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What "Music Theory" REALLY Is... imho...


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So, I've been on many forums and have provided as much meaningful information as I could in regards to explaining how music works and over time it has occurred to me that just the term "Music Theory" alone can be a major stumbling block for most people in the pursuit of increasing their musical knowledge.

You see, I think a lot of people misunderstand what learning "Music Theory" actually means.

That's why, if I had my way, I'd get rid of the term "Music Theory" altogether and replace it with "Music Knowledge", because most of what people are trying to do is to "understand it" so they can freely "create it". But then they get stuck on the "complexity of it" and decide that they don't want to do it anymore.

Here's the thing: "Music Theory" is just "Music Knowledge" and you can learn as much or as little as you need to keep you interested.

For instance, just learning how to tune your guitar is part of Music Theory, but it's not really a "theory" to tune your guitar, is it? It's more of a process to set your instrument up to get it ready to play, right?

So, in that sense, everything a person learns about how to play music is considered to be "Music Theory" whether any "theory" is involved or not.

In other words, most of the stuff we learn about music involving numbers, letters, symbols and words are just "linguistics" for the language of music, with the "theory" defining those symbols. So when someone says "Play an Em chord", before you can do it you first have to know what that phrase means...

"E" is something we call the "root" of the chord. "" means "flat", so the "E" is moved down a "half-step" below "E Natural" to become "E". "m" means "minor", which refers to a "minor 3rd" in relation to "E". And of course "chord" means "chord", right?

Well, unfortunately if you don't know what a "chord" is, then it's certainly not going to be easy to understand that phrase.

In fact, there are several things that need to be explained if a person were to understand that phrase, like "root", "half-step", "natural" and "minor 3rd".

All of this is taught under the umbrella term "Music Theory", which, as far as I'm concerned, is exactly the same as my preferred term of "Music Knowledge".

So, if you already know how to tune your guitar and play a chord, then you already know some Music Theory. In that case (assuming you continue the arduous journey of gaining musical knowledge), then the question is no longer "Should I learn Music Theory" but, rather, "How Much Music Theory Should I Learn"? or better yet: "How Much Music Knowledge Do I Really Need to Get Me to Where I Want to Be"?

Anyway, if you wish to learn more, I've provided a link below to an article I created which describes the basics of what is often referred to as "Music Theory" (although you can call it "Music Knowledge" if you want) 😉:

 

 

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Edited by axemanvr
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Here's something I wrote which further emphasizes some of my views on the subject:

Have You Already Been Learning Music Theory Without Realizing It?

This is a culmination of several articles I’ve written over the years that intended to be more philosophical rather than anything specifically aimed at actually teaching Music Theory itself...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There are those of us out there that "hunger" to understand how music works and, for some of them, Music Theory is the key to nourishing their soul.

That said, I think the term “Music Theory” is grossly misunderstood at times.

If you've ever picked up a "modern" musical instrument and produced a tone, then you have experienced Music Theory - since that musical instrument is a direct product of Music Theory and wouldn't have even existed in the first place without it (barring a hollow log or a rams horn I suppose).

A "cowboy chord" diagram is part of Music Theory.

The ever so popular "Blues Scale" is part of Music Theory.

Heck, just tuning up your guitar is, in fact, Music Theory!

Whenever a person learns to play even a single note on any modern musical instrument - regardless of whether it was taught formally by an instructor, pieced together using books, acquired via the internet or by simply figuring things out on their own - that is Music Theory in practice (unless, of course, they were literally raised by wolves and somehow managed to invent their own musical instruments from scratch - despite not even knowing what a musical instrument is in the first place).

Perhaps the only music related person who can honestly say they were never taught any formal Music Theory was Pythagoras himself!

*Google "pythagoras music" for further details (you'll get extra credit points in Music Theory if you do).
 

283FAE36-ABC1-4CE6-9763-768B0CE6FE52.jpeg




So, if any modern musician claims to possess the ability to play “only by feeling without any knowledge of Music Theory whatsoever” - they are simply uninformed at best (and flat out wrong at the very worst).

Therefore the real question isn’t “Should I learn Music Theory?”, but is, rather, “How much Music Theory should I learn?”

I think its safe to say that most people aren't going to memorize every possible chord and every possible scale, in every key, backwards and forwards - but it's still inspiring to know that there are those who can!

I for one am willing to admit that I'm not "that" person, but would like to point out my philosophy of "personally mastering something", and for me I chose the path of "mastering songwriting".

So, do you really need to know music theory while aspiring to be a great performer or songwriter?

Well, I'll just say this:

The mere act of formally learning music theory creates its own inspiration (for the few who get excited about it), which presents compelling new directions to go and, in turn, unlocks multiple doors exponentially as that person progresses forward.

In other words; If you truly hunger to unlock the secrets of how music works, then there is only one narrow prickly path to follow (at first), which requires a lot of hard work and discomfort, but, rest assured, as you proceed further the road does get increasingly easier to traverse and, when you finally arrive at that place where you need to be, the rewards are priceless!

The trick is to realize that learning can "plateau" and that is when it is most crucial to keep trudging on!

If you just keep moving forward then one day you may suddenly "leap" upwards to an entirely new level! The exhilaration you feel when you experience that first major leap upwards is invaluable, but in order to keep progressing one must keep putting what they learn into practice...

For instance, here is a picture of the scribblings I made in my first Music Theory book while studying the chapter on "Seventh Chords":
 

D46ADE58-16D8-4A7B-954E-26F4508DB19F.jpeg




Instead of just aimlessly playing seventh chords, I actually made up a song using practically every type of seventh chord in that chapter (along with a few others of course)... and THAT is what made learning music theory especially exciting for me! I also found that recording anything one finds inspirational further adds to keeping things interesting.

