On Being Original
The desire for originality is felt by nearly all musicians. The entire thrust of 20th century composition was around breaking the chains of the diatonic scale and finding ways to create music no one had created before. In other words, they desired to be original.
I struggle with this. If I do something radical and new, you will not like it. If I do something that has been done before, you will not like it AND I will violate copyright. The challenge for any songwriter writing for anyone other than himself is how to make a song catchy and accessible and yet uniquely interesting.
So this bit is interesting. It goes D-G-F-A. Nothing complicated. And it does so over and over. And yet I like it, and I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it recently.
Enjoy the percussa-foot…that’s my fleshy foot and its attached sandal striking the floor. Also, forgive the BlackBerry’s brief interruption.
The clip
Recorded
Three days ago.
I like this and I really like the sound of DADGAD, though I’ve not tried it myself yet.
This is good
I feel like you’ve challenged me to find what you ripped off. I definitely like it, has sort of a western flavor to it.
@Neb
Go for it! I’d hate to end up like George Harrison, sued for $2 million…
@Peter L
DADGAD is a wicked fun tuning. I had never played with it much before, other than the song I arranged for Hannah and Zach’s wedding. That last three clips I’ve posted have been in DADGAD. I’d be happy to give you a quick tutorial or “DADGAD for EADGBE players” overview…
@admin
Dear Admin, sure that’d be grand!
You know I’m a beginner player though, which is why I hadn’t retuned for DADGAD, thinking I should get proficient at EADGBE first.
I tuned Gwyneth’s ukulele to DGAD for experimental fun though and am starting to care less about proficiency and more about fun. Which ’tis all about for me anyway really.
I like it. Sounds like a good candidate for dark, brooding worship song.
I’ll add to the DADGAD love and to the kudos for the chord progression itself. Dig it. Would be fun to write a chorus to it…we should add this one to our queue for the weekend.