Thursday, August 2, 2007
How to Use Chords in Sansula Music:
The Idea of a Chord Progression

The last several weeks, I've been laying out the different chords that the Sansula can play. I hope you've had the faith that these will be useful.

When you practice the chords, think of them as guides for your playing. We might desire "total freedom" - the ability to do anything - playing the best music by playing all notes in the order that the spontaneous joy of the moment calls us to play. However, "total freedom" in most conceptions we might have is a myth. The Zen practitioner seeks to experience great freedom by restricting his choices - instead of running down his life doing 100 things, he sits in meditation aiming to bring enlightenment.

Fortunately for most people, chords are not nearly as restrictive as a Zen Buddhist's life style. On a typical chord on the Sansula, the restriction is fairly open, and you end up being able to play half of the notes in any chord. And you can even make exceptions, i.e., deliberately play a note or two that is outside the confines of the chord (experiment to see how each "outside" note has its own flavor added to the supporting chord).

But most of all, chords provide us with a moving path that will take us, and the listener, to some place we probably couldn't otherwise get to. This is called a Chord Progression.

As a simple chord progression, try playing A minor --- then F Major 7 --- then A minor again. A simple chord progression. Here - then elsewhere - then here again. You can do it over and over.

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