Someone asked me to translate a portion of Dylan's autobiography, "Chronicles, vol.1". There was a chaper in there where post accident, Dylan remembered an old music theory taught to him by his then mentor in the blues. Basically, it was a way to strike the listener with his guitar patterns, while varying the style of his singing. An Eastern modality, played out on the guitar.
In a nutshell, Dylan was told that in order for his songs to really standout, he had to abandon the norm of playing an even bar measure for an odd bar measure. So, instead of the 4/4 time, he had to play 4/5 or 4/7 times. But what works for the blues and jazz, doesn't for a band. This method assumes no more than two voices. Once you start adding other voices of a band, such as drums, bass, piano, lead guitar, etc, it makes the sound atonal and murky. Dylan learned this the hard way.
But then, this modality has been prevailing in Indian classical music for ages. A sitar and tabla instrumental displays this nicely. Most of the tabla's "taal" is in an odd metered count, not the westernized "teen taal" that we associate with mix-tapes. So again, the West perfects yet another ancient Eastern tradition and profits.
When will we heed our traditional teachings and rise above materially? Some of us are trying...
