Any musicians out there? I have a few questions

[Arkitech]

Sometimes I hear musicians talk about developing their chops, what does that mean? Is it just getting better timing or is it developing a "feel" for the music?


Also what are the chromatic scales? Is it just a different way of playing notes?

What are the Egyptian minor scales? (I think thats what its called)

What does it mean to play a note in a register?

Who are some musicians/groups who use a lot of space in their music?


I've been reading a lot of auto-biographies on musicians lately and they use a lot of those terms. I would recommend everyone who's really into music read up on the autobiography of Miles Davis, even if you don't like jazz. Its a really amazing book so far (the one with Quincy Troupe) and I'm just on the 4th chapter, he talks a lot about how Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were major influences for him. There's one part of the book, where Miles is sharing a cab with Charlie after playing a set. Charlie has a female fan with him who's bestowing him a certain favor in the back of the cab, at the same time Charlie is eating dinner and conversing with Miles. Miles who was 19 at the time says he was totally freaked out. This is a good read for anyone who likes music and a must for the jazz fan.

 

[Horus]

Developing your chops refers to strengthing up your facial muscles for greater ombachure, tongue and lip control. It took me years to develop it.

A Chromatic scale starts on a specified note, and goes up one or two octaves, hitting every note along the way, sharp or flat.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Horus
Developing your chops refers to strengthing up your facial muscles for greater ombachure, tongue and lip control. It took me years to develop it.[

A Chromatic scale starts on a specified note, and goes up one or two octaves, hitting every note along the way, sharp or flat.

Really?

 

[royaldank]

I had the pleasure of taking "History of Jazz" from Donald Brown a few years ago. He's easily one of the top 10 jazz piano players alive today. Reading the book and hearing his stories about what players were really like was amazing. He's played with just about all the names over the years and always had good stories to tell.

I know this doesn't relate to your questions.

I will recommend some newer, modern jazz stuff you might get into.

Medeski, Martin, and Wood
Garage-A-Trois (Stanton Moore is one of the best drummers today)
John Scofield (he ranges from contemp. to modern to hippie jazz)
Robert Walter's 20th Congress (some of favorite players)
Charlie Hunter (playes a 8 string; 3 bass string and 5 guitar strings that plugs into 2 different amps)

'Developing your chops' often refers to how well you actuall play. Many times it's developing your hand speed and control. I think it's more physical than "feeling the music." It's your actual ability.

 

[thirdlegstump]

It simply means to actually learn to play your instrument. The amount of chops determine your technical ability, not artistic ability.

 

[alien42]

i like mine slow roasted with a little pepper

 

[Rookie]

Horus is right on... chops references are aimed at brass musicians... usually high brass (trumpet, french horn, etc)

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Horus
A Chromatic scale starts on a specified note, and goes up one or two octaves, hitting every note along the way, sharp or flat.

More accurately, a chromatic scale goes in half-steps. I don't think it implies any set number of octaves. I always practiced them in fifths (e.g. C - G).

I'm not sure what the technical definition of register is, but it is basically how high or low a particular note is. The G at the bottom of a bass staff would be a low register while the G that sits at the top of the treble staff would be high. Most woodwinds have a register key that effectively shifts the pitch up by some amount. Keyless woodwinds (like the recorder) you shift registers by blowing harder or softer. That's all physics.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Rookie
Horus is right on... chops references are aimed at brass musicians... usually high brass (trumpet, french horn, etc)

Every musician has chops.

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: alien42
i like mine slow roasted with a little pepper

haha

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rookie
Horus is right on... chops references are aimed at brass musicians... usually high brass (trumpet, french horn, etc)

Every musician has chops.

That's what I was gonna say.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Rookie
Horus is right on... chops references are aimed at brass musicians... usually high brass (trumpet, french horn, etc)

I was a little confused at that because one of my old neighbors used to be a drummer for a couple bands in Chicago back in the 70s. He would always talk about improving his chops.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: royaldank
I had the pleasure of taking "History of Jazz" from Donald Brown a few years ago. He's easily one of the top 10 jazz piano players alive today. Reading the book and hearing his stories about what players were really like was amazing. He's played with just about all the names over the years and always had good stories to tell.

I know this doesn't relate to your questions.

I will recommend some newer, modern jazz stuff you might get into.

Medeski, Martin, and Wood
Garage-A-Trois (Stanton Moore is one of the best drummers today)
John Scofield (he ranges from contemp. to modern to hippie jazz)
Robert Walter's 20th Congress (some of favorite players)
Charlie Hunter (playes a 8 string; 3 bass string and 5 guitar strings that plugs into 2 different amps)

'Developing your chops' often refers to how well you actuall play. Many times it's developing your hand speed and control. I think it's more physical than "feeling the music." It's your actual ability.

Cool, I'll have to check some of those guys out.

