Hi Robert,<\/p>\n
I saw all this recent “drama” regarding your comments about
\ninconsistent or incorrect theory and I just wanted to chime in. I
\ndon’t need it to be public but I am also a bit passionate about the
\nsubject.<\/p>\n
I started out with traditional lessons and I am actually quite good
\nat reading music. In fact, my reading is probably better than my
\nactual playing and I would consider myself an intermediate level
\nplayer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Traditional methods of sight reading did not teach me the “language <\/strong> <\/p>\n (Traditional Theorist #1) speaks of the reason why it is called diminished is because the interval of the 4th and 5th are perfect? But, what makes an<\/strong> <\/p>\n With respect to reading music, it’s a great skill to have. Before <\/strong> I believe the ability to play by ear is extremely powerful and<\/strong> <\/p>\n
\nof music” but it caused me to rely on sheet music whenever I wanted <\/strong>to play a song.<\/strong> Your play by ear program is not the only program
\nthat I’ve come across but until I started to understand the the
\n“why” of music, this is what unlocked the keys to play by ear and
\nthat is what learning music should be all about. Because now I’m in<\/strong>
\n a better position to play the songs that I WANT to play and actually<\/strong>
\n understand what I’m playing and be able to unlock it. I didn’t get<\/strong>
\n extremely far in the traditional system (due to the cost of lessons)<\/strong>
\n but if I compare the two I am much more empowered now.<\/strong>
\nI must say that THEORY is very important in music and I consider
\ntheory to be apart of the musical language, like the fact that a
\nSus4 chord is made up of 1 4 5, I consider that theory, and the fact
\nthat the 5 chord resolves to the 1, I consider all this important
\ntheory in understanding the WHY of music and the musical language. I<\/strong>
\n also see where you are going when you say that a lot of the<\/strong>
\n traditional theories just put things out there for the sake of<\/strong>
\n “giving it a name to make it official<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n
\n interval perfect?<\/strong> Is it based on how it sounds? To me, it sounds
\nlike someone a long time ago decided to give it a name. I DO think
\nintervals are important and understanding the intervals in terms of
\nhow they sound in relation to each other and recognizing them by ear
\nand what kinds of chords and sounds they make. But to me, calling it
\nPerfect, seems like an arbitrary name that someone chose.
\nHe also says that it will make sense when you read music. But I read<\/strong>
\n music and it still didn’t make sense to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nwhen I was reading music, I was literally following what was there, <\/strong>
\nbut now when I look at the sheet music, I break it down based on my <\/strong>UNDERSTANDING of music,<\/strong> the way music follows a certain direction, i.e., circle of 5ths\/4ths and what chords appear when and where and
\nwhy…so now that I UNDERSTAND music, even reading music is
\nheightened. So if there is a song that I am having trouble figure
\nout because it is doing a lot of advanced licks\/tricks and newer
\nsounding chords, I will get the sheet music and then apply my
\nunderstanding to determine why certain chords were used , how it
\nmakes sense, and figuring out the progressions. Also, sheet music is
\ngood for picking up licks and tricks of songs in a certain style,
\nwhich can still be picked up by ear but can be challenging and comes
\nwith time and practice as your ear improves.<\/p>\n
\n unlocks vast musical understanding even to the musician who knows<\/strong>
\n how to read music. Music is about hearing and the traditional<\/strong>
\n methods don’t emphasize playing by ear enough and if I had started<\/strong>
\n out on that route, I would have been a lot further then I am now.<\/strong> I
\nhad to search for these “keys” myself to unlock it and now that I
\nhave the understanding, I can appreciate music more.
\nNow when I read sheet music, I know exactly what chords I’m playing
\nor if I just see the chord symbol names, I can make the chords up on
\nmy own, and I see which inversions were chosen and what’s most
\nimportant is I determine the overall progression because that’s what
\nmusic is all about.<\/p>\n