Style / Feel

All styles of western music have notes in common. The 12 notes in rock are the same 12 notes in country, jazz, and funk. The differences between styles is 2-10.

Music should convey feeling. Music with lyrics should generally convey consistent feeling between the words and the tune. There are many exceptions to this in popular music.

Ex1 - Elements of Style

This is less of an exercise and more of a life-long study. Since notes are all the same between styles, what makes rock...rock? What makes funk funky? There is nothing wrong with mixing styles, but it is good to recognize what defines a particular style in terms of rhythmic sub-division, tone, time, articulation, and other elements

Approach

Listen to songs from leading artists of different styles. Try to pick out what the musicians are doing that defines that style.

For example, most classic rock is based on 8th note subdivision in the bass, and 16th note runs in the lead guitar. The players generally try to take a wide sonic footprint in terms of tone -- distortion on the guitar, mids and treble in the bass, and deep shells on the drums. The time feel is driving, with the guitar runs having a "leaning forward" feeling -- like a train running downhill nearly jumping off the tracks. Playing overly clean may take away from the style -- you may want to slide into and off of notes. The bass and drums may be loosely tied together, with the bass taking a more riff-oriented approach then a rhythmic approach. The choice of notes may center around the chord tones or pentatonic scales, avoiding notes that add harmonic color and tension. Phrases may start before the down-beat of one to give a feeling of anticipation.

In contrast, reggae is often based on a shuffle feel. Time is laid-back, with notes occurring slightly behind the beat. Phrases may start on beat two or later, to give a feeling of being relaxed. Tones are warm and round. Use of staccato or muted notes for moving parts is common. The rhythm shuffles.

Tips and Warnings

Listen to as much music as you can. Make a point to learn music that you don't like or don't normally listen to. Switch stations on the radio.

Ex2 - Emotional Content

This exercise seeks to get past using 2-10 as a cheap manipulation, and truly connect emotionally.

In my college communication class, I was taught that 70% of communication is non-verbal. Written communication is somewhat dangerous, because people can assume the worst if they don't see facial expressions and body language, and don't hear the tone of voice being used. Emotion can be faked in face-to-face communication, but even then, the intend of the communication is clear, even if the motivation is not. In English and music, the emotion is a key part of the message.

Approach

Play a song, groove or lead -- something somewhat repetitive. At some point, focus on an emotion. Observe how your playing changes in terms of 2-10 -- tone, articulation, dynamics, etc. At another point, focus on a different emotion. Try to lose focus on your playing and focus on the emotion. Hopefully the loss of focus on playing results in an improvement.

Next Steps

Focus on the lyrical content of the music you are playing. What feelings are being conveyed by the words? Try to get in touch with those feelings, and let them come out with your music.