When I had my photography business, the "great debate" among photographers was Nikon vs. Canon. Both are great, in their own ways.
But I was never really sold on Nikons. It was just wasn't there for me. It was like being told to date somebody because they checked all the boxes people are supposed to, "but...I don't know. Not feelin' it."
Then a friend talked me into trying Canons. He said "If you buy one, you'll fall in love with it." He was right. I bought one, and I was a goner for Canon. Still am.
Well, now that I've taken up music, there's another "great debate" to deal with: learning music theory.
I decided to study it when I took up guitar because I realized I didn't understand terms like "intervals." I thought guitar was more about learning chords, and technique. But I kept running into these pesky terms I couldn't quite get.
I bit the bullet, and dove in. I'm glad I did. It's been truly useful for me, especially in songwriting. I'm no expert, and never will be. And I don't follow it rigidly. But I needed a framework for music, and music theory gives me one.
Having said that...I would never say "You absolutely must learn music theory." Some musicians don't need it.
There was this British band awhile back whose members didn't know music theory, and they couldn't read music, either.
Oh, what was their name? "Come on, Fortune, think!!"
Oh, YEAH - the Beatles! That's right!!
I think they did okay without it. 😂
I would recommend you at least try to learn theory. Read a book on it. My beloved Dummies books have some terrific ones.
If it works for you, great. Keep doing it. If you don't need it, don't sweat it.
You're in good company with the lads from Liverpool. 🎵🎶🎼🎸
I agree! It's very helpful to have a foundation for anything you're building. It can be done without it, of course - but that's probably more the exception than the rule. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI taught myself photography, and I reviewed the basics of it constantly - long after I "knew that I knew them." My thinking about learning music is the same way. I will always review music theory long after I know it. Gotta know the basics!
DeleteThere's obvious proof that you don't have to know music theory to write good music or be successful. You already pointed out The Beatles. I actually heard Paul McCartney that they couldn't read music, that it was just a bunch of dots on a page. Irving Berlin couldn't read music and didn't know music theory, to the point where, he could only play the piano in the key of F# because it was mostly the black keys. He had to pay people to transcribe what he was playing onto paper. I didn't know much about music theory for over 60 years until I decided to learn how to play jazz. During those 60 years I wrote a lot of complicated piano music that was only memorialized in my head/memory. You can hear these on my 20/58 album. Once I got into jazz I had to learn some music theory because it's so complicated and you're playing with people well versed in theory. Although I decline to learn too much because I feel it limits my creativity. Not knowing means I don't feel like I need to "play by the rules" which most jazz musicians I know feel they have to do. I know I play in modes, but I can't name them. I just play what sounds good to me. You can hear all of this on my four all original jazz albums.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I hesitate to "push" music theory on people. They can have so many varying levels of success with or without it. I'm training to become a graphic designer, and I think art and design theory are very necessary for that. People try to tell me I don't need a degree for that, but I've been a visual artist most of my life and I definitely think theory is a must there. With graphic design, people know right away if you don't know your stuff. It's not always so obvious with music. That's a much looser, freer environment. So I say "do whatever works."
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