I think there's a tendency to skip through each lesson and quickly moving on to something else, when a person really should be dwelling on every aspect until thoroughly understanding and putting them into practice.

If you "don't get" something, that is a sure sign you should be doubling your efforts (especially at the beginning).

You don't have to understand every intricate detail of Music Theory to benefit from it, since just knowing that something exists is half the battle!

Plus, knowing that there's always something else waiting around the corner to discover makes it all that more exciting - like reading a suspense novel where you can't wait to turn the next page.

Just a perspective based on my own musical journey...

 

2BCD5FA9-2E21-45C8-BB23-CB8713DFC4B3.jpeg



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



BTW, as of this time, that book I learned on can still be currently purchased at these reputable sites:

Practical Music Theory - James Lincoln Collier AMAZON

Practical Music Theory - James Lincoln Collier ABE BOOKS


...and I highly recommend it...

 

A63A301F-4845-4E64-A787-262F70CDBF4D.jpeg

 

`

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  • axemanvr changed the title to What "Music Theory" REALLY Is... imho...
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On 5/3/2022 at 7:01 PM, axemanvr said:

Here's something I wrote which further emphasizes some of my views on the subject:

Have You Already Been Learning Music Theory Without Realizing It?

This is a culmination of several articles I’ve written over the years that intended to be more philosophical rather than anything specifically aimed at actually teaching Music Theory itself...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There are those of us out there that "hunger" to understand how music works and, for some of them, Music Theory is the key to nourishing their soul.

That said, I think the term “Music Theory” is grossly misunderstood at times.

If you've ever picked up a "modern" musical instrument and produced a tone, then you have experienced Music Theory - since that musical instrument is a direct product of Music Theory and wouldn't have even existed in the first place without it (barring a hollow log or a rams horn I suppose).

A "cowboy chord" diagram is part of Music Theory.

The ever so popular "Blues Scale" is part of Music Theory.

Heck, just tuning up your guitar is, in fact, Music Theory!

Whenever a person learns to play even a single note on any modern musical instrument - regardless of whether it was taught formally by an instructor, pieced together using books, acquired via the internet or by simply figuring things out on their own - that is Music Theory in practice (unless, of course, they were literally raised by wolves and somehow managed to invent their own musical instruments from scratch - despite not even knowing what a musical instrument is in the first place).

Perhaps the only music related person who can honestly say they were never taught any formal Music Theory was Pythagoras himself!

*Google "pythagoras music" for further details (you'll get extra credit points in Music Theory if you do).
 

283FAE36-ABC1-4CE6-9763-768B0CE6FE52.jpeg




So, if any modern musician claims to possess the ability to play “only by feeling without any knowledge of Music Theory whatsoever” - they are simply uninformed at best (and flat out wrong at the very worst).

Therefore the real question isn’t “Should I learn Music Theory?”, but is, rather, “How much Music Theory should I learn?”

I think its safe to say that most people aren't going to memorize every possible chord and every possible scale, in every key, backwards and forwards - but it's still inspiring to know that there are those who can!

I for one am willing to admit that I'm not "that" person, but would like to point out my philosophy of "personally mastering something", and for me I chose the path of "mastering songwriting".

So, do you really need to know music theory while aspiring to be a great performer or songwriter?

Well, I'll just say this:

The mere act of formally learning music theory creates its own inspiration (for the few who get excited about it), which presents compelling new directions to go and, in turn, unlocks multiple doors exponentially as that person progresses forward.

In other words; If you truly hunger to unlock the secrets of how music works, then there is only one narrow prickly path to follow (at first), which requires a lot of hard work and discomfort, but, rest assured, as you proceed further the road does get increasingly easier to traverse and, when you finally arrive at that place where you need to be, the rewards are priceless!

The trick is to realize that learning can "plateau" and that is when it is most crucial to keep trudging on!

If you just keep moving forward then one day you may suddenly "leap" upwards to an entirely new level! The exhilaration you feel when you experience that first major leap upwards is invaluable, but in order to keep progressing one must keep putting what they learn into practice...

For instance, here is a picture of the scribblings I made in my first Music Theory book while studying the chapter on "Seventh Chords":
 

D46ADE58-16D8-4A7B-954E-26F4508DB19F.jpeg




Instead of just aimlessly playing seventh chords, I actually made up a song using practically every type of seventh chord in that chapter (along with a few others of course)... and THAT is what made learning music theory especially exciting for me! I also found that recording anything one finds inspirational further adds to keeping things interesting. It's like making art like The Light in the Forest, which you can check here for a review.

I think there's a tendency to skip through each lesson and quickly moving on to something else, when a person really should be dwelling on every aspect until thoroughly understanding and putting them into practice.

If you "don't get" something, that is a sure sign you should be doubling your efforts (especially at the beginning).

You don't have to understand every intricate detail of Music Theory to benefit from it, since just knowing that something exists is half the battle!

Plus, knowing that there's always something else waiting around the corner to discover makes it all that more exciting - like reading a suspense novel where you can't wait to turn the next page.

Just a perspective based on my own musical journey...
 

2BCD5FA9-2E21-45C8-BB23-CB8713DFC4B3.jpeg



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



BTW, as of this time, that book I learned on can still be currently purchased at these reputable sites:

Practical Music Theory - James Lincoln Collier AMAZON

Practical Music Theory - James Lincoln Collier ABE BOOKS


...and I highly recommend it...

 

A63A301F-4845-4E64-A787-262F70CDBF4D.jpeg

 

`

I already read this longread once but never responded, but the material itself is not bad. I had no reason to go into detail before and how it works, but seeing the post decided to read the books that were offered and it was quite fascinating, so thank you for the encouragement to do so.  

Edited by Resuresse
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