[Dixielandjazz] Message 1 Chords

[Charlie Hooks]

on 10/8/02 2:30 PM, Edgerton, Paul A at paul.edgerton@eds.com wrote:

> All of the nomenclature and "rules" are there to simplify understanding and
> talking about the music. The music comes first, then the analysis. Capische?

Exactly.  "Rules" of languages are the same; the language comes first, of
course, but explication of the way it's put together expedites description.
Diagramming sentences is no waste of time: such knowledge is, instead, a
great time-saver!  You needn't re-invent the wheel each time you want to
make a grammatical point or recall a rule.  Same with chord structure.

I'll always defend the position that knowing more is better than knowing
less.  Knowledge won't destroy your inspiration.  Remember Louis' great
answer to the question, "Do you read music?"

He said, "Not 'nuff to hurt my playin' any."

Charlie