A Prog Musician's Pledge
1. I will keep my chops and my mind sharp, as a tool needs to always be ready to work.
2. I will be humble about my chops and my mind, but I will never be afraid to use them.
3. I will keep my mind open to influences and I will continue to learn and absorb so my songs may reflect the world as it is, was, and could be.
4. I will never write vapid, hollow songs unless I am writing a concept album that has vapid, hollow characters.
5. I will veil any love songs, if written at all, in metaphor like "You spread your gossamer wings above the breaking dawn." The phrases ooh baby baby, yeah baby baby, and hey baby baby are verboten (see #4 for exceptions).
6. I will not write songs about how much I rock, how much you rock, how much Rock rocks, how much I want to rock you, or how you rock me baby baby (See also #4).
7. I will always be in it for the love and joy of music, never for the money.
8. I will fear no meter or rhythm no matter how "non-danceable" someone else thinks it is.
9. I will fear no harmony no matter how dissonant it is.
10. I will fear no melody no matter how oblique it is.
11. I will moderate the use and be wary of the overuse of 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 and of I-IV-V, I-vi-ii-V, and VI-VII-i.
12. I will remember the past of prog and look forward to the future of prog.
13. I will take my music seriously but not myself.
This is the first draft of this list. Although I like having 13 items I'm open to additions. Any thoughts?
Posts
6 comments :
14. I will not criticize too harshly, prog bands or artists I don't like, because someday I may actually like them
Statisticly speaking this is good advice especially for new fans.
Good one. The modern world has lost the ability to let music 'grow' on them.
Yeah. Too often I find myself thinking "this is great! How could I not fell in love with this album two years ago?"
you ROCK Sean! :D
wait a minute . . .
You DONT Rock, I mean, You Prock,
no . . . YOU 4/4 . . .
No not that either . . .
Well do what you do!
And there is no 14.
Number 15.
The Larch . . . The LARCH.
(And I appreciate your "Integrity",
SALUTES!)
Hahaha MAV, thanks for the laugh. I am allowed to rock, and you can say so, I'm just not allowed to write songs about it. The song itself can rock, and I can rock while playing it. I can't tell you that I am rocking though. You'll just have to figure that out for yourself.
Go do that voodoo that you do so well.
And now for something completely different: The Larch...
Post a Comment