Playing.....anywhere...

[Chili]

i've been learning more theory lately, modes, intervals, chords, chord names etc, and now that i know all the modes and stuff, i've realised i've been thinking way too much about them and my improv, or spontanious jamming has suffered alot becouse i'm thinking way too much, but i was watching some of Flea's instructional DVD, i havnt been listening to much of Flea for a long time, but i fancied having another watch of this, and he goes on about how he doesnt know any theory and what he does is pretty much all improvisation, so i picked up my bass and just starting jamming to my self with out thinking about the modes, etc and i could of gone on for hours, i think i forgot about just playing from the soul (as corny as it sounds) and while basic theory is deffinitly something werth knowing, thinking about theory while your playing doesnt help me at all.

but this got me thinking, about changing keys and stuff, when i learnt all the modes, i would always change in order of the modes, like if i was playing in C major, and i would change to D and use the dorian mode, but that would really mean i'm still in the key of C. But when your playing by yourself or with a drummer, or writing a song, you can change to any key you want right? like i'm playing in D, i could change to D sharp and use the Locrian mode or something random like that if i wanted right? becouse theres no guitar player or keyboard or something to keep in key with. i'm just curious about this kinda thing

[I am Domokun]

Originally Posted by Chili

i've been learning more theory lately, modes, intervals, chords, chord names etc, and now that i know all the modes and stuff, i've realised i've been thinking way too much about them and my improv, or spontanious jamming has suffered alot becouse i'm thinking way too much, but i was watching some of Flea's instructional DVD, i havnt been listening to much of Flea for a long time, but i fancied having another watch of this, and he goes on about how he doesnt know any theory and what he does is pretty much all improvisation, so i picked up my bass and just starting jamming to my self with out thinking about the modes, what notes i was playing etc and i could of gone on for hours, i think i forgot about just playing from the soul (as corny as it sounds) and while basic theory is deffinitly something werth knowing, thinking about theory while your playing doesnt help me at all.

but this got me thinking, about changing keys and stuff, when i learnt all the modes, i would always change in order of the modes, like if i was playing in C major, and i would change to D and use the dorian mode, but that would really mean i'm still in the key of C. But when your playing by yourself or with a drummer, or writing a song, you can change to any key you want right? like i'm playing in D, i could change to D sharp and use the Locrian mode or something random like that if i wanted right? becouse theres not guitar player to keep in key with. i'm just curious about this kinda thing

Just about that last bit, yeah, you can make whatever changes you want if you're writing it and it sounds good. They key (no pun intended ) would be making it sound good. If you can explain the theory behind the change and why it sounds good, all the better.