|
There's no question that bop and much bop-derived music makes severe demands on the listener. A flurry of notes in classical and pop music is usually merely a scale or arpeggio or simple pattern and can be understood gesturally, so to speak, or as a gestalt. Bop in contradistinction requires that you follow the line.
Bop is similar in this respect, in fact, to classical Indian music (which might account for Coltrane's interest). Since classical Indian music has only vestigial harmony to distract you and simple instrumentation and form, it might actually be worthwhile to try first to understand it, as a sort of exercise in musical comprehension, and then go back to bop.
|