From: rgcolema@athena.mit.edu (Rodger G Coleman)
Subject: Re: Questions for musicologists
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 18:48:37 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.140459.4135@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>, Victoria.M.Haliburton@dartmouth.edu (Victoria M. Haliburton) writes:
|> Rob: I do appreciate your effort, thanks, but I'm afraid you haven't
|> gone anywhere but around a circle. You've said the sound is distinct
|> because it's distinct and the beat takes its time because it takes its
|> time. Can anyone give a more enlightening explanation?
|> Thanks
|> Vic

Okay, I'll take a crack at it! This is a topic I've pondered and studied
for a long time, so I'll share with you what I've discovered..

The "sound" of the Grateful Dead is unique in the ways they approach
harmony and rhythm.  While Garcia's tone and soloing style are immediately
recognizable, the unique ensemble sound of the Dead is perhaps more 
attributable to Bob and Phil.

Bob tends to voice chords that avoid the root and 3rd of a chord and
emphasizes suspensions, passing tones and often the upper partials
(ie.9ths, 11ths, 13ths) much like a jazz player approaches harmony.
Garcia plays rhythm guitar in a more traditional, root position fashion
which blends well with Bob's more abstract voicings, creating that "lush"
sound.

Phil's approach to bass playing is also unique in the rocknroll world.
He rarely plays a repeating "bass line" but rather plays long flowing
melodies. Again like Bob, he avoids the root and emphasizes non-chordal
tones. When he does emphasize the root, it is dramatically effective.
(ie. the "bomb" in the Other One) Combined with Weir & Garcia, the effect
is that sense of flow, tension and release within simple harmonic 
structures.  Their ensemble approach is very similiar to Ornette Coleman's
"Harmelodic" concept where harmony and melody are essentially the same
thing.

Rhythmically, the Dead have developed a unique sound by playing in a
"swing-eigth-note" + "dotted-eigth and sixteenth-note" and "straight-
eigth-note" feel simultaneously.  "Tennessee Jed" is a prime example of
this feel. Garcia talked about this in an interview and said they conscious-
ly developed this feel according to the way thge body moves.  It certainly
gets the body moving! :)

One last subtle point : just as the Dead avoid the roots of chords, they
avoid the downbeats and backbeats in the rhythm. And the reason why "St.
Steven" seems to drag is because they are intentionally dragging the rhythm,
creating another kind of tension and release. 

Finally, a whole book could be written about Garcia's approach to melody
and improvising. In a nutshell, he does not resort to licks and cliches
but rather thinks in long melodic lines that are structured around a variety
of scales and modes and can be highly chromatic for such diatonic music.
Favorites are, of course, the pentatonic scale and the mixolydian mode.

It's difficult to write about music without resorting to such jargon
as :"mixolydian" but I hope this helps answer your question. I'm sure others
on the net will have insights into this topic. Any takers?

Finally, let's hope Jerry gets healthy again so they can continue to make
great music for many more years.

Peace

RC
(rgcolema@athena.mit.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead