As far as notating keys, I would say there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way (within reason, of course), and you will commonly find both approaches used, which one may depend on the context of the particular transcription. The "modal" key signature approach (e.g. notating a tune using a Mixolydian mode with the key signature of its related Ionian) is something I feel you'd frequently see in a jazz type fake book (e.g. The Real Book). For example, the tunes Oye Como Va (A Dorian), So What (D Dorian), and All Blues (G Mixolydian); you'd find those in The Real Book notated with the key signatures of G major, C major, and C major, respectively, as opposed to A minor, D minor, and G major with accidentals used on the characteristic modal notes. While in other transcriptions you may find them using the latter approach (e.g. I just did a google image search for Oye Como Va and many of the transcriptions had it notated with the key signature of A minor with an accidental used on the raised 6, i.e. F#, while the one transcription that looked like a sheet out of The Real Book used the modal based key signature of Gmajor/Adorian). Typically, I'd find myself using the modal key signature type of approach, that archtop has already indicated a preference for, as well, to notate something because it makes sense to me (it indicates right in the key signature what scale to use) and it's easier to write less accidentals. But, if I saw the other approach used, I'm comfortable with that as well.
I've played One Como Va and All Blues with my band. The latter is much more difficult because it's in 3, it's a Jazz Waltz.
19 June 1976- Capitol Theater, Passaic. A well-known show due to it being a WNEW broadcast. The Playing In The Band contains a very nice Blues For Allah influenced interlude. A very nice show for the period.
There may have been mono copies for radio stations. My local had a Led Zep 2 WLP mono that was for just that. But yes, as far as released to the general public there is not mono. Also, there is a gold label WB that as pressed in Canada. Just some weird collector information.
We all know the bug is real bad when I have Row Jimmy in my head after listening to the stellar 11/17/74 version from Dave's 5 TWICE over the weekend. Six weeks ago, I was skipping Row Jimmy but then I heard the amazing Barton Hall (5/8/77) version so now I'm all in. I wonder if this will work on Mexicali Blues or Looks Like Rain;(
This is also the anniversary of the first of the only 3 GD concerts in Alaska, in 1980. West High Auditorium - do you think they picked the venue based on the name? A lot of their late 70s-1980 material cracks me up, it seems very commercial and yet most would probably call it their least successful era in the studio. And yet over the last 5 years or so 'Alabama Getaway' is the song of theirs I've heard most on commercial FM radio. Anyway the Charlie Miller transfer of this is good, once they finally get the mix right. Garcia's first solo in 'Getaway' is muted, and you can't hear Phil until 3/4 of the way through 'Promised Land'
Good to know of another well-versed theory type here. I can certainly deal with the non-modal approach to transcription but it bothers me for a few reasons: It demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of one of the fundamental structures of western music; It instructs me to play in the wrong key and uses a laborious process of adding accidentals that force me to interpret what the proper key is; It therefore leads me to conclude that whomever did the transcription is prone to mistakes elsewhere in the transcription even if the transcriber is, in fact, well-versed in music theory; It helps to perpetuate the general confusion that exists regarding the proper execution of modal music; and It's stoopid. For general consumption (no doubt @dzhason knows the following, so this is directed at the world at large): At the end of the day, all western music (except for completely atonal music, I suppose) is modal. A simple Major key is a case where the I chord is derived from the first scale degree (Ionian mode) and a simple natural minor mode is a case where the i chord (Major chords are designated with upper case Roman numerals while minor chords are designated with lower case Roman numerals) is derived from the sixth scale degree (Aeolian mode). The other church modes, as they are called, aren't any more complicated than this; they simply modify the basic concepts of how Major, Dominant and minor chords function in the context of melody. Some examples: Playing in the Band jam: D Dorian - The song itself is in D Major, but for the jam, the tonal center shifts to a Dminor7 chord (i.e., Dmin7 becomes the i chord, or "home"). This results in choices to be made. One can employ many scales over a Dmin7 chord, including, from a simple church mode perspective, D natural minor (Aeolian mode derived from F Major), D Dorian (derived from C Major), and D Phrygian (derived from Bb Major). There are other choices that are derived by somewhat more complicated processes, including Jazz minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor. Of these options the GoGD most often chose: Dorian: Playing in the Band jam; Dark Star (the progression is Emin7 A; one could argue that this is really ii V of D Major, and it is, but since D Major isn't always introduced and when it is, it's often more than 10-15 minutes into the song, the ear settles on Emin7 as being "home" as the track unfolds and it becomes a defacto i chord and while the A is played as a simple A and not an A7, it is functioning as an A7). Harmonic minor: Me and My Uncle; Jack-a-Roe: the important thing to note here is that the v chord is voiced as a DOM7 instead of a min7 Phrygian: Jam out of Comes a Time; here's another example of where the case can be made that the beginning of the jam just after the end of the vocals (| F#min7 | GMaj7 |) is really just iii IV of D Major, and again, it is, but since they don't go to D Major for quite a while, the ear initially settles in on the F#min7 as home or a i chord. In the great version from 7/17/76 on DaP's 18, the Phrygian bit starts at 8:12 (although there is a brief section of this earlier in the tune, I believe) and Phil later clarifies that they're now "officially" in D Major at 9:21. Natural minor (Aeolian mode): The closest I can think of off the top of my head is Shakedown Street. The only real issue here is that the harmonic structure doesn't include an Amin7 chord to confirm natural minor (as opposed to use of an ADOM7, which would indicate Harmonic minor). The i chord here is Dmin7 and the use of CDOM7 as the jam vehicle is consistent with (and highly indicative of) D natural minor. C Major scale: C D E F G A B Chords diatonic to to the key of C Major:| CMaj7 | Dmin7 | Emin7 | FMaj7 | GDom7 | Amin7 | Bmin7b5 | (diatonic means comprised only of notes common to the Major key being used) How Major key chords are numbered...........I.............ii............iii..........IV............V7...........vi............viib5 Relationship of natural minor to Major.......III...........iv............v...........VI...........VII7..........i.............iib5 Enough prattling on. At least I covered the fundamentals of how minor modes relate to the Major mode. More on Major and Dominant at a later time...
