Page 15 - Write Away Magazine April

Wild Bill O’Halloran

Now That You KNOW home for Christmas…after an exciting,

but nerve-wracking adventure in a far-off
The Rules..... land. This is the textbook “WHY” of

music theory. Demolishing textbook
anything, however, is what art is all about!

When Blues music in America began
blowing the minds of white folks, they
thought that the interchanging of the

major and minor third meant that the
music was “sad”….and the flat seven
meant that the music reflected “harsh”
reality. While both of those things might

have been true in many cases, what was
really happening was confusion about an
African scale with which they were
unfamiliar.”.....acceptance” needed to
happen! Also confusing the European
mindset was the use of the (so-called)

dominant seventh for ALL the chords in
blues….I7---IV7—V7-I7. It must have
been like hearing Jimi Hendrix for the
first time and wondering “ Is a guitar

making all those sounds?”…..talk about a
journey far from home!

To sum up what all this means to us:
Songwriters should know what emotional

buttons tradition says they’re pushing….
they should understand the music thory
behind those buttons in considerable
detail…..AND THEN, they should…
THEY MUST……take the listener

someplace NEW!!!!!

Wildcat O’Halloran’s new CD Deck of
Cards is out! Details at

www.wildcatohalloran.com

www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk 15