Mind Reading Music

[blue_jays]

Mind Reading is a talent that we all would want to have.  I personally which I could pick the next winner of the NBA Finals but it's pretty appearent that I can't . Since that's not possible I guess I am going to have to settle with show you all how to mind read your chord progressions which is very awesome.

Did you know that you can mind read your chords. For example, the 2 chord
can lead to the 5 or the 6th chord
or when you play a specific melody starting with E that means the chord is the C chord.

I just wanted to share this with you and I want to see what you all think about music mind reading? I thought it was neat it took me a while to master the science.

[betnich]

This ability to anticipate chords is not magical, but comes with experience and knowing progressions.

For example, in CCM a sus chord usually resolves to a Major chord, while in Jazz/Gospel it may just sit there or go up or down a step or half-step to another sus chord...

[T-Block]

This is why I tell people to learn the number system. Most chord progressions in songs stick to it. It's not really mind-reading per se, merely using theory (and ur ears) to make an educated guess.

or when you play a specific melody starting with E that means the chord is the C chord.

It could also be an E or an A chord.

[berbie]

T, do you mean, 7362514?  Or the number system in general, or both?  This is an area that really is important to me as I am lacking in the area of "mind reading" chords.  If someone is singing a 1-4-5 song, I can play it with my back to the piano.  Many others I have to learn by rote memory which is very time consuming and tends to be forgotten if not played for a period of time.  Sometimes I can recognize the start of a progression and hear it in my mind but I can't place the chords(which are chords that are in my  chord bank)as I can't always place which ones they are.  I have often wished for(and posted such in this forum) a DVD that included many of the progressions(and licks) that are used in contemporary music one after another in all keys, along with the chord names noted as you played so that one could put it into a player and play the progressions over and over for at least 1 and a half to two hours.  Maybe it would be more difficult to prepare than I think or maybe people as a rule wouldn't want such a learning tool,  but I would buy it.  It seems to me that one could then internalize the progressions if diligent, and could call them up at a moment's notice as needed.  Maybe there ar other ways that are better. (listening to various CDs?) I'd be interested in "mind reading" chords.

[betnich]

If you do the background work of learning your major/minor scales and progressions (like I - IV - V - I) in all keys, the 'mind reading' will come to you....

[berbie]

So true, Bet, but there is something I am not quite getting or a connection that I am not quite making.  I see people sit down and play songs right off the cuff(contemporary) with no problem at all. If I haven't practiced the song and committed it somewhat to memory, often I can't do that. And I know many chords. I doubt that they play chords that I don't know.  Of course, I am self taught and that could account for the problem to some extent.  On reflection, I feel that I should have learned to read music better and done more of it. The path of music might have become clearer to me.  This I could have done.  Thanks for your response.  I know that it is true.  I thought the DVD might be a good tool for learning the progressions.

[T-Block]

T, do you mean, 7362514?

This is what I'm referring to. I can go through countless example in any genre u can think of and most of the music sticks to this formula.

Now, there are some progressions that sound good that don't necessarily follow this. Those progressions you more or less learn, commit them to memory and are able to call them up whenever u need them. Things like:

1-5-6-4, 1-2-6-4, 1-3-6-4, 4-1-5, 6-5-4, 2-3-4 (famouse pop/rock progressions)

1-2-3-4, 1-7-6-4

*I use a lot of these type progressions as talk music or whenever I wanna just make up something


The best thing to do is be able to identify bass notes and/or chords by ear no matter how (or in what order) they are played. This is what helps a lot of people learn a song "on the fly" because they know what a 1 sounds like, they know what a 5 sounds like, etc. Even if u don't know the theoretical aspect, u know what it sounds like.

When it comes to music, I'm a big picture kind of guy. You can do all the little nuances and fancy runs you want or u can play random stuff that seems to not follow a pattern, but big picture wise it will usually fall into the 7-3-6-2-5-1-4 zip code. For example, all those pop/rock progressions I posted above can be summed up in one big picture progression, 1-4. They go through all those other chords, but usually start at 1 and end up at 4.

[chevonee]

This is some good stuff up in here!!!

[floaded27]

why are we mind reading again? are we trying to guess what someone else is going to play before they play it? or what the singer is singing for a song we have to play along? or is this for learning songs? im quite confused here.

if im playing a 2, why am i mind reading where it goes? it goes where i want and where i make it go. if im following, why guess at all? why not let them play and i perfect my reaction time so as soon as i hear it i know what it is and can play it.

as for what T block is saying, it just hearing those progressions, doesnt even matter the key (if u can do it by key, more power to you). For example, "How Great is Our God" is a classic 1-6-4-5 progression. I can hear and identify that in my sleep. So once i hear that in one of the other thousand songs that uses that pattern, its a wrap. i know the song. now once i get the key, im set.

[blue_jays]

We are talking about progressions and chord movements for example: the 2 can go to the 5 or to the 6
There are many musicians that would love to learn how to mind read

[floaded27]

We are talking about progressions and chord movements for example: the 2 can go to the 5 or to the 6
There are many musicians that would love to learn how to mind read

thats the thing. the 2 can go anywhere. if we are talking about common progressions, yeah the 5 or 6 is a "safe" progression. But when dealing with musicians/songwriters/arrangers who want to explore more than "whats always done" (which a lot of the less traditional artists are doing more of), this was never a hard and fast rule. in the actuality of music theory, any diatonic chord can follow any other diatonic chord, meaning the 2 can go to the 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. Taking it out of the box further, the 2 can go other places like b2, b3, b5, b6, b7. Taking a step even further out there, the diatonic chords dont necessarily have to have their normal chord quality, meaning that 1 could be minor or the 3 major and so on.

Now if you played with a musician that incorporates these kinds of movements, you wont read his mind. But u can learn his style and be more receptive to it, since he may have repetitive patterns or simply favoring of certain ones.

not knocking your technique, since it may work for you. But im only speaking from my experience. There were songs i had to learn or follow along with and i had to literally put my music theory down to the side, and learn the song by ear, because where i thought it would go, it didnt. what my theory says were possible options, it took neither. and when u encounter songs like this on a regular basis, you need more in your arsenal than educated guessing, otherwise you'll be stuck with nowhere to go.