Klarinet Archive - Posting 000473.txt from 2001/11

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A few facts about Chromatic Modal Harmony
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 06:37:54 -0500

At 04:41 PM 11/12/2001 -0700, Bear Woodson wrote:

> Having made that clear, I will now explain that I
>cannot accept anyone telling me that they DON'T
>like Chromatic Modal Harmony, AND that they like
>Modern Inventions, as anything less than a Contra-
>diction. ALL of my relatives, and many dear friends,
>are Non-Musicians, who only like Simple Traditional
>Tonal Harmony in Popular Music Songs. I wouldn't
>trade their friendship for all the money in the world,
>but they often DO sometimes go into literal Temper
>Tantrums, or whine like Babies, when I point out that
>I, vi, IV and V are NOT "New" Chord Progressions!
>They've been in daily use for 500 years of European
>Descended Culture. This is not an opinion, it's a fact.
>
> To many of my friends, to play anything much
>more complex than I, vi, IV and V, is "talking over
>their heads". They find it "uppity", insulting, and since
>it loses them, they find it boring. That doesn't make
>J.S. Bach a moron, just because a world of Music
>Theory Illiterates can't understand Bach. It makes
>Bach based on Skilled Composition Principles, and
>the masses just want Simplicity.

You set up a straw man and rip him to shreds with your arguments against
simple 3 and 4-chord pop song harmony. Serious composition gets quite a
bit more elaborate than that, doesn't it? Still, I agree that most modern
pop music is drivel.

> I'm the first to applaud the Official Death to 12-
>Tone, Random and some of their Related Composition
>Styles, as of the Mid-1990's! I had to deal with 12-
>Tone Nazis at Cal Arts in 1977, who wanted to force
>me to like 12-Tone Works that even they couldn't
>stand. I find their hypocrisy to be no more valid than
>the Babyish 3-Chord-Wonder Music Addicts among
>the American Public.
>
> Let me also be clear. I think of myself as being
>JUST as FAR BEHIND on subject like Math, Finances,
>understanding how to build Mechanical, Automotive,
>and Computer things, as most Americans are about
>understanding Harmony. I'm the first to loudly admit
>that I'm a Total Moron with such things! I have to use
>a Calculator to try to balance my checkbook with
>Simple Arithmetic, and I STILL manage to mess it
>up, more often than not! I'm a Music Theory Geek,
>NOT a Math Geek. Unfortunately, I'm a Math Moron,
>and I have NEVER been one to pretend to expertise,
>when I don't know a subject! I may offend a lot of
>people by pointing out their 3-Chord-Wonder limita-
>tions, but I NEVER lie about where I'm a Moron too!

The trouble with 12-tone, etc., is that the composers attempt to substitute
mathematics for inspiration. The result is about as interesting as
balancing your checkbook!

Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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