Does Music Theory REALLY Kill Creativity?
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People often argue that learning music theory can kill your creativity - but is this really true?
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• Does Music Theory REAL...
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:46 Music Theory Prejudice
01:48 Scars from Childhood
02:58 Knowing vs Formally Training
04:44 A Predictor of Success?
05:27 Prescriptive vs Descriptive
06:48 Music Theory Pros
07:49 Music Theory Cons
09:09 Conclusion
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@tonyrapa-tonyrapa 3 ай бұрын
I've played the guitar, on and off, for about 45 years. It's only in the last 10 years that I have made the effort to learn theory. I wouldn't call myself a music theory master but I've now got a decent handle of most of the basics and some of the more advanced stuff. I can say, without doubt, that knowing theory helps my creativity. I can still jam/noodle away away without thinking too much about theory and then, later, go back over some of those noodlings and enhance/improve them with theory. The end result is pretty cool, in my experience. One other thing - I haven't bothered learning to read music. Like Mike says, knowing theory and reading music should not be confused.
@johnnyfuller1747 3 ай бұрын
In the late 60's, I learned to read music. Not sight read, but I could decipher what was on the page. I did it thinking I could buy the sheet music and find out what George was actually playing. Imagine my distress when I found those notes on the page weren't what he was playing. I was suspicious of music theory for a long time. Now, I want to know more about it.
@fire9water 3 ай бұрын
theory helped me to understand harmony which led to an amazing output of original songwriting that's ongoing.
@CreativeSauce 3 ай бұрын
Interesting!
@movingtargetschannel 3 ай бұрын
Theory is invaluable. Helps you put voices together, empowers your versatility in composition, leads via comprehension to instinctvely knowing chord variations and relative harmony and melody. Before there were recordings, composers needed to "hear" it all in their head. Certainly didn't hurt Beethoven or Mozart! Great topic, Mike!
@UnpleasantChuck 3 ай бұрын
Interesting topic. As a child in the 1950s, I learned to play trombone in elementary school, and played in the school band all the way through high school. There was little exposure to general music theory, it was all centered on learning my instrument and reading the notes on the page. It was playing someone else’s compositions. There was virtually no creativity of my own, in fact, it was discouraged. In the last few years of school, I became interested in rock music of the day, and began fooling with guitars and a cheesy combo organ. After a couple of years, it occurred to me that this experimentation had taught me more about music theory and song structure than all the previous years of sitting in a chair looking at dots on a sheet of paper and fearing criticism from a guy waving his arms around with a baton in his hands. I’m now 73 and appreciate the values of both types of learning, and have had a long fascination for chords - especially more complex and altered chords - chord progressions and harmony. It's all good!
@glennlittle7955 3 ай бұрын
Yes, this. I have a strong conviction that music teaching in schools needs to change because it is still largely centred around reading and playing and not around theory and composition, still trying to train orchestra members, the same as a couple of centuries ago. It's time it was questioned.
@easyvelvet77 3 ай бұрын
Thanks for this one, it has been a strong dilemma for yearrrrrs. I've been playing from ears all along, 25 years of great fun "finding" amazing chords and progressions. But when came the time to explain other musicians what was happening there: chords names, scales, modes, or to understand them on stage when they would throw in the air a progression, I tend to get lost. I would find my marks with a lot of mistakes before being on the good wave. So, for a person playing alone, or for sure at early stage on music, one does not really need theory. But putting my head in it the last 4-5 years, understanding diatonic chords, inversions, modes and so on realllllllly helped me to COMMUNICATE around what's happening! It's a bit like watching a movie in a foreign language: you don't really need the subtitles to FEEL what's happening, but with them, you get finally most of the subtleties of it. And it's way more easy suddenly to explain where we are to someone just arriving, ...before he or she just ruin the all jam by "trying" all around!
@alancollins2782 3 ай бұрын
I'm 65 and I've been playing guitar and writing songs since my late teens. I was totally self-taught and could not read music. I learned to sing and play "by ear," as they say. A few years ago, I decided to go back to school (I never finished college when I was younger) with a music major because I wanted to learn music theory. I was hoping by expanding my knowledge it help make me a better musician and song writer. It did, but what I realized when I started back to school, was that I already knew a lot of music theory just by playing and writing. But now I could put words to everything I already knew.
@dontucker 3 ай бұрын
My knowledge of music theory barely scratches the surface, but I find that the more I learn, the more ideas come to me. It's opened up many creative avenues for me. I actually found that when I didn't understand theory as much as I do now, I would many times box myself into a corner when it came to new ideas. It also leads me to a quicker resolve when an idea stikes me. Music theory to me is kind of a template of sorts.
