DATE: Thu, 06 Jan 1994 08:13:13 CST From: G.Jacks~radford.ac.uk Subject: Circle Of %ths/Cdim7 Chord.
This is a reply to George Miklas (sorry it's late).
He rightly informed me my Cdim7 chord was not constructed properly.
I would like to comment on it though.
I agree that If i called a note Eb in the chord, I should call the other one Gb, not F# for the sake of consistancy if not theory. I took the notes off the guitar and wrote them down in the way I refer to them by habit. As Gb is enharmonic (the same as) to F#, and Eb is enharmonic to D#, I don't think it matters a great deal anyway, as long as we understand what is being said.
As to calling an A note in the chord a Bbb....
Well theory is all well and good as far as it goes.
For the sake of being understood by the biggest number of people in the simplest way, an A note in a Cdim7 will remain an A rather than a Bbb. I imagine I am not alone ot this group I having had to go and find a friend who could explaine the A is a Bbb is just due to the way it is derived.
(Long-and-not-as-useful-as-it-could-be explination of it all left out on purpose here).
My postings are aimed at beginers and non music theory, non music score readers like myself. In the end, I TRY (don't always manage) to include information that is of immediate and practical use.
I could have said more I know, but there are pitfalls, one is putting people off by mixing too much theory in with the other more prosaic stuff. Another is just swamping folk with too much in total.
I personally, have only just come to terms with some of the more deep music theory related stuff in the last six months or so. Mainly due to a friend (hi John) here at work who is a good harp player and knows a fair old bit about theory himself.
I play around twenty instruments, have played and sung professionally, still perform live, and have been doing so for almost thirty years. I still don't read the dots, and my theory is very small, so I wish to encourage others.
I have found many musically literate people (some at work) who are poor musicians, but can pronounce "appoggiatura" in QUITE the right way. And what is worse, some of them (I hope he is not reading this!) seem to take great delight in making the non musically literate of us feel small.
He suceeded with me too for a LONG time. That is until he told me he couldn't play ONE piece of music right through, dots or no dots. He's been playing instruments for about twenty years at that!
Mind you, working in a University (as I do) one may be forgiven for thinking that academic excellence is the be all and and all of life. Well some folk might anyway. (Thinks, if that does not get me the sack, nothing will)!
Don't get me wrong, this is not a flame. I have been following George Miklas's posts with interest, and he's forgotten more than I will ever know, so I'm learning from him too. I just think that the prickly path of music theory is not the only way.
There is a place for both, so I hope I have not offened anyone, especially George.