Liberating insights regarding the usefulness and limitations of music theory and how to bridge the gap between music theory and music practice!
Why Music Theory Matters
Whether you read music or play by ear, a strong theoretical foundation in scales, chords, chord progressions, form, meter, rhythm, and ear training will transform you into a superior musician.
The Gap Between Theory and Practice
A theory is an attempt to explain something that works.
The beauty of art is that theory doesn’t explain everything that works.
That’s why good music is created and performed by artists, not computers. There will always be a gap between theory and practice, because beauty cannot be described using mere language, explained using mere logic, or created using a clever set of formulas.
Patterns, Patterns, Patterns
Although theories are sometimes awkward and inadequate attempts to explain the ineffable, a good theory enables us to see recurring patterns… patterns that tap into the universal nature of things.
Limits of Music Theory
Every theory has its limitations. And so, you have to let go of the compulsive need to explain everything.
Your experience will always be more than your ability to describe it with mere words or formulas. That is the real beauty of music and art in general.
Reality Check
The real test of a sound music theory is this: Is the way the theory explains the music consistent with the way that we experience the music? If the answer is no, the theory is flawed, inadequate, or at least incomplete.
Left & Right Brain Happiness
The way you think about the music ( the left side of your brain) should match the way that you hear and feel the music (the right side of your brain). A theory is useful to the extent that it accomplishes this task.
Getting Closer
Every time we name something (a name is an abstract invention of our logical minds), there’s a risk of distancing ourselves from the actual experience (the concrete reality) of that something.
A useful theory should enhance our understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the music, not lead us farther away from intimacy with those things.
Music is NOT Math
Some theories mistakenly reduce music to abstract mathematical constructs. If you study music as if it were math, you will wind up playing music as if it were math. It will sound like (and more importantly, feel like) you are playing math, not music. In other words, it will sound stiff and calculated and uninspired.
Analysis & Synthesis
If we take theory too far, it is possible to break things down (analysis) to the point where we can’t put them back together again (synthesis).
What’s the Goal?
The goal of studying Music Theory is to perform better, not to get good grades on a music theory test.
Takeaways
At some point, the logical theory of music must yield to the inexplicable art of music.
Because music evokes universal emotional reactions across cultures that tap into deep and primitive “places of knowing” that cannot be described using mere words and have no need for translation.
Our gut reaction to a haunting Gregorian chant, heroic Beethoven Symphony, melancholy Chopin Waltz, rousing Sousa March, toe-tapping Joplin Ragtime, swinging Ellington Blues, or quizzical Monk piano solo cannot be explained by music theory any more than the tortured figures of Picasso or the anguished couplets of Shakespeare can be reduced to mere logic.
So, never view music theory as a rigid set of rules. Use the theory that gets you closer to the true essence of the music and don’t get hung up on the rest.
learn more… Practice Habits: Learning a Piece of Music
Discover more from PIANO-OLOGY
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.