I have an album by MMW which is really good and a few years ago I saw Scofield play live at a really small club in downtown Chicago. He was freaking awesome, at points he made sounds come out of the guitar that sounded like a keyboard.

 

[thirdlegstump]

One Egyptian sounding minor scale is the harmonic minor scale. It's basically a natural minor with a sharp 6th.
So an A harmonic minor would consist of these notes:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G#

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Arkitech

Originally posted by: Horus
Developing your chops refers to strengthing up your facial muscles for greater ombachure, tongue and lip control. It took me years to develop it.[

A Chromatic scale starts on a specified note, and goes up one or two octaves, hitting every note along the way, sharp or flat.

Really?

Not necessarily. I've heard the same term used for different skills depending on the instrument. I play the drums. When I "practice my chops" I'm practicing my rolls like 4-stroke rolls, 5-stroke, 7-stroke, 9-stroke rolls, etc., trying to see how fast and I can roll while keeping the strokes an even distance apart, closing the gap between them slowly. One example is a simple 4-stroke roll that progresses into more; I'll start with a slow roll, a single stroke per quarter note, and slowly work up faster to doing 64 strokes per measure or faster, then slow it back down, then speed it back up, then slow it back down, etc. It's building the muscle in my forearms, honing my grip, stick control, and coordination.





...wow... that kinda sounds like I'm masturbating or something

 

[thirdlegstump]

Simply put, chops = technical ability.

Technical ability includes things like speed, dexterity, clarity, timing, phrasing, etc. on especially difficult musical passages and phrases. It also includes not too direct things like the ability to pick up quick and complex musical phrases by ear quickly, without looking at transcriptions and being able to play it instinctively.

So when a musician develops his/her chops, he's practicing difficult to play things until perfection. While it can't be measured accurately by normal people or others in the same range of musical ability, great musicians can immediately tell whether one has been practicing his/her instrument.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

It can be used in all the connotations above, but usually it refers to building up your face muscles when you first start playing. Usually pertains to the brass guys, although I heard it a few times as an alto sax.

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
It can be used in all the connotations above, but usually it refers to building up your face muscles when you first start playing. Usually pertains to the brass guys, although I heard it a few times as an alto sax.

That's just only a tiny fraction of musical chops.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: deathkoba

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
It can be used in all the connotations above, but usually it refers to building up your face muscles when you first start playing. Usually pertains to the brass guys, although I heard it a few times as an alto sax.

That's just only a tiny fraction of musical chops.

As I said, you can use it in other connotations, but that's where it started.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
Simply put, chops = technical ability.

Technical ability includes things like speed, dexterity, clarity, timing, phrasing, etc. on especially difficult musical passages and phrases. It also includes not too direct things like the ability to pick up quick and complex musical phrases by ear quickly, without looking at transcriptions and being able to play it instinctively.

I play everything by ear. I have a hard time reading music, but I feel it to be cumbersome (sp?) and clumbsy when I do it. If sheet music is involved, I typically learn it on my own away from everyone else before-hand using the sheet music, going slowly and memorizing it. Then when I'm with everyone else, I play it from memory and improvise, playing mostly by instinct unless something specifically calls for the piece to be played "by-the-book" as it were.

There are three other guys that I've played with for years. We're tight when playing together. It's like we can feel what we're all thinking or where things are going. It's frickin fireworks when we're playing. It's to the point where we can make eye contact and understand what comes next when doing improv and the like. I'll never forget looking out over the crowd playing in the Oregon Memorial Coliseum. :heart:

*sigh*

Those were the days, boys... those were the days!

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: deathkoba
Simply put, chops = technical ability.

Technical ability includes things like speed, dexterity, clarity, timing, phrasing, etc. on especially difficult musical passages and phrases. It also includes not too direct things like the ability to pick up quick and complex musical phrases by ear quickly, without looking at transcriptions and being able to play it instinctively.

I play everything by ear. I have a hard time reading music, but I feel it to be cumbersome (sp?) and clumbsy when I do it. If sheet music is involved, I typically learn it on my own away from everyone else before-hand using the sheet music, going slowly and memorizing it. Then when I'm with everyone else, I play it from memory and improvise, playing mostly by instinct unless something specifically calls for the piece to be played "by-the-book" as it were.

There are three other guys that I've played with for years. We're tight when playing together. It's like we can feel what we're all thinking or where things are going. It's frickin fireworks when we're playing. It's to the point where we can make eye contact and understand what comes next when doing improv and the like. I'll never forget looking out over the crowd playing in the Oregon Memorial Coliseum. :heart:

*sigh*

Those were the days, boys... those were the days!

just curious how old are you and how long have you been playing?

One of my only regrets about childhood is that my parents never enrolled me in any kind of music program. I freaking LOVE music and I wish I could play, but these days I have almost no free time.