Re: Dinner Tonight, 1/31/2025

On 2025-02-10 10:37 a.m., Cindy Hamilton wrote:

On 2025-02-10, Ed P <esp@snet.n> wrote:

On 2/10/2025 4:37 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
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I used to jam with a lot of different people before my fingers started
getting arthritic. A few of the guys I played with were classically
trained but really could not jamb. They had to have sheet music with the
notes or at least a sheet of paper with the chord progression written
out for them.
>
I understood their problem. I had taken conservatory lessons and learned
to read music. One of the reasons I quit the lessons was that the guys I
knew who played by ear were able to play a lot more than I was and I
could not play a song unless I had the music in front of me. Years later
I picked it up again and met a guy who could play by ear but could not
read music. We jammed regularly and made a point of learning from each
other. I taught him how to read music and about chord theory and he
taught me how to jam.

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Why does being able to improvise matter?
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I guess you have to be a musician to fully appreciate it.  I knew a guy
that jammed frequently and he said it was better than sex.

 
You can be a musician without improvising.  Hundreds of years of
art (classical) musicians have done so.
 

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Meanwhile, lots of other musicians got together and came up with new and
interesting pieces.