Theory/Technique

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dagosto

I was fortunate enough to study at a music school where rhythm was given its due. Sometimes I think my theory training can get in the way of my writing. Sometimes it amazes me how crazy things can get using conventional theory. I think drewsifier is on the right track by pointing out theattheory came after music. It really is just a codification of places that have already been visited in an art which is limitless. Theory just helps us navigate.

i agree, theory is the map, it's up to us to chart out new territories, or at least attempt to.

[mikegee]

yea, good forum... and like, the beatles were hardly musical geniuses, but they made sounds that blended really good together, i think maybe a lot of good music is bits and pieces of different musicians playing musical ideas pieced together to make a song, interaction and cohesiveness, and collaberation hmmm, not to mention everything that sparks creativity... theory is less important in this modern pop music world,,, ideas and options rule the day... just my two cents

[mikegee]

hehe BUT, some theory is absolutely essential, ala proper rhythm!!! ugh, i worked with musicians who cant count or keep a beat ouch ouch ouch hehe

[Caturtle]

Intuition plays an important role in the blending of sounds. Theory is important in that it gives musicians a vocabulary of specific techniques, specific expressions. Ignorance is important in that it keeps you open to experimentation which leads to creation.

Intution is probably the most important of the three and completely impossible to teach.

[Professor Riffs]

theory is less important in this modern pop music world,,, ideas and options rule the day... just my two cents[/quote]

But who wants to play modern pop? I mean like, ewwwwwwwww!

[johnS]

Intution is probably the most important of the three and completely impossible to teach.

What about influence? I think our intuition is very much guided by the stuff we like and, consciously or subconsciously, want to emulate. I've been playing and writing riffs for many years, and it's weird to go back through my old demo tapes and hear how deeply I was influenced by what I was listening to at the time. I thought it was me who was making the musical choices--and to some degree it was. But it was also the artists I was in awe of at the time. So I don't think intuition is completely impossible to teach. A lot of what we call intuition is just aping what came before--monkey hear monkey do!

My two cents!

[Caturtle]

You have a point johnS. We do learn from our influences and we probably align ourselves into their "school" (if you will) of songwriting. Being that we are drawn to artists that express / emote something we sense / feel in ourself; it seems perfectly natural to make ourselves an extention of the tree.

I believe the music medium is a way for all of us to communicate universal ideas and feelings. It's another way we talk to each other, intuitively.

[smopo24]

music is math, and math is the universial language. if you have music without words, it transcends linguistic boundaries.

[Caturtle]

Originally Posted by smopo24

music is math, and math is the universial language. if you have music without words, it transcends linguistic boundaries.

1. Music is music
2. Math is math.
3. Does math exist or was math created to exist?
4. Music without words transcends emotional boundaries ("the self").
5. Linguistic boundaries exist within the very symbols that create the linguistic field. ie: words.

Is music math, or is music a chaos that people want to contain / control using math? If that's the case - learn your scales and be careful not to hit a wrong note. If that's not the case, then there is no such thing as a wrong note.

Who's counting that feels it?

[Professor Riffs]

Originally Posted by Caturtle

1. Music is music
2. Math is math.
3. Does math exist or was math created to exist?
4. Music without words transcends emotional boundaries ("the self").
5. Linguistic boundaries exist within the very symbols that create the linguistic field. ie: words.

Is music math, or is music a chaos that people want to contain / control using math? If that's the case - learn your scales and be careful not to hit a wrong note. If that's not the case, then there is no such thing as a wrong note.

Who's counting that feels it?

Math exists in nature, and we give parts of it names. Music exists in nature, and we give parts of it names as well. The two, to me, have a lot in common, and can be mixed with totally beautiful and/or insane sonic results. This can be interpreting a series of numbers into a musical phrase, tuning an instrument to the vibrations of the earth, all sorts of things. I don't rely solely on this sort of reasoning for all of the music I write, nor do I rely solely on any other. An approach such as mixing music and math is simply one more way to pull new sounds from the world around us.

p.s. the only wrong notes I know are the ones that aren't really meant!