Play by feel

Anyone here play an instrument by feel? Like, you don't memorise a piece of music, but instead "know" what you can do with your instrument and so can learn a piece of music by listening to it a few times (or maybe you read the music, I don't know) but you just play by feel?

I'm just wondering because I'm self-taught, and can't read music, and I'm slowly getting to know everything I can do with my guitar and memorising it not by, "Okay, that's an A note at such-and-such a fret," or whatever, but memorising it by feel and practice.

And if you learned to play by feel in this way, and then, after getting proficient by practicing a lot, learned to read music - did this pose an extra difficulty, trying to figure out what "feel" parts are what "written music" parts? Like, I can play about 4 seconds of music in a variety of ways, and know how to do it each and every way and can ALMOST do it on command every time... but if I was shown the written music to one of those 4-second patterns, I'd be stumped.

Do you think it's harder to learn written music once you've learned by feel? Do you think learning both is absolutely necessary?

And if you learned by feel, and then took, say, a guitar lesson from a professional teacher, would you fumble and not be able to perform, and have a really hard time of it, possibly pissing off the teacher if you've already said, "Yeah, I can play a few songs," and then because of actually being taught what it is you're doing, instead of just feeling it, you somehow can't do it?

Sorry if none of this makes sense. It's not that important a question, just something I was thinking about. Mostly because I just noticably improved at guitar, and I still don't know what it is I did, except as a feeling.

Discussion?

Oh, okay. Good to know.

poetinahat said:

It sounds like we're kind of on the same page here, Cliff.

Now I'm learning guitar (is that your Les Paul, by the way?)

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Erm, it's a stock photo of the same model/colour Les Paul that I have. My actual guitar has loads of black marks down the scratchboard from my manic picking.

I've got a photo of my guitar on my phone, but I don't know how to get that onto a computer... there're no attachments for it, and my phone can't do e-mail. Maybe if I txt the pic to my sister and she can put it on the computer off her phone (which can do that stuff...).

It's a lovely picture, with my black guitar stand, and part of my bookcase in shot.

I lurrrvvee guitar! I've been eyeing off a Cort model that's all black, got a really nice head, and has silver pentagrams down the neck. Unfortunately it's $700 and is thusly a bit of a luxury item, considering I already have a perfectly fine Les Paul 100 Epiphone... but I still want the Cort.

Matera the Mad said:

I sort of learned to read music long ago, with a violin. But I didn't stick with it or the fiddle and it didn't stick with me. Played piano a bit by ear since I was big enough to reach. Picked up guitar when I was 30, stubbornly self-taught. Again tried to read music off and on, but I just can't do it. The lines don't make me no sense at all. I know the names of guitar chords, but they are just finger positions that sound good. My fingers don't care if the instrument is tuned low (my 12-string must be or die), they know where to go.

The music is "written" in my whole body. The melody, chords, and lyrics only come together when I have a guitar in my hands. I've gotten back into music recently, and I'm recovering some of my songs from old tapes. It comes back easily through my ears.

It would be nice to be able to write down a tune without taking five minutes to figure out where each dot goes, but I have enough stuff to cram into my head without trying to learn the alien language of chicken scratches and flyspecks.

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I soooo get you with knowing the music with your body.

For me it's like dancing that I can actually do. I learn by rhythm and feel and flow and ear, and can play a little guitar and keyboards (and probably drums too, if I had anywhere to set them up so I could play them often enough...).

On the other hand, I can't dance. Well, I can headbang... but last time I did that another "dancer" kneed me on the bridge of my nose. Lots of swelling, and because I had had a few drinks, I hurled like an Olympic track and field star. Luckily, it wasn't a blood nose.

But the weight of the guitar hanging off my shoulder, tender caresses along the neck, and violent beauty with the pick in my other hand... yeah, it's dancing.