@dougkidder9069 3 ай бұрын
Having some formal (stress some) education under my belt regarding MT combined with years of experience in various settings, I find it incredibly useful in multiple circumstances. I'll use MT when inventing that magic chord I'm looking for, as mentioned communicating with other musicians, gigs where you walk in and are handed charts to music you've never played before as you're meeting the rest of the band for the first time - if nothing else it helps with the confidence in a situations like that - but the knowledge of relationships between tones is invaluable I think.
@thomasjohnson-ut7zl 3 ай бұрын
Music theory can be a tool in the creative process, like a DAW, effects, rhyming dictionary, etc. it is not limiting.
@ronaldmiller2968 3 ай бұрын
I've been playing nearly sixty years and I've absorbed a fairly good working knowledge of music theory, although I'm no maestro. What I've found is that having that knowledge has enabled me to work with a greater range of other musicians: session players, jazz & classical players etc. For me that's the greatest reward. Sure you can be a musician without theory but there's nothing wrong with constantly learning, It's been of no detriment to me - I still love music and the people who make it as much as I've ever done.
@ServingMyJesus 3 ай бұрын
I studied music theory long after I started writing songs. After studying music theory it helped me to approach song writing in various ways tht I had not thought of before. Music theory is bigger than learning notes and their values.
@user-yq5kz6yz1x 3 ай бұрын
I learned a bit of music theory at school, and put some of it to use in my first efforts at songwriting for bands I was in at the time. I never learned to sight read and then spent 40-odd years learning to play guitar chords from tabs/chord diagrams so I could perform a few covers at open mics and with bands formed for fun at work. Then, towards the end of 2022, I crushed my left ring finger in an accident at work, which ended my guitar-playing days ( yep, I've had a million people tell me about Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi - but I can't play guitar any more!!). However, I couldn't conceive of a life without making music, so within a week of the accident I'd bought a little 25 key midi keyboard and started figuring out how to play it. Through this process, I found music theory (which I began to learn more about) incredibly helpful (there are no barre chords on a keyboard where you can move the same shapes up and down to make different chords!!), and it really helped me learn keyboard chord shapes. As time has gone on I have acquired a 37-key synth (plus a drum machine!) and started doing a lot more composition, where the theory has helped me get more varied and creative with different modes and basslines/accompaniments using something other than the root note of every chord. I still have loads to learn (and I'm currently considering doing some of the ABRSM Music Theory exams to push me further), but I'm a definite convert to music theory as a learning and creativity aid, certainly not a hinderance.
@MrOnemoreknight0 3 ай бұрын
A lot of very valid points you made there Mike. I have been playing guitar for many many years and although I never had any formal training, I have found that having some music theory knowledge has helped my playing, given me more confidence when playing with other muscians and led me down paths I probably wouldn't have gone down otherwise. At the end of the day it is just another tool in the music box.
@BerndCierpiol-hn7nb 3 ай бұрын
Thanks for that video! When I was 12 years old, I learnt to play the organ by numbers at home. I learnt to read music at school. Then I bought scores of musicals like "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Hair" and some rock bands because I liked playing that music. You have to at least learn the notation to play music by other artists, especially if it's more classical. If you play classical music, like Bach or Handel, you'll recognise the roots of contemporary music, because things that were written down 400 years ago are showing up in today's music, especially in rock and metal music, and that helps you a lot to understand what you're doing when you play your instrument, whether you're playing with scores or just improvising. It doesnßt kill creativity at all, it improves.
@KarryConway 3 ай бұрын
i don't regret the years of accordion lessons i had as a young buck...in particular one amazing teacher that taught me how to improvise. It all led to an amazing career. 20 years a road musician and a great life to boot!
@thefretboardplayground 3 ай бұрын
I learned formally early on for 9 years from the start, moved to Nashville, got to work professionally, got to play with some really cool people and heroes (Vince Gill, Les Paul, Tommy Emmanuel, Richard Bennett, Guthrie Trapp, Billy Cox (once, at NAMM, graciously orchestrated by Dave Pomeroy who set the whole thing up, etc.). Theory didn't hurt me. It DID lead to a few gigs I got hired for, put my time in on and didn't ever want to do again because it wasn't fun or where my heart was (musical theater pit reading gigs, transcription work, etc.) but it was nicer to not want to do than to not be able to do. How music works helped me become a deeper and better musician. A few years ago Steve Lukather called it in an interview I heard: "Let's be honest, if it wasn't going to happen, it wasn't going to happen." Theory kills nothing. It's declining relevance to professional musicianship is not a product of the Internet age and should not be used to cast blame in any direction. It is however a sign of the times and how things have changed in the world over the past several decades. In the Wrecking Crew era it just wasn't a topic of conversation. Carol Kaye or Barney Kessel were not hemming and hawing back and forth on the value or lack thereof. Music has changed. The world has changed. I can't speak for you, you'll have to decide. No judgment just experience and thought.
@4BarCafe 3 ай бұрын
I have studied music theory quite a bit in the past few years and I find that it has expanded the options I consider when writing a piece. It doesn't prescribe what I do, it opens up new possibilities.
