How do they work?
The Acceptances are intended to be played in any order. Creating a set order, where you know what comes next, would miss the point.
If you’re well-versed in music theory, some of this will be basic. If you’re not, don’t worry.
Music operates along certain ‘rules,’ though they’re not rules so much as they are long-standing conventions that establish expectations.
When expectations are satisfied, everything is calm and orderly and in the right place, though this can bore us.
When expectations are violated, we feel surprise and laugh, or cry, or gasp. Surprise is the engine of every narrative art.
But the Acceptances are not narrative art. They don’t set up any expectations, or violate any – they simply are.
Where ‘normal’ music would be in a certain key, or have chords that intend to resolve to certain other chords, the Acceptances just happen.
The reason they don’t sound like a vile mess is that I honored a few creative limitations.
There is a very limited rhythmic vocabulary: arpeggio, simple fingerpicking, or strumming. Not every Acceptance employs all three, but these are the only choices. This means that no matter what’s happening harmonically, there is consistency in the rhythms and phrasing.
The harmonic vocabulary is constrained by the tuning of the guitar (standard) and no use of capos. This means that almost all of the Acceptances have some open strings, and those open strings form common notes between the pieces. These common notes allow the harmonies to transition smoothly, as our ears are accustomed to the practice of using common tones to link dissimilar harmonies.
The melodic content is born entirely of #1 + #2, which limits the kinds of melodies available, and links them.
If you’d like to know more, just ask.