Music Theory

[monkeydust]

Does anyone else here study music theory?

Or do you all consider any 'theory' to be damaging to the true 'essence' of the 'nature' of music?

I know the odd thing or two about it, so I may be able to help people out somewhat here, it's interesting to note that while music may be the hardest of the arts to define, it is by far the most mathematical.

[Comrade BNS]

yeah i'm really into music theory!

Here in Australia there are grades 1-8 for theory, and I am doing grade 5 atm (most ppl don't do past grade 5, because that is the highest level you need to get your graduate diploma in an instrument or gain entry to uni courses.) and i intend to continue doing it...

what type of stuff do u do with your theory?

Comrade BNS

[Jesus Christ]

all i really do is study music theory in my free time, you would be so suprised to how much it helps when jamming

[monkeydust]

Comrade BNS


Here in Australia there are grades 1-8 for theory, and I am doing grade 5 atm (most ppl don't do past grade 5, because that is the highest level you need to get your graduate diploma in an instrument or gain entry to uni courses.) and i intend to continue doing it...


We have exactly the same system here in England, again most people don't tend to learn beyond grade 5, there's lots to learn beyond these grades however. They don't (to a great degree) involve Eastern theory, or modes, or many more 'modern'techniques such as time displacement.


what type of stuff do u do with your theory?


Well....quite a bit.

Perhaps more than anything theory is something to 'fall back on'. If I am composing a piece I can always utilize basic theory whenever all else fails. It's not creative, but it works.

The same goes for improvisation. I would tend to use a degree of creativity and originality when improving, yet if all else fails, I can usually 'wing it', simply by reverting to bog standard theory.


Jesus


all i really do is study music theory in my free time, you would be so suprised to how much it helps when jamming

Too true, it certainly opens doors which otherwise would have gone unnoticed in terms of playing, jamming etc.

[Take the Power back]

Well, I play bass guitar, and a lot of bassists learn theory, but I have only scratched the surface of it. It does help, especially on bass.

[Hate Is Art]

I learnt the basic's, keys, reading music, time signitare, that it. Enough to be able to get a bit creative and such but also able to see what works.

[nezvanova]

I think that theory is crucial if you're a musician. You have to understand theory, no two ways about it. It drives me nuts how many musicians don't understand even basic theory, like the kids in my school's bands. There are only a few kids who actually understand theory, the rest just fake their way through their pieces. I guess I was lucky cause I had classical training in cello before joining band (my cello teacher left, though, so I havent seriously played cello in about 3 years...) but it helped immensly with my bass guitar and guitar skills. Not just the mathematical aspects of theory, but technique as well (though my little finger still has a habit of curling back on occasion, which drives me nutso!) You can't undermine the importance of theory. if you're serious about music, then you have to be serious about learning theory.