@orderd29 3 ай бұрын
I'm a big believer in learning the rules before breaking them. If you know what's already established, you know what you're doing differently and why you choose to do it that way. Something as fundamental as including a key change has its basis in theory as to what keys you can move to and the journey you need to take to get there.
@Promidi 3 ай бұрын
Sometimes the connection between an awesome musical phrase and music theory is pure serendipity........
@panneddead-centre6844 3 ай бұрын
Hey Mike. Kevin Parent here. My experience was quite different. There was always a piano in the house, though I didn't do anything with it until 1977. I did some playing by ear, but mostly I was reading sheet music. No lessons in reading; I just figured it out myself and asked my mom questions when I had them. But my attention was drawn to the chord symbols, and I was soon analysing them, figuring out that a major chord consisted of the named note, and another note four black&white keys above it, etc. One day, Sister Mary Holy Water told us to get a book on our own and do a book report. I found a book called, simply, 'Music Theory' and bought it. It was a college textbook and I was in the 6th grade (US, so 11 or 12 years old). It was no problem for me. With that book I taught myself theory up to and including four-part writing. Honestly, it never occurred to me that there were musicians who didn't know these things or didn't want to. If you want to be a historian, you read history books and articles, so as I wanted to be a musician, I read music books and assumed everybody else did as well. (Incidentally, I was hyperlexic as a toddler and have always been bookish.) Some people just take to the theoretical side of things, and eventually I realised that just who I am.
@BobDietrich1 3 ай бұрын
In my years of piano lessons, it was all about reading and performing. No theory. When I did take a music theory class in college, it opened my eyes to the possibility of writing. It took the mystery away of how to write music and songs. Also, you can break the rules if it sounds good.
@Noname-ko5pj 3 ай бұрын
Spot on.I love your approach. I was raised by 2 professional classical musicians and they put me through the initial "by the book" early training. They meant well, and did what they knew how to do, but little did they know they'd produced a little rocker kid. I crapped out of lessons early and didn't start playing seriously until my early 20s, instead spending time assimilating all the music I could get my hands on via my ears. At that point, learning theory helped me make sense of why the music I liked, from ANY genre, sounded the way it did, and how to get those sounds into my own music. I love your approach. I had a teacher once who said that it was important to learn the rules so that when the time comes, you'll know how to break them properly.
@jammer777 3 ай бұрын
Your content here and on Studio One Revealed is very much appreciated! Thanks for all you do!
@DerekPower 3 ай бұрын
So ... I learned how to read music when I was about seven or so and I learned music theory proper in high school and into college. This is on top of learning and performing as a vocalist in an ensemble, being a solo vocalist on occasion, cellist, keyboardist, guitarist (electric, acoustic and bass) and even drummer. Oh yeah, and then there's music production =D Admittedly, I have fallen into the trap of thinking that my music education is a hindrance. But at the same time, I enjoy learning and there is something to be said about understanding what you are doing. In other words, it's OK to know things. It's often times in knowing things that allows you to venture into other realms or make your own music more interesting and varied or keep from being in some kind of rut or runaround. In the end, being creative means making choices and especially when it comes to "the rules".
@DavidKlaver 3 ай бұрын
I totally agree with your point of view, start playing music by playing music. I learned a saxophone in school reading with a teacher that made everything fun. Later we started music theory with an unpleasant criticizing teacher so I quit music for that reason. In college, I borrowed a guitar and learned from friends and a few tab parts I couldn't play by ear. Guitar is pattern oriented so it's the same pattern in different keys. Reading music can be a deterrent. In the music store, I saw people give up guitar because the first 2 books teach how to read, and book 3 started teaching grandma's songs, that's sad. When in or hosting rock jams, some educated musicians couldn't play along if they didn't have the sheets music, but most were great musicians and trained or not made no difference. Experience attending jams on stage helps to pick up whatever's coming, and music theory is the root for everything and telling others. Since then I've traveled and did shows, not profitable but great adventures. I don't read music fluently, but if you do, you can learn songs and theory way faster than I. Keep it up. I wish the best.
@acreguy3156 3 ай бұрын
Your thoughts on theory are spot on!! I know you distinguished between *reading* and *theory.* Theory is only one item in the musical tool box. I read poorly but I'm a very good ear trained keyboard player. I listen to the greats and try to dissect what makes them sound amazing. When learning complex jazz styles, I look to theory to figure out how the musician achieved his or her sound. I have worked with extremely good readers who have high Conservatory status. They can't improvise unless the passage is written out for them. I think that cramming theory down a young player's throat can stunt their musical growth, perhaps forever. I've seen it a lot.
@343434terry 3 ай бұрын
Very well said. I agree 100% with your view Mike. I use theory at times to help my creativity, and have ignored theory at times and created something at least I liked very much.
