I haven't found much Opeth to be jazzy. For Absent Friends is a bit, but nothing else has that sort of feel.. I agree with the folk thing though. Especially the early material.

Lots of the stuff on [I]Still Life[/I] sounds jazzy to me.

Second favorite Opeth album neato.

True about the early material. One of the acoutic riffs early int eh song Black Rose Immortal comes to mind. I'm not too sure if it actually is a folk melody, bu it heavily reminds me of one.

That's odd, I was mowing yesterday while listening to Morningrise, and that's exactly what I was thinking about. They seem to mix so many different genres of music together, but it all sounds like one thing. And the 'Immortal section definitely sounds folk influenced.

[QUOTE=Toaster;13441993]That's pretty stupid.

A fifth can be dissonant as well, anyway. For example if you're playing in a key with a flat 2nd note (can't remember any specific modes), and you play a fifth harmony on the fifth note of the scale, you'll be playing the natural 2nd rather than the flat 2nd, therefore creating dissonance.

[/QUOTE]

Yeah that's the Locrian mode, which Opeth whores out all the time.

Sometimes when I see people using alot of theory to describe music or a band...

For example

[QUOTE]Yeah that's the Locrian mode, which Opeth whores out all the time.[/QUOTE]

I'm thinking... I wonder how much Opeth new about that... Like were they thinking that they would use this mode...??

Or were they just coming up with something that sounds GODLY.

[QUOTE=Symbolic;13443472]Sometimes when I see people using alot of theory to describe music or a band...

For example



I'm thinking... I wonder how much Opeth new about that... Like were they thinking that they would use this mode...??

Or were they just coming up with something that [B]sounds good[/B].[/QUOTE]

That's a strange term to use to describe Opeth's music :lol:

I heard they improvise most of the solos when writing them so they must know their way around the Locrian scale to some extent.

Even though Akerfeldt pretty much says he doesn't know what he's playing most of the time.

[QUOTE=Eliminator;13443629]Even though Akerfeldt pretty much says he doesn't know what he's playing most of the time.[/QUOTE]
I find that hard to believe, as his solos are really close to the studio versions. At least in all live videos I have seen.

No he means, he doesn't know what he's playig as in, theory wise.

I think that's what Elimnator means..

That's what I meant.

If you watch the Opeth guitar lessons, the interviewer guy asks Mikael what the chord is that he uses in the main acoustic section of The Drapery Falls, and Mike replies with, "I have no idea. I use it all the time, though."

I'm sure he knows something of scales, though, even if he doesn't know the names...

[QUOTE=Duman;13443519]That's a strange term to use to describe Opeth's music :lol:

I heard they improvise most of the solos when writing them so they must know their way around the Locrian scale to some extent.[/QUOTE]
They do improvise many/most of their solos, but at the same time I find that hard to believe. They're very coherent and use some unusual techniques that seem way too "thought out" to be improvised.

It's also hard to believe because they'll play them again the same way live. They probably just came up with several licks and ideas in their head and linked them together. But I highly doubt that they came up with every single part of their solos right on the spot.

Yeah that's probably how they do it. But they must know some theory because it would be way too tedious coming up with something like that by ****[SIZE="2"]i[/SIZE]ng around until it sounds good.

Yeah, plus if you've been playing guitar for however long they've been playing I'm sure they've picked up plenty of musical knowledge along the way.

[QUOTE=Thor;13445375][B]They probably just came up with several licks and ideas in their head and linked them together.[/B] But I highly doubt that they came up with every single part of their solos right on the spot.[/QUOTE]
That's what improvisation is. Obviously people don't spontaneously think up every single note while recording. I'm sure once they get something recorded they can stick with what they came up with then and use that same solo love.

[QUOTE=Toaster;13441993]That's pretty stupid.

A fifth can be dissonant as well, anyway. For example if you're playing in a key with a flat 2nd note (can't remember any specific modes), and you play a fifth harmony on the fifth note of the scale, you'll be playing the natural 2nd rather than the flat 2nd, therefore creating dissonance.

Example of this: Opeth- Death Whispered a Lullaby

When he says "where the [I]lost[/I] souls hide" he sings the natural second of the minor scale.. even though the acoustic had clearly established a flatted second tonality.

That really doesn't have anything to do with fifths but that pretty much ruins the song for me.

Just while I'm on that, when he says "Never return from this place" in Hope Leaves, the "never" is totally off key and pretty much ruins the song for me.

:p[/QUOTE]
Wow, you are ridiculously picky. :rolleyes: Opeth are a group that pretty much thrives on music that is "out of key."

[quote=ShadowsFallen]
They do improvise many/most of their solos, but at the same time I find that hard to believe. They're very coherent and use some unusual techniques that seem way too "thought out" to be improvised.
[/quote] I think that Mikael tends to be more of an improviser than Peter. Peters' solos tend to be a bit more technical and "coherent," whereas alot (not necessarily all) of Mikaels sound more bluesy and improvised.

[QUOTE=Det_Nosnip;13446224]I think that Mikael tends to be more of an improviser than Peter. Peters' solos tend to be a bit more technical and "coherent," whereas alot (not necessarily all) of Mikaels sound more bluesy and improvised.[/QUOTE]
I think so too. Mikael seems like a very jazz/blues-based guitarist whereas Peter's solos seem to be more straightforward metal, without going into all-out shredding.

I am kind of confused by this too. I think Mikael improvises, because in that video that BurningSky mentioned, Mikael states that he forgot how to play most of the Drapery Falls solo.

But when I saw opeth live, Mikael played the solo to "White Cluster" exactly as on was on the record. So idk.

How do you pronounce Mikael's name?

I'm assuming it's not pronounced "Michael"

Nope, that's how it is pronounced. The last name is tricky, though - "OAK-er- Fell-t"

As far as the whole tritone thing is concerned, I usually just treat them as diminished power chords.

It's pronounced Mee-kah-el.

I'll see if I can find some IPA symbols to better show the pronounciation.

['mi:kʰaɛl o:kʰɛʐfɛltʰ]

Or something like close to that.

[QUOTE=beso negro;13446286]I am kind of confused by this too. I think Mikael improvises, because in that video that BurningSky mentioned, Mikael states that he forgot how to play most of the Drapery Falls solo.[/QUOTE]
Bands often become out of practice on some songs and occasionally forget completely. I don't think this has anything to do with improvising, it's because some bands have so many songs written that it's incredibly difficult to keep them all memorized and sharp at all times. This is especially true for articulate progressive bands like Opeth.

[QUOTE=Hope Eternal]It's pronounced Mee-kah-el.

I'll see if I can find some IPA symbols to better show the pronounciation

[/QUOTE]
^^^^That's the way I pronounce it.

That sounds so stupid though.

I say it like "Michael Ackerfelt"

That's basically how I say it, but I usually mumble on Mikael just so I don't have to decide on a way to really say it.

MYkull AYkerfelt does the job for me.

I like that MYkull. That's how I'll say it from now on. I'm going to keep saying Ack(as in blACK)erfelt.