazz- folk fusion. Why not American musicians?
Cheers,
Kevin
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Kevin "Rudi" Johnsrude, Software Design Developer
Rogue Wave Software, 850 SW 35th St., Corvallis, OR 97333
Email: kevinj@roguewave.com
Voice: (541) 754-3010 Fax: (541) 754-3185
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