@mimojapan 3 ай бұрын
Very nice insights, thanks for sharing! My journey with Music Theory started when I was handed some sheet and was told "so, you play what is written here ..." and that is also the end of this story 😀 I thought "why the heck do I need to play what somebody else thought of, I want to play my own style". Fast-Forward to some decades later: no regrets (but no World hits either, lol)
@jayneubauer3401 3 ай бұрын
interesting topic. I learned violin at age 5, and could read music before I could read words! It wasn't until my later high school years (and quite a number of instruments) that I started learning theory, and more in college. As far as your comment about Prescriptive vs Descriptive, like you I don't agree that it is a limitation. It doesn't necessarily make you more creative, but you understand what you are doing. Another benefit is that you can make more conscious choices in directions you can take a composition. A quick example would be chromatic mediants, parallel chords, modal changes, the circle of 5ths, etc. I knew from being in a band that moving a minor 3rd up or down was a great way to enter a bridge, say. I just didn't understand why. Theory helps with that. And so much more. So, yes, I am a proponent of learning at least some theory. I still have a lot to learn, or re-learn as it were....
@NeuroPete 3 ай бұрын
As a hobbyist music producer and play-by-ear pianist, I have found that music theory helps me recognize patterns in music I like and incorporate elements into my own stuff. I treat music theory as descriptive, not prescriptive, that is not rules to follow, but ideas to improve my playing and compositions.
@allenlindsey5676 3 ай бұрын
You just made me realize that I unknowingly came to my main instrument, piano/keys, via the Yamaha method you described. I just did all the other stuff on my own before I got to any kind of formal training. When I was five I went to the same elementary school where my mom taught 2nd grade and being a teacher's kid I was always there early. Started spending that hour listening to another teacher's kid practice and was fascinated by it, started picking up what she was doing and not long after that asked my parents if I could take lessons. It's funny you asking about people's experience of being scarred by having to learn it too early on. I was fortunate that I came to it very organically. This isn't exactly the kind of thing you meant, but I think it falls in line with it. I have people tell me all the time when I play, "Oh, my parents made me take lessons when I was a kid. I really wish I'd stuck with it." That's the key difference to me, the word "made." I wasn't made to study an instrument, I asked to. I actually ended up majoring in music theory and composition in college. They spend the first year of theory teaching all of the rules you mentioned, more or less based on Bach and other Baroque composers' writing, and make them sound inviolable. Then you get to the second year and you find out Bach broke all of those rules and you're allowed to as well. By the third year you're looking at atonal, 12-tone stuff, mapping weird things on a grid to analyze them and going WTF?! But I will tell you, when I'm working out vocal harmonies with my band or sorting out new arrangements I use what I learned every single time without even thinking "ok, I'm doing theory now."
@raoulbandera 3 ай бұрын
I came over from Italy with mom and dad. Dad brought his accordian. I wound up learning it through a relative who know how to play, and write music. Eventually I wound up playing polkas, waltzes, marches, some miniscule classical, until parents found me an actual teacher, who must have realized I was bored with the instrument, and xeroxed a 13 page song for piano, for me to learn. First question was how to play the left hand (piano) on accordian. After that it was simple but strange. How do you play something that has a 3/4 time signature with a 4/4 feel?????....and who was this Dabe Brubeck guy who write "It's A Raggy Waltz"? Talk about getting thrown into the pool like real quick! He made me write out all the scales, chords (major, min, M7, m7, aug, etc. At least he explained their usage which made everything a lot clearer. After that I wound up learning piano, and organ. Once I was with him, everything became a lot clearer.
@williammills1026 3 ай бұрын
I am a Music Teacher, raised by a Classical Pianist, my Mother, and a Trumpetter, my Dad! However, when it comes to creating, I rely on what im inspired to play...what is transmitted through me...i usually hear the entire piece then put it down...lyrics and all. Theoretically, it is all usually correct and in line with precepts....
@HOLLASOUNDS 3 ай бұрын
Im going to comment before watching and then see if what I say match up with what you say. I never made any effort to read music or pearn all the names of chord progressions, and when I see people talking about chord selection and what notes must be played I zone out. I play by ear and have memorized to position of keys and chords and can hear it in My head before playing, and for about 17 years have been able to wright or play really good chords and melodys. I cant play any pop songs on request but if anyone needs a quality unique melody or chord progression I can do that in seconds.
@relativetimeworx8459 3 ай бұрын
Can you make music without theory? Yes. Would whatever you do be improved with the introduction of music theory elements? Of course. Saying that learning would "kill creativity" is a cop out by those who don't want to put in the effort. Is current popular music more of a DIY thing than that of the pre-rock era, sure. But even knowing enough to apply chord substitutions would create instant positive impact to one's writing. It only grows from there. You can build with just a hammer and nail, or you can have a complete tool kit.
