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C scale,
CDEFGBD.

Tonic C ,Sub dom F, dom, G.

Evryone happy now.

GLENJ wrote:C scale,
CDEFGBD.

Tonic C ,Sub dom F, dom, G.

Evryone happy now.

CDEFGABC

No sharps, no flats, no black keys Glenny!

You guys (and gals) who know music theory blow me away.

I kind of wish I knew all of that stuff.



But I'm pretty happy being the musician I am.

Knowing music theory doesn't make an individual write better music or enhance the person's talent. I think creativity is innate. Although, Music Theory helps to organize your musical thoughts so you can communicate your ideas efficiently to other musicians. Music Theory has been developed over centuries to convey expressions of music, and/or record the ideas for future recital. I can compare Music Theory as learning another language (ie. French, Spanish) and you can think of it as the language musicians posses internally. Having said all that, Music Theory is a "tool" that can be useful in any situation, professional and casual.

In my case...I started studying theory at the age of 3, and by the time I was 10 there wasn't anything more to learn. That being said, I have to watch how I explain something to other people that have a decent understanding of theory, because a lot of it goes right over their heads.

Kind of like listening to Alex Skolnik explain a passage with his jazz trio. He doesn't realise it, but he takes something complex and makes it even more complex by explaining it the way that he does.

dECHO wrote:In my case...I started studying theory at the age of 3, and by the time I was 10 there wasn't anything more to learn.

That is astounding. Where you raised in a musical family where they taught you theory that early? You must be excellent at sightreading.

Are you a studio musician like me?

jsantos wrote:

dECHO wrote:In my case...I started studying theory at the age of 3, and by the time I was 10 there wasn't anything more to learn.

That is astounding. Where you raised in a musical family where they taught you theory that early? You must be an excellent at sightreading.

Are you a studio musician like me?

My dad played piano, and by the age of 3, I'd just watch him play Elvis tunes, then play them right back to him. So I started lessons from a nice old lady named Emma Bogdan. Then at 8 I was playing alto sax and piano and sight reading was actually fun for me. Taught myself guitar at 13, but my dad wouldn't get me one so my uncle gave me one of his neighbor's old beat up acoustics and I kept it in my music locker at school. I'm left-handed, but I taught myself to play right-handed.

As far as studio work goes...I did a little bit of it some years back, but I always wanted to be in a band with people that were like-minded with melodic/progressive/death metal. So I've been after that for the past 3 years.

I quit the band that I was in last night because it was going in the opposite direction (ie: they love Nickelback and crap and I think that it's just CRAP). So as of this morning...I have to start all over again. The never-ending cycle of knowing I'll never find the right people where I live to see the dream come to fruition. Studio work at this point is starting to look like something I may be interested in though...

jsantos wrote:Knowing music theory doesn't make an individual write better music or enhance the person's talent. I think creativity is innate. Although, Music Theory helps to organize your musical thoughts so you can communicate your ideas efficiently to other musicians. Music Theory has been developed over centuries to convey expressions of music, and/or record the ideas for future recital. I can compare Music Theory as learning another language (ie. French, Spanish) and you can think of it as the language musicians posses internally. Having said all that, Music Theory is a "tool" that can be useful in any situation, professional and casual.

That's the way I've always thought about theory jsantos; as a communication tool so musicians can get on the same page easily.

I kind of wish it had never been called "music theory" but had instead been called "music language". Because it's a lot like learning a foreign language. You're just learning a communication medium. The rules of music haven't changed. It's a lexicon.

I just need to sit down and learn it someday so I can be a more effective communicator with my band mates.

Very impressive dECHO!


When you give up death metal, please move to Florida, so you can help form a band that can change the world... and... make you a fortune TOURING IT!!!

ColorsFade wrote:That's the way I've always thought about theory jsantos; as a communication tool so musicians can get on the same page easily.

I kind of wish it had never been called "music theory" but had instead been called "music language". Because it's a lot like learning a foreign language. You're just learning a communication medium. The rules of music haven't changed. It's a lexicon.

I just need to sit down and learn it someday so I can be a more effective communicator with my band mates.

I think the "theory" aspect of Music Theory is lodged in the rules of intervals and harmony. It's mathematical in a way. The distance between two notes is very much in a way a math process of spacial reasoning. As an example, a root note and a major third is 4 semitones above, and this is absolute and can never change. If the 3rd is lowered a semitone (half-step) down, the third is now a minor third and this affects the whole constitution of the scale and chord. What I am saying is this is how Music Theory becomes like an actual science. I have never taken a formal guitar lesson or have had a teacher. Most of my learning were from books, articles and videos. It wasn't until I have been playing for 6 years that I enrolled myself for jazz studies at Bloom School of Jazz. The instructors were quite impressed that I learned that much theory on my own. I encourage anyone who wants to learn theory to give it a try.

Here is a good book for learning theory that is focused on guitar players:



Veteran musician and educator Mick Goodrick presents practical information for guitarists who want to improve their playing technique and style and simply become better musicians. Rather than a step-by-step method book, the information is presented in a general essay format, discussing ways that the various techniques covered may be applied by the advancing guitarist to enhance his/her own style of playing, some of the areas discussed include: basic fingerboard mechanics * modes, scales and chords * contemporary harmony * harmonic and overtone influences * being self-critical * improvising short pieces * different playing situations.

We have used this in classrooms and found it very effective.

Oh for crying out loud ,,,,, This was a Joke.
I am smilin' lesson 6,7 , were real fun stories and things you gotta be carefull of.
This was a JOKE , get a sense of humor, things got to heavy and and I was just trying to show a way to balance boring music posts and nasty political posts.

Glen...I knew it was a joke when I saw it last night. That's why I didn't say anything about the obvious "miscalculation". Hahaha!