[Dixielandjazz] melody vs chords & the importance ofwords

[PLadd36932 at aol.com]

In a message dated 21/01/03 07:51:32 GMT Standard Time, dwlit at cpcug.org 
writes:

<< Knowing the lyric has always been a tremendous help to me in playing the
 >song and I agree with Kash in that knowing the words is extremely useful, in
 >putting one's solo across and getting the mood of the piece. >>

Hi all,
Being merely a drummer, and a very limited one at that, I am chary about 
putting my five eggs into this interesting thread but the comment about 
knowing the lyrics struck a chord (sorry about that).
Being of that certain age I know the lyrics of most of the `standards` as 
they were the pop songs of the day and I absorbed through my pores, as it 
were. Most of the tunes were `swing` rather than OKOM but they ran the gamut 
of emotion from The Hut Sut Song to Room 504 and Berkeley Square and the 
tunes treatment depended often on the lyrics. It makes a difference to me and 
I will switch not only from sticks to brushes but from a wire brush to a 
plastic brush if the sentiment of the song calls for it. Even OKOM calls for 
a different treatment of Frankie and Johnny to that of St James Infirmary but 
unless one was aware of the lyric one wouldn`t know, would one? 
How can a musician who doesn`t know the lyric put the proper feeling into a 
tune?

Incidentally, I am fascinated by the melody line versus chord improvisation 
method. More please.

Cheers

PatL (Drummer, out of his depth, and unemployed)