@johnroevekamp6732 3 ай бұрын
Great video, Mike! I love the sociological entry, and yes, my music-teaching experiences as a youth ultimately pushed me away from music, not towards it... and wow, you really are becoming an awakened being, eh? As well, I love the Beatles example, they (the Beatles) totally followed their ears rather than their brains; and yes, theory comes AFTER music has been found, not before. (Just as racism came after the Atlantic Slave Trade, not before.) "The menu is not the food!" Nice analogy-stretching... hats off to you... On the other side of the argument: I have experienced, when younger, a "distancing" from making natural music choices--which are found through playfulness and curiosity and listening--instead trying to "figure out" the best way to bring a piece of music to fruition, to its best self. It has deinitely hurt me, by making me think there is a "right way" out there that I should be implementing, when in fact music is in my heart and my ear, and I need to bend my head, like that dog in the early RCA logos, with her head cocked to one side, listening. Listening--in the soul, not the mind. That's were music is found. From Bach to Billie Eilish. LISTENING is what makes it music, because we don't really MAKE the best music, we FIND it. Found music is clear and complete. You are even more the philosopher king of music. It's inspiring to see this vibrant energy, these crafty thoughts!
@budgetkeyboardist 3 ай бұрын
Very well constructed video. If you don't know theory, you can still put together some chords that sound good. But if you do know music theory, you'll know WHY those chords sound good, and it'll be easier to put together other chords that sound good. And if you don't study theory but you experiment putting all kinds of chords together to learn what sounds good, you're basically teaching yourself music theory through discovery. Sometimes that's better than learning it in a book... but you're still learning music theory.
@davebops2478 3 ай бұрын
Nice video Mike, good topic and a nice balanced delivery. I think (for what it's worth!), that music theory is just that - theory. I learned to read and write music when I was young, as (surprise, surprise) part of formal learning to play instruments. I didn't bother with it at all when I first started singing in bands; however, once I was writing my own material I wanted to write it out in score. Over the last few years I've become drawn to broadening my music theory understanding, which I find quite fascinating - but it's just a tool when all's said and done: it certainly isn't "The laws of music", but it can help you to write interesting material and communicate them better. Well, I apologise for the rambling response! 😬
@ilanmetoudi 3 ай бұрын
Thanks Mike. For me music theory answers why and how certain melodies or chord progressions work and others are challenging to understand or feel
@pierrecarter3090 3 ай бұрын
Really interesting video. I started at 13 playing "by ear", and learned some songs. Then after, each time I tried to start reading music, I always lost my patience and got back to the ear. Of course now, after more than fifty years of music I know some theory, but I don't believe that using some theory kills anything, often it helps me to find something that was not in my ear.
@salsorice1530 3 ай бұрын
I'm very well versed in music theory (BA degree in Classical Composition), but don't have (what I would consider) a great ear. To me, knowing music theory helps enormously, as I often just sit at the piano, play (by "ear"), and see what happens. If I like what I do, I then analyze it to see what I "technically" did. It's often surprising how often the "cool" stuff I played was really just based on well-known theory concepts.
@martynroach182 3 ай бұрын
I am self taught on guitar, keys and harmonica. Many years ago I gave a tape of a song to a colleague at work, she and her husband were both classical violinists. I was expecting to get destroyed! But she told me that they both thought the song was great....and that I broke so many rules, but it worked.
@fentonwinmill 3 ай бұрын
I think often reading music and music theory get lumped in together. You don't need to know how to read music to make good music, but music theory can give you new ideas when stuck. E.g. you come up with a great Chord Sequence. Now a beginner might just know the standard blues pentatonic, but different scales might sound so much more interesting over the same chord progression. They can be a short cut, rather than just trying to hit random notes on your instrument until you come up with something different. And some things just won't work unless you know how to come back, e.g. playing outside and resolving back.
@tyson1ize 3 ай бұрын
as a musician of 50 years music/guitar theory has made me a far better guitar player and has helped me immensely in the studio as well! the concept that theory diminishes creativity in any way is absurd, it's like saying that a ladder stops me from climbing onto the roof!
@RichardIresonMusician 3 ай бұрын
I always remember playing the first track of an Album I released back in the '90s to a highly qualified music teacher friend of mine... his first comment was....."you can't do that"....make of that what you will in the context of this video!😊
@franksmith3913 3 ай бұрын
Nice one Mike.
@Jackdogdude 3 ай бұрын
Rules were made to be broken, either on purpose or by accident.
@glennlittle7955 3 ай бұрын
Almost perfect video on the subject. If you didn't have me before you did at "conflate" and "descriptive not prescriptive" and "by osmosis". As one or two others have said a bit of music theory has made me MORE creative not less. It's led me to places I could not have got to without it. And as you also point out everybody learns some whether they think they have or not. The first time you play your first chord you've learnt something about harmony. On the subject of reading I totally agree: reading is not theory. In fact the traditional approach to music teaching starts you reading almost immediately but teaches you hardly anything about theory - and that it because the traditional approach is designed to train classical players to play what somebody else wrote!! Theory helps you to compose yourself!
