As someone whose job it is to explore the outskirts of rhythm theory, one of the things I hear the most is \u201cWhere am I ever going to use this?\u201d There\u2019s some validity to that question, but I feel this type of negative spin is counterproductive to pushing music forward as an art form. Some people seem to immediately dismiss anything that doesn\u2019t automatically fit within their narrow framework of \u2018acceptable\u2019 music. It can even go as far as to offend people when something doesn\u2019t seem to make sense, or when it takes too much effort to find the pattern within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his book Effortless Mastery<\/em>, Kenny Werner says \u201cWithout preconceptions, you could handle and enjoy much more chaos in music.\u201d Clinging to ideas of \u2018right\u2019 and \u2018wrong\u2019 creates knee-jerk reactions to \u2018wrongness.\u2019 It\u2019s fine to not like something, but keeping an open mind and searching for the beauty within the \u2018wrongness\u2019 yields rewards that are hard to exaggerate. Scattered rhythms eventually feel like amazing syncopations when you understand them deeply enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, exploring the unknown is utterly fascinating. It\u2019s even more fascinating when I can\u2019t immediately see where it\u2019s usable. At that point, it starts to feel like a game! What kind of musical statement could I create with this? How can I phrase it so the listener hears this as I do? After all, notes are just notes. No matter how twisted or insane the rhythm is, there\u2019s an underlying pulse that we can all relate to if you break something down far enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s another insightful quote from Effortless Mastery<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe visionary is often regarded as a heretic and the devil\u2019s tool. Through the force of his will and his sincere need of more intensity in the music, the musical visionary has convinced us time and time again that these dissonances were the new right notes. The heresy of the 14th century became the conventional wisdom of the 15th century.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n So the question is: if the notes sounded wrong and unusable in the 14th century, how did they become desirable in the 15th century? The answer is that they were never wrong! We just heard them that way. Hence, the truth: there are no wrong notes.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n I take this quote as encouragement for exploring the territory of the \u2018wrong.\u2019 After all, you can\u2019t break new ground, or have any hope of finding \u201cthe new right notes\u201d by staying exclusively within the territory of the known. I\u2019m not suggesting that everybody needs to follow this path. For those who do – and experience negativity, resistance, or even ridicule over their ideas – know that art needs you. There will always be people who aren\u2019t into it; just don\u2019t let that stop you from exploring!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may come up with ideas that, even after putting in hard work, end up still not sounding like much. That\u2019s part of the game: you\u2019ve got to dig through some dirt before you can strike gold!<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of his most recent book, Double Bass Drum Freedom, Virgil Donati puts it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the integrity and progress of our art form, I feel that it is the performer’s absolute responsibility to play new music, to apply new ideas.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n We must constantly renew our musical ideas. A lot of emphasis is placed today on being accessible, but in retrospect, all the interesting and great works of art have always been created in an uncompromisingly modern language. Some of this may come across as musical, or artistic arrogance, but I don\u2019t feel that. It\u2019s a creative necessity to move forward.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t dilute your musical vision, be bold<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those words perfectly embody my most profound reasons for playing music in the first place. The things that have always made me light up inside have been when I\u2019m stumbling upon something new. Even if it\u2019s only new to me, that feeling of discovery is the creative fuel that gets me out of bed in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hope this article inspires you to go to your instrument and explore things that are unfamiliar to you. There\u2019s nothing like the feeling of breaking new ground. It\u2019s addictive in the best possible way. You may even discover some new right notes along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/drumeoblog.s3.amazonaws.com\/beat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/23132321\/G0220788-1.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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