Kiptok (July 25, 2008 at 3:43 am)

I agreed with you until the Springsteen remark.

SensoryOssuary (July 21, 2008 at 5:07 am)

Every time I listen to Bailey it puts my pedestrian improvisations into perspective... he was truly the master of guitar.

prasiddha (July 9, 2008 at 6:11 am)

popular doesn't necessarily mean good. Britney Spears is popular. And so is Fall Out Boy.

jazzmunky (July 9, 2008 at 5:36 am)

Just to clarify, my argument below doesn't actually contradict edcerc's comment, by the way, because it's still coming up with a new way to play and hear your instrument. Just wanted to say musical development can happen in different areas, i.e. in timbre, atonality, tonality, use of the instrument, rhythm, specific approaches to harmony - there are actually bloody loads of stuff you can do with tonality.

jazzmunky (July 9, 2008 at 5:29 am)

So, Coltrane's Giant Steps was highly formulaic, but we can hardly deny that Trane was developing as an artist by perfecting his interesting (and new for jazz) harmonic device (ie. modulating rapidly through three key tonal centres a major third apart,and superimposing this on diatonic II-V-I cadences).

jazzmunky (July 9, 2008 at 5:29 am)

Certain harmonic devices (eg. tritone sub) are often described in predictable ways, eg four-note cells, because within two beats there are a limited number of ways of doing it without losing the harmonic impression.

jazzmunky (July 9, 2008 at 5:22 am)

I agree that development as an artist requires opening up. But one can also go the other direction. Bebop, for example, is highly formulaic, due to the speed and complexity of the changes for which the brain tends to reach for pre-practiced musical components.

edcerc (July 6, 2008 at 12:52 am)

If you think music is popular because its good than i couldnt disagree with you more. Almost everything i hear on the radio or outside of my own listening is total crap its popular because its easy to digest. Many people are dull and uninteresting and therefore like dull and uniteresting music. If your telling me Bruce Springstein sells out giants stadium because hes really good than i hope we can agree to disagree.

arbitermatt (July 5, 2008 at 11:49 am)

You know what pop stands for? popular, and you know why its popular? cause its good.

edcerc (July 5, 2008 at 7:37 am)

much of this types of music is based around not playing conventional notes but coming up with new ways to play and hear your instrument. Sound is a big part of it and techniques are deveolped to get diferent sounds out of your instrument than just conventinal notes. Most popular music gets old to me but this types of music becomes something that you appreciate more and more. The course of your development as an artist has a lot to do with new levels of perception that open up to you in time.