@eaglepass5170 3 ай бұрын
Excellent!!!!
@PAtrickGold 3 ай бұрын
!00% with you. I do get the feeling that around me, lots of music teachers/schools prepare students for playing only covers. Maybe that is one of the reasons for this misconception.
@carsonfarley2560 3 ай бұрын
I studied music theory and have music theory degrees because I'm interested in music theory - it's that simple. I study things because I am interested in things. It's called LEARNING.
@callingallkings163 3 ай бұрын
LONG comment... SO, I started out in different school bands and theory was an extra class we could take. It led me to some great auditions to take 1st chair trumpet or baritone through school and band. After auditions, I read the sheet music and never thought about OH why did this composer put a Dmin here and not an F#min instead... I just played what was on the sheet. Crescendo Decrescendo... Fast forward quite some years later and I eventually made it back to music. But this time it was with Guitar and piano. I picked that up easy enough I suppose. I found that after a year or so of guitar and or piano that ideas were just flowing and I ventured into recording, learning how to properly mix/master and things seemed to go GREAT. I kid you not, I was laying down a recording every day or so. Granted these were not master craft products but you get the point. After a couple more years of refining all of these process (which are overwhelming in their own right) I watched some videos of "why NOT learn music theory" so I went down that rabbit hole. I thought well I'm familiar with the subject and KNOWING WHY I'm about to play these chords would/could never hurt so let me just "refresh" what I've already learned. BOY was I wrong. I try to stay in the 80's-90's genre of music creation because it's what I like to play. AFTER learning all these modalities, Circle of 5ths, relearning all my minor major scales, triads and inversions and all this shit, I have found that NOW idea's refuse to flow and I'm more lost for passion of the music I sought out to get "better" in. Not only did a full dive headfirst into music theory completely KILL my passion for making things I thought sounded good, but it also completely stopped my desire to just record sounds and see where it would build. I'll take it one step further, KZfaq musicians killed my passion for caring about the music I make/made. Let me give you all some advice and do what you will with it, MAKE THE STUFF THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO YOU. It doesn't matter what complex idea you stuff into a song for the sake of stuffing it in there. The average listener doesn't give a crap if it doesn't make them move their heads and body. Dorian doesn't mean a thing to a person who's depressed and just wanting a song to relate with. Watch some of these artists but understand that there is a certain level of movie magic going into these clips/videos. AND for the most part why would they teach you EVERYTHING that they know? Why would they help you erase them and teach their replacement. Mike here teaches you different things about daws and I find this to be good to watch. Other's teaching you how many tracks to put into a song as a must and how many layers each sound should get is a must. AVOID that unless you're just bored. Some songs top charts with 8 tracks and some songs have dozens. IF you think you are sounding good then someone else will too. DO YOU and there is no magic formula. That formula they sell you may not even work with your flow. GOod day to you all.
@shootytheturtle 3 ай бұрын
I would say you nailed it, Mike. Agree on all points.
@WobbieWobbit1 3 ай бұрын
reminds me of a quote....by Alfred Korzybski.... the map is not the territory
@timdovecool7202 3 ай бұрын
Music theory is the basic when it comes to music in general, production, arranging, innovations and compositions.
@johnfinnis8373 3 ай бұрын
Having no theory whatsoever I thought it might be a good idea to have a taster, so enrolled in a short course. It's giving far better flow to my improvisation, without shackling me to any "rules" which I might not like.
@PekkaImmonen 3 ай бұрын
I had a privilege of working with a very talented young artist who is extremely knowledgeable in music theory and also hugely creative. Theory is clearly one source for his creativity, but perhaps more importantly he practices playing like there is no tomorrow 🙂
@TheRuben_music 3 ай бұрын
yes 100%! I keep making great music, but then someone says something that makes me insecure. It is slowing me down and really makes me feel like i know nothing even tho it sounds great in my ears
@carsonfarley2560 3 ай бұрын
That has nothing to do with music theory or what music theory is or isn't. No one is forcing you to learn or not learn except yourself.
@TheRuben_music 3 ай бұрын
Well i am new to producing and mixing.. So comments like that doesnt really help @@carsonfarley2560
@adrock6874 3 ай бұрын
Jr High Clarinet was less than inspiring .. But after moving on to being cool with a guitar - I appreciate those clarinet days that taught notes, timing, and playing of different parts together ( harmony ) ..
@DesSherwoodGuitarTuition 3 ай бұрын
Totally agree with all that Mike-)
@streamofconsciousness5826 3 ай бұрын
That's like saying having a big vocabulary takes the joy out of reading. I think if the Player was taught theory as they were learning, and not allowed to improvise and mess around that may stifle creativity, but someone who learned by ear and learns theory later is only enhancing his abilities. I think most of the stenographers who can read and play on demand are just that, stenographers, they don't feel the Music. They learned a skill, not how to play Music.
