When I die let me be a bird
So I can fly far from this world
I'll fly so high when I die
Let me be a bird
When I die let there be a home
That's warm and dry that I can call my own
Big enough to share when I get there
Let there be a home
Ooh, when I die, let me be a bird
Ooh when I die, let there be a home
While I'm alive, let there be peace
Let these cries of anger cease
Far and wide before I die
Let there be peace
Ooh when I die, let me be a bird
Ooh when I die, let there be a home
Ooh when I die, let there be a home
Ooh while I'm alive, let there be peace
Far and wide before I die
Let there be peace
12 comments:
Very soothing sound. I've seen Dan on at least two types of instruments over the years.
~ Hiram
There are precisely zero songs I can play from memory. Even if it's a song I've played on piano dozens of times in the past hour, I immediately come to a halt if the pages of the score close up by themselves. I have to have the notes written out on a page for me to play. I was in a music store some years back which sells songbooks and instruments, and asked the owner, "Do most people play by ear rather than reading the music?" He said, "Oh no, nearly everybody needs to read it."
So Dan is in a minority in having that ability.
~ Hiram
Frankly, most musicians I know personally are self-taught by playing by ear. They get a few tips in the beginning with regards tuning and playing particular chords (for example) and then just put in the time in the same way more formally trained musicians do.
But, Hiram, your situation is not unique. A guitar player in one of my bands is married to a woman who teaches piano, and is really good at reading music. She can't jam to save her life. The same for another woman who used to be the organist at the church I used to attend. She could play anything if she had the sheet music in front of her, but couldn't do much from memory. She was amazed that I learned even my singing parts (when I was in the choir) by listening to CDs and other members of the choir.
I know some other guitar players who got really, REALLY good and then took some classes to better their understanding of theory and such, but still relied on their ability to simply pick up the guitar and figure things out by ear. One guy plays like Ingvay Malmsteen. He's incredible.
Thanks for the thoughts and encouragement, Hiram. I fiddle around on a few instruments (guitar, uke, mandolin and lap dulcimer, primarily) but I'm just a hack. But I'm fortunate to be surrounded by other musicians and singers who are actually good and who don't mind playing with me, so that's great fun.
I would guess that learning to play a few chords on a stringed instrument is different than actually playing out whole songs on a piano!
Marshall, by all means, share a video. I'd love to hear you playing.
Thanks for the feedback, fellas. If I were to play a chord sequence written out in letters like "Gm - F# - D7 - E dim" I would take a few seconds to figure out where my fingers have to go at each chord change. But write those chords out as individual notes in the treble & bass staves, and I'm reasonably nimble at it.
A yellowing old songbook of Statler Brothers songs is the most recent package to arrive in my mail.
~ Hiram
Interesting chord progression...
And whatever DID happen to Randolph Scott?
~Dan
His wagon run outta axle grease and he ambled his way toward Amarillo. Ain't been spotted since.
~ Hiram
I'm a hack myself. Just commenting on the real musicians I know. What little I have done is mostly by ear. My "formal" training was a limited time in a local music store when I was about 12 or so. I think I did one or two 8 week sessions learning to read, but was too impatient, and of course, 12 years old.
Definitely a hack who can’t remember anything. I usually can’t remember the names after I play them.
Does anybody here have "perfect pitch" such that if you hear a note you can name it?
I sure don't. Here's the best I could do on that. If somebody plays a single note and tells me it is a D, and then waits 10 seconds and plays a note, I could say whether it is the same D or some unknown higher note or lower note. But if they waited a full minute to play the second note, I wouldn't likely know. And even in the case of 10 seconds apart, if they played some other notes in between, I might lose my grip on what that first D sounded like.
I can detect key changes when a band is playing a song, but I wouldn't know which keys they are.
Not me.
Another comment that didn't post.
Craig said...
"For some strange reason, I can tell when something is or modulates into the key of D occasionally."
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