Members arpegio Posted May 22, 2003 Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Hey guys. I was wondering what your guy's opinion on music written by accident. I use to play guitar and bass a lot with out knowing theory. I would write lots of songs. I look back on that and think to myself that those songs weren't really music no matter how creative they were. I don't know. What do you think of songs written by some one that has no idea what there doing or why it works? Is it creativity or a fluke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members andrewjudah Posted May 22, 2003 Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Originally posted by arpegio Hey guys. I was wondering what your guy's opinion on music written by accident. I use to play guitar and bass a lot with out knowing theory. I would write lots of songs. I look back on that and think to myself that those songs weren't really music no matter how creative they were. I don't know. What do you think of songs written by some one that has no idea what there doing or why it works? Is it creativity or a fluke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arpegio Posted May 22, 2003 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Hey andrewjudas. Your immaturity proves your level of musical integrity. Maybe you should be playing kazoo!!! p.s. How are those power chords working out for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members andrewjudah Posted May 22, 2003 Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Originally posted by arpegio Hey andrewjudas. Your immaturity proves your level of musical integrity. Maybe you should be playing kazoo!!! p.s. How are those power chords working out for you? i was only joking, but welcome to the harmony central club. truely, welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arpegio Posted May 22, 2003 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Thanks. This club rocks! Its full of people who don't want to answer your questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted May 22, 2003 Members Share Posted May 22, 2003 Don't get so upset if people don't answer your questions right away- This forum isn't as busy as some others like the Amp, Effect, and Recording forums. Just because you don't know theory or don't "write" the music out in standard notation doesn't mean that it's not music. The Beatles never wrote anything out as far as I know and they had Gerorge Martin to do all the string arrangements and orchestrated stuff. In fact most populatr musicians don't write anything down except chords and lyrics as far as I know. Takw a walk through the rock n' roll hall of fame and you can see that songs were scrawled out accross napkins and notebooks. I've been playing since I was about 12 (21 years now) and I've been gigging since I was 18 (15 years now) and I only have a rudimentary grasp of theory, but I write and compose all the time.What about Gamelan music from Indonesia or African music-most of that is rhythmically complex, but it never gets written down-It's memorized generation after generation! I think most songwriting is "done by accident"I don't know anyone that says "Hmm....I want to write a song in G and modulate up at the bridge..." It just happens that way.Music Theory is just a road map. You can already be a good driver and not know where you are going, and still get there. Music Theory is like mapquest- It says "You are "here" and if you want to get "there" I can show you ten different ways to do it that will sound good. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members arpegio Posted May 24, 2003 Author Members Share Posted May 24, 2003 Great answer. Worth the wait! thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shards Posted May 25, 2003 Members Share Posted May 25, 2003 I don't think it is "a fluke" because you are still going by what your ears decide is "good". It is creativity. That is in no way discouraging learning theory. Because with a bit of theory behind you, you are likely (not always) to find that said "flukes" or creativity occur with less time expended. Good music is creativity. Often theory can be applied retrospectively. That is, you might fumble around for an hour and come across an amazing riff or chord progression...if you had a grasp of some theory the same thing *may* have come to you earlier simply because you had more of an idea of what you wanted and what would most likely achieve that effect. Welcome to HC BTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spinman Posted May 27, 2003 Members Share Posted May 27, 2003 Theory came second, not first. People did what they thought sounded good. later someone realized that there were a lot of similarities between things that sounded good. They wrote these down. Hence, theory. If you analyzed some of these songs, you'd be surprised how much they probably follow standard theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MunyaBuddya Posted June 2, 2003 Members Share Posted June 2, 2003 Cheers to the previous responders. Now if you don't mind me saying, it seems that this possible dilemma boils down to the perrennial "...but is it art?" debate. To avoid the tempting mental masturbation of semantic inquiry, let me cut to the chase. The real question is, "...but is it good?". And I think we all know where that question is going. My advice is this: keep the academics out of your music, unless they propel your cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CarneVaca Posted June 2, 2003 Members Share Posted June 2, 2003 Too much theory can stifle creativity. Follow your natural intuition and decide later if it's good or not. Don't worry so much about whether "it is music." When you play it, do you get into it? Do others respond to it? Do you connect with the audience? That's what it's about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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