tl;dr So what you are saying is that the Grateful Dead were/are musical geniuses who played with music theory and rhythmic patterns like Einstein played with Quantum Physics. While also rocking out a building full of the Faithful. Kewl.
Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far; that I'm able to wrap my head around this stuff is pretty strong evidence that genius-level intellect is not a prerequisite. Knowing music theory is akin to owning a nice set of woodworking tools. Ownership indicates nothing about one's ability to actually produce anything substantive or useful with them. Where GD's genius may lie, if one is inclined to apply the word genius, is in their ability to use the tenets of music theory as guidelines rather than rules in the creation of improvised music.
Perhaps it was all a matter of luck, the happiest musical accidents ever. (I don't think so, but I wanted to open the door to that possibility).
Don't undersell your intelligence, friend. And yeah, I think we mean the same thing but used different words. How music theory played into the Dead's genius can be quibbled, the fact that the Dead are musical geniuses as evidenced by their performances is an unimpeachable truth.
Luck certainly played a big role. It plays a big role in most things. It's often not enough to be great and persistent; the right opportunity needs to come along at the right time. I guess my point is that genius is not reflected by their knowledge of modal improvisation but in their ability to apply that knowledge to the act of creating modal music. Anyone can learn it; not everyone can implement it effectively.
The Playing>UJB>Dew>UJB>Playing Palindrome from 11/17/73 is blowing me away again. Jerry destroying atoms during the Dew. Phil at his ultimate peak here as well. Destructive and Gorgeous. Even better than Row Jimmy
RE: Birdsong - that's a terrible way to do it; hence likely why it is most prevalent. RE: Estimated - this one is good; Estimated is in F#minor, the relative minor to A Major, so three sharps is correct. Maybe that's the point you were making that occasionally, they get it right. Oy; The Other One is another good example. I suppose that as the improvs deepened, Jerry may have delved into Dorian territory, but on the surface, this is natural minor all the way. I'm an idiot. The perils of the long, technical post. Dark Star is, of course, A Emin7, which is V ii of D Major. Apologies. Many tabs Show A to G, which is the untrained ear confusing the parent Major of G Major with the relative minor of E minor. Of course, it's an understandable mistake (and one I made years ago when first playing this one). G Major is constructed as: G B D Emin7 is constructed as: E G B D The note E is critical to the somewhat hazy nature of the harmony. Of course, one could play a G6 chord: G B D E, but that voicing wouldn't add the same nebulosity, as it were.
There were rumours (Ugly Roomers?) a while back that a version of the remix had snuck out on CD briefly pre-Rhino, but there's never been any evidence to confirm this. The Anthem remix is sort of interesting - it's very much reflective of where the GD were live at that point (1971), in that much of the weirdness in the recording is stripped out & what you hear mostly is the sound of a band playing those tunes; it's the Skullf*ck Anthem, so to speak. I have to say that I MUCH prefer the original of Anthem - the same too with Aoxomoxoa mostly (although the Aoxomoxoa remix does do some things quite well in parts - the instrumental blend in China Cat and Cosmic Charlie stand out). Incidentally, for those asking about the original mix of that, it is available on the current vinyl edition of that album.
In regards to Anthem Of The Sun, the original CD editions contained the re-mixed version. When Rhino re-released the catalog with The Golden Road box set, the original mix was used. When the Hi Res complete studio collection was released on HDTracks, the re-mix was used. Oy!
Well, I can't speak for the Hi Res, but my original Warners CD most definitely did NOT use the remix - pretty sure we've already had this answered, @rbbert ?
