this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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[–] ch00f 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Reminds me a lot of this video (tw: typical Xbox live homophobia).

People in this clip assume the guy has somehow memorized every song ever written. It doesn’t occur to them that with enough study and practice (and talent), a person can more or less figure out how to play a song just as easily as you can hum it.

I remember being super impressed when my high school friend banged out the intro to Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground on the first try (it’s just power chords). Then I went to college and met a dozen people who were similarly talented on their instruments of choice.

Anyway, it makes me wonder if people who think Harris was fed lines just haven’t met enough people to understand that, while commendable, her achievement on Tuesday was not supernatural by any means. Some people are just that good at what they do.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Also, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground is a very simple descending chord progression that basically just steps down according to the minor scale (if I recall correctly. Don't have a guitar in front of me and haven't played the song in years).

Stuff like that is much easier to figure out by ear than more intricate melodies and chord progressions.

[–] ch00f 1 points 2 months ago

Oh for sure. And that's kind of my point. As someone who didn't know a lot of music or know any musicians, it was goddamn magic.

But meet a few musicians, and you start to realize that it's just a learnable skill.