@milosmisic3006 3 ай бұрын
if you feel it is killing your creativity, you need to learn more theory
@CreativeSauce 3 ай бұрын
Lol
@zachary963 3 ай бұрын
I always love how people ask this question, as though Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmoninov, and John Williams never existed
@jefft4303 3 ай бұрын
Scaler 2... Cthulhu... a few videos here and there, I suggest "chord progressions' for a start. If it hurts, stop. Duh. Two guitar teachers never mentioned theory. Vocal coach's exercises were in key, but that was about the extent of that. High school teacher in a Music Theory class hit the whole music theory thing pretty hard. I'm still alive. Not feelin any scars. Day in, day out...computer theory gives me more headaches than music theory does. My Great Nemesis is wires. Just plain EVIL, they are. They cling together when you don't want them to, but hoping they do when you're 50000 feet up in a truss and you NEED them to is a lost cause. Big fat plugs on either end, way too wide to fit into the closely spaced holes on lots of gear. I have no compunctions to slimmin em down with a Belt Sander. Screw yer logo, jack, I need you in that hole right now. They attract gigantic clompin musician feet, which cause them to act just plain wrong until about 1 second before you figger out the prob, then they straighten up and fly right till you turn your back on em. Wires are the debbil. Music theory is a bolt head, sticking up outta the truss yer scooting across. You don't want to ignore it, cuz it might just snag yer naughty bits, and you don't want to sit on it for too long, and if you get bold and try to stand up, it can trip you, but in the grand scheme of things, you'll have cause to hate on wires and computers a LOT more often.
@happyron 3 ай бұрын
"Music theory is good, but music REALITY is better!" I love theory myself, being an extremely mental (vs physical) person it really was the entryway into music for me and I couldn't have done music without the advantages the computer age has brought. I always wished I was like the Beatles and learned more cover songs and simply played music more (and learned about music that way) but it's not my natural way of being. Nothing wrong with theory IF it leads to more more REALITY
@arpeggioblues5924 3 ай бұрын
I play fusion, I can't imagine even attemping to compose unless I understood music theory. Do you know how superimposition of chords work? can you play in all keys? all modes? could you create a chord progression in G-Dorian; A-Lydian, would you know how to solo over an altered chord, do you know how magical a complete diminished chord would stitch a couple of harmonic ideas together, and it works seamlessly. Or will you just go trial and error to figure it out.. Use loops (which is the most used idea in music, and maybe over done) copy pasting, and using only your ear. Do you know why your ear registers what is good and bad sounding? Can you fix the bad ones in a split second, using what you know about music theory to make the right choice; send seconds, rather than hours hammering out a melody or chord progression. I play fusion, progressive and rock music; I can't imagine doing that without music theory.. Do you want to sound mainstream, or do you want to push the envelope. You decide.. but theory does have great advantages that those that refuse to learn it. Understanding why your music works, or doesn't work.
@paules0099 3 ай бұрын
I wrote a song back in 1998 and I have no clue what scale it's in! My verse is D, C, AM, D and my chorus is G, Em, AM, D, and my bridge is F#, G, A, Em, F#, G, A, A, G, F#, E. My point is, it just sounded good to me...I didn't write in a music theory structure!
@andycrosby5556 2 ай бұрын
I've studied plenty of theory. But the ears have it. Ears over theory. Caveat: theory can save time.
@neptunebob 3 ай бұрын
I find music theory to be useful. I didn't know much of it until I'd been playing for some years. As for it affecting creativity though, I found it of somewhat less value. I think the trap - if you consider that there is a trap - is trying to write or play "correctly", according to the "rules", when it's not necessary to always follow the "rules".
@ChrisM541 3 ай бұрын
Music theory opens more doors for your creativity. To put it simply, the more theory you don't know, the more you are restricting yourself. The vast majority of guitarists can't improvise(!!) jazz simply because they lack even the basic tools. All that said, a lack of music theory doesn't mean you can't excel at 'the pentatonic' or make a No.1 single. Most 'big bands' of the past had limited theory understanding, and instead, relied on what sounded good. To do that, of course, you need to have a good musical ear ;)
@keyboardtek 2 ай бұрын
Learn the theory. It does not take that long. Get it out of the way so you can spend the rest of your life creating music. As a jazz pianist who played in all styles of music bands, it was so frustrating communicating with guitarists who did not know any theory. It took them so long to teach them any tune that required understanding music. Theory is so crucial to efficient communication of music between other musicians. Plus it makes creating fresh music so much faster than just trial and error by ear.
@ronnieroxx13 3 ай бұрын
Personally..I believe it is the basis for music creativity. If you don't have that knowledge, you struggle to figure it out on your own. Why would you not use the tools in your toolbox that all the Craftsman before you developed for that purpose? Like trying to bake a cake(walk) without a recipe. Is it absolutely necessary to make music? No, probably not. It just makes the process much easier and more enjoyable in my opinion.
