When the Wrong Notes are the Right Notes

When the Wrong Notes are the Right Notes

Let's call it "the Miles effect"...

by Chris Loeffler

While attending Winter NAMM a few years ago, I had the privilege of catching Michael Landau play at the Baked Potato and witnessed first-hand what a small group of incredibly talented musicians can do when they're on the same wavelength. While amazing technical chops and tone were on display, the lasting impression about the performance was that every time Landau went to solo he seemed to be deliberately trying to sabotage himself. By throwing out a note or two to completely change the scale, he created musical tension (dissonance, even) that he sometimes had less than a half a bar to resolve. He always resolved it, but there were times I genuinely thought he’d hit a bum note (or two) until the end of the passage and I was able to retroactively understand the context he’d played it in. In addition to creating a bizarre feeling of time traveling (it’s amazing how the brain works to create order out of information), it made me ponder an often unconsidered assumption we make about music.

Within music genres, there are tropes, arrangements, and tones that compose the vernacular of that style, but there are overriding cultural constructs around which music forms that transcend genre (I say cultural, because the Western concept of scales is different than the Tibetan, etc). Scales, chord progressions…a trained ear can usually make an educated guess what the next bar will bring within a verse or chorus. Bands like The Beatles helped codify what traditional Western pop and rock music is, and from those foundations artists have branched out and used those foundations to create music, sometimes intentionally breaking those rules. These are artistic decisions meant to challenge listeners, which suggests a tacit agreement between the artist and the listener that both know what note (or notes) should be played. So are there "wrong" notes, or a "wrong" way to play?

Imagine, for instance, having someone’s first exposure to Western music being Radiohead’s Kid A. While a masterful exercise in deconstruction, deconstruction can’t exist (or at least be properly appreciated) without an agreement of what a typical construction is. Abandoning Verse-Chorus-Verse structure, introducing piercing, Pixies-esque quiet-loud dynamics, and effecting instruments until they are unidentifiable from their standard soundset works because it acknowledges, even through absence, the base of traditional Western music. Without those anchors, it’d likely just be random, lurching noise at worst, and curious patterns at best.

A classic jazz trope is that note selection is as much about the notes that aren’t played as the ones that are; this too, relies on a player/listener acknowledgement of musical foundations. While it can be an excuse for really sloppy soloing, there is something artistic about not playing the note we’re trained to expect next; a clever wink between the player and the listener that says “See what I did there… I didn’t need to play that note because you already had it in your head.” That jarring moment is a way to engage the listener, precisely because it is different. The difference between the artist and the anarchist is that the artist will resolve it, at least in the context of the piece. Anyone can play an “out of scale” note or beat, but tying that to intentionality and a theme is what elevates it to a mastery of the art.

Guitar players, in particular, tend to lean on patterns and “the box” to guide their playing, and melodies start to become a part of muscle memory for their hands as much as it is their ears. Questioning notes, challenging notes, and playing off the chord voicings the notes are played against isn’t just something for jazz players, it's an exploration, understanding, and embracing of the music that can unlock unexpected, exciting new paths for a passage to go down. Even three-chord folk tunes rely on interesting note choices and cadences for their vocal accompaniment.

Arguably, there are no right or wrong notes, as long as the player understands the context around which the note is played and they possess a mastery of musical language to eloquently push boundaries. Not all of us can, nor ever will, but we can start by something as simple as not starting a solo on the 1 beat on the root note of the scale.

Intentionally play a "wrong" note... see where it takes you.

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Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.