Compose From Reality (easy) 💡- VLOG #5

[@JulianFernandez]

Your channel is -easily- one of my favorites. Hope you have a great holidays season!

[@brianbannock9343]

You are Welcome Bud........you put things(Music Theories) in Plain understandable terms..........Thanks and keep em coming....!!

[@이선행-l9l]

so fit to me!!Thanks!!

[@menelik_]

love the versatility and variety of your playing, cant wait for the album.

[@ruslanpiano]

Menelik Claffey I really appreciate it. I’m a strange fruit, musically. I’m too pop for jazz and too jazz for pop hahahah

[@AudreyBussanich]

Sensei Sirota.

[@carterthaxton3704]

I'd love to hear the same sort of perspective on some more challenging, dirty, off-kilter, and harsh music, that I know I've also heard from your playing. What are the varieties of musical quality that you're feeling when playing killer solos over fusion funk? Love this tune, btw. Keep it going!

[@ruslanpiano]

Carter Thaxton well, see.. this is exactly where things get a little complicated. It’s a lot easier to apply such “feeling-quantifying methods” to something as clear as say, Christmas or the Holocaust Remembrance Day, or 4th of July... where the aesthetic is clear and clean-cut, and the feelings are clear, which makes it a lot easier to quantify in terms of musical devices/tools to use in order to convey the feeling of that holiday. But. In music, just as in real life, most days are NOT holidays and do not carry a clean-cut emotional signature, like clear sadness, or obvious happiness etc. Most days you walk on the street and rush because you are late somewhere (so now you are feeling a little anxious) and then you see a cat (and it makes you feel a distant pleasant memory about your pet), which immediately triggers another memory of how your asshole uncle hates animals and he once threw your cat off of the couch (and now you immediately feel anger), and then you remember how that same uncle came to a Christmas dinner an that Christmas diner you attended with your girlfriend (so now you feel longing), and that girlfriend was beautiful (so now you feel pleasant), but you were never sure that she was the right one for you, but maybe she was??? (so now you feel doubtful). AND ALL THIS HAPPENS WITHIN THE SPAN OF 14 SECONDS. This is what it’s like to live most days. This is what it’s also like to play most solos.

[@carterthaxton3704]

@@ruslanpiano Yup. I totally get it. It sounds like you bring a much larger repertoire of emotional gestures to your playing when doing a solo like that. And maybe that's what I'd like to hear about. What are the different directions you *could* go in a solo at any given point, and how do you translate that to theory. Like literally, how do you connect your momentary feelings to exactly what mode or scale you're going to play over each chord as it goes by? I feel like I'm continually exploring these possibilities, and it's just so endless. And I also feel like I'm still just scratching the surface. I need to access TheNextLevel :)

[@ruslanpiano]

Carter Thaxton Well, the process of improvising bypasses such conscious decisions and bypasses semantics altogether. It’s the direct communication of ‘something resembling intent’ through the mastery of musical elements. Don’t worry about specific correlations of feelings and musical devices in improvising anymore than you would worry which English words to use when you want to express a particular feeling. You speak GREAT ENGLISH, and that will ensure that whatever comes up, however clear or vague, you will immediately resort to the right linguistic devices, because the English language is your Bitch! You rule the English language! That is what enables seamless, instantaneous self-expression. So too with music. Master the elements. Get GOOD :) and see how your feelings and articulated intentions, as well as unarticulated one’s, take flight in your solos without trying. Much like in English. Learn how to master chord changes. Learn how to switch textures in your solos. Learn how to recognize misbalances in your solo (which occur every 20 seconds btw), Learn how to balance those misbalances (most of the videos on my channel are about balancing those misbalances). Learn how to develop motives. In other words - Learn how to tell a story in your solos. Beyond that - don’t worry buddy :) you are a human being and a thoughtful one. You will have PLENTY of stories to tell and you already do have. Just learn the tools of telling them masterfully. This is what my music lessons are kind of dedicated to on this channel - learning how to tell good stories through improvising.

[@haikel527]

i love your videos. peace for palestine.

[@joeyjuniorjunior]

Thank you so much for all your videos! I love to watch them and get inspired to play music and practice what I love! Massive love and support. Adam:)

[@ruslanpiano]

Adam Hargreaves thank you so much!! I’ll keep on keeping on!! :))

[@abrahamgb1]

I love your channel bro !!! Meaby its a bad question but ( what do you think about “pretty simple music” piano lessons) they teach by formulas ) , again thanks for this channel

[@ruslanpiano]

It depends on the level of analysis, man. On one level of analysis I'm generally cool with their method. On another I'm very deeply against it with every fiber of my being. First of all, those guys know how to play well and know whats up. They are pros at music and have knowledge of harmony etc. This is undeniable. I watched their top video, the one presented on their page as the main channel video. The video shows how to play a dominant chord with an upper-structure. The video shows how to play an E triad inside of a G7 chord, which is a beautiful sound. To me, it seemed like they "practicalized" some rather complex things for the sake of utility, and replaced REAL explanations of how things work and why, with some simplistic, practical ones, to allow ease of application for their students. As a musician who has advanced understanding of harmony and theory, its hard for me to get behind that sort of "short cuts" method of explaining complex concepts of beauty to people. Personally, this is not the kind of insight I would like to see thousands of minds be filled with. Personally, I'd like people to really understand why and how the E triad sounds good in a G7 chord, as opposed to just telling them to play the 3rd degree at the top and make a major chord out of it, and you're done (lol wtf?? 🤣). There's a symmetrical diminished scale, and the E chord lives in that scale, its an upper-structure that will work on dominant sounds, and it has beautiful elegance and symmetry to it. It also has identifiable color. It also creates 4 tonics that are beautifully interchangeable, and that those tonics are minor 3rds apart from one another, and this is why E triad sounds good in a G7 chord... and its ALL SO BEAUTIFUL!!

[@abrahamgb1]

TheNextLevel that’s very deep answer , that’s truth ! I know what you mean , I know that to learn an instrument very deep it would take a whole life , I’m a drummer , but I’m trying to get deep in composing arranging, I’m studying the jazz book of mark levin and besides that i get a bit of those “tricks” as a complement , but yes , sometimes I don’t really understand the theory of all those tricks ) ...

[@ruslanpiano]

Abraham G Buchanan I’m happy to answer any questions you ever have, my friend, if you ever have them. I’m Always here.

[@zachlevine5253]

Awesome video man, I’m really enjoying the vlog. Keep up the great work!!!

[@albrin]

nice video ruslan!!!

[@DojoOfCool]

I remember reading a book on film scoring a long time ago and remember this page in the book and breaking things into seven emotions and the melodic type lines to express them. Like Love are scale shapes and ascending was positive and descending was negative sad. Hate was jumping to imply tension enhanced by the harmony. After reading that when I'd go to movies I think about the melodic shape when listening to the soundtrack and action onscreen. It was interesting how they had formulas for emotions. Another cool video Ruslan have a great holidays!