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@fernando-perez Hi Fernando
I have just got back from Morocco, my wife and I did an Intrepid tour that lasted for 15 days, we were so lucky that our tour guide Mohamed introduced me to music of the Amazigh peoples, I’ve messaged him to get a play list.
While camping in a Berber camp the Sahara, we had an impromptu percussion session with the Berber Camel guides. Mohamed knew them well and they invited me to join in. It was actually very funny because didn’t have my guitar as it was back at the hotel and couldn’t take it on the camel!
Anyway they kindly loaned me a guitar…it was very old strings about a half an inch from the fretboard, the strings were rusted and it was in a a G tuning I think ( I play some country blues so I was familiar with the tuning!) And then they said I couldn’t tune it was the tuners were stuck
I did my best with a an amazigh (as close as could approximate!)… John Lee Hooker riffs….. they were very gracious…. haha but it didn’t really work… because I didn’t understand the fundamental rhythms they were playing… but I really was so grateful of the opportunity and decided that I really wanted to understand this music..
And here I am!
James
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Hey James!
It looks like you had quite a wonderful experience.
Well, the Bluesy stuff you were trying to play with our Moroccan friends was not wrong. However, it is necessary to know how to apply it to their playing. They have a different approach to the material they use when playing. It is not that different but if you don’t knwo how to enter their musical realm it all sounds off.
The best is that once you know how to get it, something quite easy to understand and do, all your Blues matrial will fit right in, so it is not like learning a completely nerw genre.
Of course, you can also learn their traditional ways. But it is really cool when you can jam with people from other cultures and still be yourself, feeling confortable playing what you already now and seeing fit in other’s people music. In addition, it brings a really cool new color to the music.
How awesome is it when we hear Blues played (and fitting) over Chinese music, or Arabic music, or any other World Music style.
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Btw, in my youtube channel you have a playlist called Guitar Experiments. There you will find some examples for playing Blues with Arabic music, etc. There are even some short visdeos showing you how to do it.
Cheers! -
Here is a link to the first video.
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@fernando-perez Fernando thank you so much to introducing me to your YT channel and website, absolutely incredible body of work, which I feel I’m just stepping into.
I absolutely agree how it would be so cool to learn the nuances of various styles and then bring own flavour to the music.
For me I think understanding the forms and rythms is the key, followed by more work in harmony and interval.
Presently I’m working on performing and arranging early renaissance music with a classical pianist and vibraphone player we are developing and improvising around the melodies
Cheers
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@James Hey James,
So improvisation in Renaissance music…? Interesting.
Now when you mention “understanding the forms and rhythms is the key, followed by more work in harmony and interval.” If you are referring to Arabic music, Desert Blues, etc, be careful, in those styles there was no harmony originally. So the key is learning their system, which is different than the Western one with its scales and harmonies. Only afterward, you can begin thinking of adding any type of chords-harmonies, etc.
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Thank you for that insight, I understand what your saying
I’ve commenced your Mediterranean Guitar course
The Rachenitza is an awesome piece of music, I recognise the importance of emphasise the underlying 7/8 pulse and keeping that foot locked in when playing the melody so that it dies not loose the form
This piece will keep me very busy for awhile.
I really enjoyed the little flamenco piece you demonstrated
Cheers
James
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