@earledaniels4539 3 ай бұрын
It's a common misconception that not being able to read music equates to having no musical understanding. All good musicians have a sound understanding of music theory but very few can read music.
@vinnieblesi1009 3 ай бұрын
sorry i want to see daw and vst content. love u.
@jasoncruizer 3 ай бұрын
Once you learn the modes, you open the secrets of a musical universe many are blind to. Never trust a musician who doesnt know the modes, the modes are a gateway to understand how it is all connected, the matrix of music composition.
@Peacze 3 ай бұрын
Most of the musicians that can read music well and know music theory are busy playing other people's songs , and never think of writing their own original song. While on the other hand the musicians who don't read music and don't know music theory , but have a very good ear , are the ones who are writing the most original hit songs.
@byrondickens 3 ай бұрын
Hogwash.
@allenlindsey5676 3 ай бұрын
But where does that "ear" come from? Unless one is raised in a vacuum ones own sense of what sounds pleasing is shaped by what you hear in your own life. Where did that music come from? If you follow most western melodic music, including pop/rock/name your flavor, it all eventually goes back to composers who learned and applied at least the basics of what we know as music theory. While the musicians with the good "ear" may not have learned one bit of theory, the majority are still mostly writing along those lines because that ear is influenced predominately by the music of western culture (speaking here of "popular" music) which pretty much all traces back to that same old toolbox of theory. Theory evolves, by the way. It's not called Music Proof. As tastes change, new modalities of composition with the explosion of new palettes being created with the aid of technology happening all around us, things that sound "right" do evolve, or maybe better to say that the language adds new words and phrases all of the time. It isn't, and shouldn't ever be taught or considered as, rules for writing music. Theory doesn't make rules for composing, it's a way of describing music that has already been written with a language that makes sense to other musicians. It's no different than diagramming a sentence.* *Assuming anyone is old enough to remember having to diagram sentences. Do they even still teach that? Wow, did I ever just date myself. It's just as well, nobody else would date me.
@Kevinschart Ай бұрын
Either you're creative or you are not. Theory is simply a tool. Creative people use theory to create. Learning basic music theory has allowed me to tap into my creativity in numerous ways.
@KokowaSarunoKuniDesu 3 ай бұрын
Music theory inhibits 'musical creativity' in the same way that using words and phrases inhibit linguistic creativity.
@williammills1026 3 ай бұрын
Theory is good but you need great ears also...
@garethde-witt6433 3 ай бұрын
I only have a very basic understanding of music theory, but as a whole I don’t really know much of it. I play what I feel or hear in my head, which can be a challenging when sometimes I hear many rhythms or phrases all at once. I have to try and separate them in my head and it can get noisy and confusing, not unlike hearing many voices and it does sometimes hurt. I usually try to record what I can separate as it’s easier than writing it.
@anthonyfoden9382 3 ай бұрын
Theory, as taught by the establishment, has no understanding of , nor teaches, chords. If you don't understand chords, you don't understand music, and it is most unlikely that you will ever compose a decent piece of music. So down with the creative wasteland known as establishment theory.
@byrondickens 3 ай бұрын
You don't know what the hell you're talking about.
@allenlindsey5676 3 ай бұрын
What Temu theory classes did you take that didn't teach chords? Asking as someone who majored in Music Theory and Composition. I'm truly not trying to troll, I'm just wondering how it was you came to that conclusion?
@thomasjohnson-ut7zl 3 ай бұрын
Music theory, dictates nothing. It is simply an attempt to understand and explain why a piece of music works or doesn’t work. KZfaqr David Bennett did a video on how much theory did the Beatles know. It illustrates that, although the Beatles lacked formal training and were unable to read music, they certainly understood elements of music theory. m.kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ftOahbBkpuDNhI0.html
@t.winter5002 Ай бұрын
Watching MANY Creative Sauce videos, I have noticed a Now Time line and a Curser line showing in the track. I Don't have the Curser line, nor can I find how to get the Curser line to to show on my screen. For example it appears at 2:25 min in How to Stretch Audio in CWBBL. Any help would be appreciated.
@carsonfarley2560 3 ай бұрын
The Beatles weren't using music theory, Bach was . . .
@allenlindsey5676 3 ай бұрын
Bach wasn't writing using music theory either. Music theory was developed to describe what Bach, and other composers mostly of the Baroque and Classical periods wrote.
@carsonfarley2560 3 ай бұрын
Music theory is for musicians who are interested in Music Theory. If you aren't interested in Music Theory that's your business.
@ronseverin7818 3 ай бұрын
I know nothing about music theory or how to read music. Taught myself how to play guitar and piano. I'm not against it, but I think you pick up the way things work in a layman's way. So, in some sense, you are learning music theory. Just not in a professional way.
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