I learned to play piano w/o music theory and now that i've learned a lot of it, I've noticed that my piano playing-
didn't change at all! Because these aren't rules and no, i'm NOT playing in F Phrygian, its F Phrygian fucking DOMINANT and if you DONT know the DIFFERenc-
I would argue that music theory did improve my piano playing.
Instead of seeing a large collection of notes in a measure, I could see βoh thatβs just outlining a DMaj chord,β etc. It has made my music reading more efficient,
like reading/recognizing words instead of individual letters in a language
There are no rules, just conventions. Understanding those conventions is helpful for communication. Learn the "rules" so you know how to break them more effectively!
I mean, just the fact that you needed to assert this suggests that there are people who use it to oppress others.
Iβm not sure if telling other people that they sing flat (not to help them improve but to get them to stop singing) is using music theory to oppress, but itβs in the same ballpark.
I tell my comp students that even trap has rules and write out an unsyncopated kick pattern and a hat with no rolls. When they chuckle, Iβm like, βRight?! Cuz that doesnβt follow the βrulesβ of trap!β
It only functions to bring a VOCABULARY to the visceral experience music has on ourselves and humanity. A ways to find order and definition in chaos. Music theory doesnβt define rules, it explains the rules that people imposed on themselves throughout the historical record where possible
While some may view music theory as restrictive, I believe it's essential to understand and appreciate its purpose. By analyzing music, we can gain a deeper understanding of composition, harmony, and melody, ultimately enriching our own creative expressions.
Yep. It's good to have as a tool, not a template. Even then, if people stick to them more like rules, it's nice to know enough to effectively break the rules with outside notes and the like
I love making shit up! Though I was just talking w/ a student today, the only way I can ever compose is if I inflict some restraints on myself (# of voices, theme, etc), otherwise I get too overwhelmed
sounds like Braque - "limitation of means engenders new forms". Another side benefit (at least for me)is that it ups your productivity. No option anxiety. Or maybe just less option anxiety :)
Exactly. Theory when composing is supposed to help writers block, not add to it. It should help give variations that can be tried out to figure out where something can go - or at least, that's how I use it
It is desirable to expand the field of music theory, but that wasn't my point. It was about that there is a dominant way in which music theory is thinking about music and that this does not come without its downsides.
I specifically recall the second semester in media theory where we analyzed the aesthitical choices a 12 year old girl made in her make-up-youtube-video.
If a theorist throws things out because they see it beneath them, that just means they got a stick up their...
Exactly. And this is sad, because music can be so many things to so many people β and theory, if anything, should help us make sense of the aesthetical preferences and artistic choices of humans even if the material isn't to our taste.
Oh yeah? But there are aspects traditional music theory values higher than everything else: The relationship of 12-tonal notes with each other over time. Aspects it somewhat ignores: timbral and noise-like qualities in sounds, non-traditional playing styles, electronic/digital effects, ...
I am not saying that this can't be part of music theory, or that nobodybin music theory ever talked about it at all, what I say is that most music theory people would take a undynamic harpsichord Bach piece over analyzing a colourful Hendrix guitar solo every day. Why? Because they lack the words..
Anecdotal. But I am not writing a scientific paper here. There *are* microtonality nerds who actually understand how overtone structures work β but I am not convinced they are the majority. Most people I know talk about intonations, chords, progressions, you know: stuff you can put into notes easily
.. to describe what they are hearing in the latter. Granted β not *all* of them β but certainly the majority. And Hendrix was the popular choice here, there is more sonically obscure, harder to reason about sounds out there, e.g. in the world of synthesis
Literally every musician I know who thinks music theory rules are set in stone, like there are only 12 notes in a scale or all music can be reduced to V I cadences, has never studied music outside their own (Western) culture.
i think it depends on how it is used. it can be used to force a set of rules on musicians who dont create music in that lens. it can also be used as a way to simply analyze. its a double edged sword, i guess
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It's useful but by no means a barrier to entry in making music!
Tools, not rules
didn't change at all! Because these aren't rules and no, i'm NOT playing in F Phrygian, its F Phrygian fucking DOMINANT and if you DONT know the DIFFERenc-
Instead of seeing a large collection of notes in a measure, I could see βoh thatβs just outlining a DMaj chord,β etc. It has made my music reading more efficient,
like reading/recognizing words instead of individual letters in a language
you could see a Dmaj chord on paper and know what it is, but I would have to look at the individual letters
Then breaking the rules is learning how to use it!
Iβm not sure if telling other people that they sing flat (not to help them improve but to get them to stop singing) is using music theory to oppress, but itβs in the same ballpark.
And anything idiosyncratic often means a breaking of βa ruleβ.
It is just the act of analyzing music that can be well analyzed by the theoretical frameworks provided.
Not too long ago music that didn't fit those frameworks was not deemed music at all.
There are definitely people who learn a framework and think that anything else is not music theory, or even not music.
If a theorist throws things out because they see it beneath them, that just means they got a stick up their...