Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's possible he simply has a 'blind spot'. I was taught violin from aged 8 - 10 and was told I was good, but however much my teacher tried he never managed to teach me notation or any sort of theory. I simply looked at the music and knew which note on which line or space represented which finger on which string! I tried again as a teenager but still didn't 'get' it.

I could teach you to read music. Not that I'm offering . There are many different approaches, including the one that you appear to have adopted.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Macca dreamt the tune for Yesterday - a song that has been performed and played an estimated 7 million times . When you can do that whether you can notate music or not is irrelevant. His compositional style is improvisatory - usually at the piano or strumming a guitar. Learning to notate might just kill a very golden goose. To be honest he could hire the entire composition departments of all the London music colleges to transcribe for him and not even notice the dent in his bank balance .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Learning to notate might just kill a very golden goose.

I think that that particular Golden Goose died, was stuffed, ciooked and eaten at least 40 years ago.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Still earning him millions in royalties .....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Still earning him millions in royalties .....

... and deservedly so. (And would have been many, many times more if Mr Epstein had been a bit more savvy about the Music Business.)

But, money aside, to live and work all the years since and know that your best work is over decades ago ...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Like Sibelius and Elgar ?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Like Sibelius and Elgar ?

Not really - they were both 60 when they came to a halt: McCartney was half that age. (And he carried on regardless!)

[Ein Heldenleben]

I think he just ran out of tunes...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I think he just ran out of tunes...

... amd harmonies: I think you're right. I would say (well, I would, wouldn't I?) that, had he learnt notation in his twenties, it would have helped him explore new areas of Music beyond what his restricted experience kept him stuck in, with ever-diminishing returns.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Or it might have encouraged him to write another Oratorio....

[Joseph K]

... amd harmonies: I think you're right. I would say (well, I would, wouldn't I?) that, had he learnt notation in his twenties, it would have helped him explore new areas of Music beyond what his restricted experience kept him stuck in, with ever-diminishing returns.

Apparently Allan Holdsworth couldn't read music, but just check out how harmonically lush (in his mid-fifties) his music could be -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIX_SOKJYHQ

Just sayin'

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Or it might have encouraged him to write another Oratorio....

No - must be positive: it would certainly have empowered him to actually "write" his first one - and it might even have been worth listening to.

[Dave2002]

But, money aside, to live and work all the years since and know that your best work is over decades ago ...

Doesn't that apply to most of us, whether we have worked in music, or "succeeded", or whatever?

Some people obviously ignored those warnings - Bruckner, Verdi and maybe a few more. Whether what they wrote in their advanced years is their best work - well perhaps not always - but they did it anyway.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Re the ‘Oratorio ‘ I think Macca should leave that sort of thing to Janacek really...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Apparently Allan Holdsworth couldn't read music, but just check out how harmonically lush (in his mid-fifties) his music could be -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIX_SOKJYHQ

Just sayin'

Oh, but there's a very good reason for that, Joseph.


And just as soon as I can think up what it is, I'll let you know.


(Holdsworth is very good, isn't he.)