unless we have two completely different definitions of music theory... Wikipedia says: Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods. So no. I do not sound like an idiot. A lot of modern musicians, including Hendrix, have never studied theory. Hendrix played by ear; he didn't read music. He didn't write music. The Beatles didn't know theory either. Paul Mccartney once said he didn't want to learn how to read and write music because he was afraid it would interfere with his creative process. I'm not arguing the value of theory. I'm arguing that its neccessary to study theory in order to be a good musician. Some people are born with an innate sense of music. Perhaps you are not one of them. Thats okay, you're still a big bad guitawr pwayer in our eyes, jmt.
*takes JMT behind the barn and beats the life out of him with a dirty shovel* take it from a musician, this is NOT true. even if you play by ear you still know theory. if you didn't know any theory you wouldn't be able to make an instrument sound consonant at all. Just because you don't read sheet music doesn't mean you don't know what constitutes a major or minor chord or what chords fit in which key. These are parts of music theory; both the beatles and jimi hendrix understood and utilized theory.
You guys are basically just agreeing with my point in the original thread jmt referred to... In which I stated that I had friends who never studied theory and didn't need to because they had an inate understanding of music. Not everyone has to study theory to understand it And since when is vanilla my friend that defends me lol
Whatever you say dude. I said some people have an inate sense of music and can be talented musicians without actually studying theory. No one has disagreed with this. How am I wrong.
My theory would be that you can't change another's mind by telling them to shut up ... it doesn't make you more right either Try and convince them with founded information instead. And they still may disagree, no ? Also it sounds like you have different views what 'study' means.
there are certainly people in the world who are 'built' to do something lance armstrong for instance he was likely destined to be a sportsman but he wasn't just able to ride a bike because of this. you said jimi didn't know theory he did. not to disrespect you anyways meliai - you're wonderful and usually you're on the money. but this time i think (god forbid ) jmt is right.
i learnt the basics keys by ear also had lessons after. you could argue i didn't know theory but i did because i was playing it.
I do feel as if we're arguing semantics :love: aw, buttercup. I'm not really arguing that you don't know theory, per se...this all goes back to a thread someone started a while ago, inquiring if it was necessary to study theory. He wanted to know if he could just figure it out on his own. To which I replied that I know plenty of musicians who have never formally studied theory and have a better grasp on music than people who have actually studied theory and/or taken music classes/lessons. Anywho...tomatoes, tomahtoes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyQg2vt_st0"]HAWKWIND 03 THE WIZARD BLEW HIS HORN - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKcl4qLiPE"]Hawkwind - The Golden Void Pt 2 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfFXaAvMtSA"]SPIRAL GALAXY 28948 BY HAWKWIND - YouTube
In all honesty , they Do know theory . In fact I would say that many are better than classically trained / schooled musicians . Because they learned for themselves and not what others wanted or told them to learn or is correct . Music comes from the heart and soul , and those with the talent have it within them . And in some ways by learning to read music and be classically trained does hurt their inner creative drive and change it somewhat . It becomes more complicated and technical . And I think that complexity changes individual creativity sometimes. Being self taught by ear and unencumbered to take ones music within and let it lead one where it will produces some the best music ever created . Talent is talent and there are those born to produce it . Yet they too know theory . Just like a person who can't read words in a book . By listening to others on the subject of the book , they know the theory the book contains . And they fit the pieces together by ear . And if they have an natural talent on the subject matter they have an ability to understand depths of it they shouldn't be able to . No different than a child prodigy who show unreal artistic talent long before they can even read . And then also there are those who benifit from both , being schooled and have natural talent , has really produced some great works too. It amazes me how complex some of their arrangements are and weave seamlessly together in works you wouldn't think fit together in complex arrangements .
That made me think of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVdJBNQMCMc"]Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar - YouTube Music Theory knowledge to me is definitely a help. I know I'm crossing sub topics. But I think that the more you know about a language the better you will be able to speak it. Music is simply that, a language, a way to express abstract ideas. I meant to touch on this in the follow up to this Blog Post: http://www.hipforums.com/modules/Journal/viewentry.php?journalid=3337 Gilmour wrote some deep lyrics too though listen to "Momentary Lapse of Reason" or "The Division Bell". As a matter of fact one of my favorite Floyd lyrics comes from The Division Bell: "I held out my hand to my enemy, I asked 'Could we wipe the slate clean' They just asked 'Could you please go fuck yourself?' Sometimes you just cannot win" I just don't remember the name of the song. I love it when people mention their favorite band and then tell you their favorite song is one of the "Album" cuts not one of the "Radio" Cuts. Stay Brown, Rev J
I was introduced to Pink Floyd about two years ago, only being 19 now, thats my excuse for such a crime, but they've became my musical obsession since my first listen (particularly Mr Syd Barrett, but lets not start any Barrett Vs Non Barrett Floyd ). Built up a solid Vinyl collection of Floyd albums, Dvds, posters, newspaper articles, the works haha! Was even lucky enough to manage to go see Roger Waters himself on his 2011 The Wall tour, which was beyond any gig experience I've ever been to or will ever go to. To the OP, having been a recent discoverer of Floyd, I suppose anything I say about the Darksideofthemoonandthewallonlyfans might seem pretty arrogant, but it does get to me when I meet people like this. Not for any reasons like, you're only listening to thier most famous stuff, bla bla bla, but purely because they're missing the best Floyd experience, the best musical experience they'll get, by limiting themselves to just those albums... Just the thoughts of a noob around here! Haha
