How long does it take to learn basic music theory?
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- KVRian
- 1000 posts since 1 Dec, 2004
Define "learn", "basic" and "music theory". :3
Rhythm: how to count beats:
4/4 : 4 beats per bar (very common, most music uses this)
3/4 : 3 beats per bar, waltz
6/8 : 2 beats per bar but each beat is subdivided into 3 parts instead of 2. (shuffle blues, ff7 boss theme etc)
4/4 Swing: 4 beats per bar but beats subdivided in 2 have a longer 1st part and shorter 2nd part (jazz etc). There's also the funk swing where the 4 subdivisions of a beat are long-short-long-short (it swings 16ths instead of 8ths).
2/4, 4/4, 12/8, 3/8, etc: Pretty much equivalent to 4/4, 3/4 or 6/8 but faster/slower/has different accents/etc.
5/4, 9/8, 7/8, 5/8, etc: Rare, complex meters, usually made out of subparts (5/4 is usually 2/4 + 6/8 for instance). Most common in math metal.
Notes:
The standard piano keyboard has 88 notes, arranged into a repeating pattern of 12 notes (7 white keys,5 black keys). Starting with the middle C (C4), the first octave has C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, B4 as white keys, and for black keys it has C#4, D#4, F#4, G#4, A#4 which are inbetween the white keys. The black keys can also be called Db4, Eb4, Gb4, Ab4 and Bb4 (they are the same notes, just different names). The step between each key is equal (called a "semitone"), so if you want to increase the pitch of a song as a whole, you can simply raise every note by the same number of semitones. After the first octave, the same 12 notes repeat but higher (C5, C#5, D5, D#5, E5, F5, F#5, G5, G#5, A5, A#5, B5). You have 4 full octaves upwards of middle C (C4-B4, C5-B5, C6-B6, C7-B7) and a single high note at the end (C8). The same pattern repeats downwards below middle C - you have 3 full low octaves (C3-B3, C2-B2, C1-B1) and 3 extra low notes (A0, A#0, B0).
Scales:
We mostly use 2 very important scales: the major scale (happy) and minor scale (sad). The basic C major scale is simply playing every white key in succession (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then looping to C again). If you raise the whole scale by a few semitones, the result will start on a different note and some white notes will be replaced by black notes (sharps or flats). Every key has a unique number of sharps or flats: C major (0#), G major (1#), D major (2#), A major (3#), E major (4#), B major (5#); F major (1b), Bb major (2b), Eb major (3b), Ab major (4b), Db major (5b), Gb major (6b). Sharps are always added in the same order: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#; so if you have 3 sharps (A major), you will have the first 3 (F#, C#, G#). Likewise, flats always come in the same order: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb. So for instance, if you want to play the Bb major scale, that one has 2 flats so 2 of your white notes will be replaced by flats. The first 2 flats are Bb and Eb (which replace B and E). Also, since this is the Bb scale, it starts on Bb. The end result is that the Bb scale goes Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A (then back to Bb). This is the exact same thing as taking the C major scale and lowering every note by 2 semitones, it's just that it's faster to think of it this way (except on guitar where you can simply play everything 2 frets lower).
The minor scale is similar. The basic minor scale is A minor and is played on white keys (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, loop back to A). Likewise, each different minor scales start on a different note and has a different number of sharps or flats: A minor (0#), E minor (#1), B minor (2#), F# minor (3#), C# minor (4#); D minor (1b), G minor (2b), C minor (3b), F minor (4b), Bb minor (5b), Eb minor (6b). The order of sharps or flats is the same as for major keys (so B minor has F# C# for instance). Another way to see this is that a minor scale is the same as the major scale but with 3 more flats (or 3 less sharps) - for instance F minor has 4 flats (Bb Eb Ab Db) where F major has 1 flat (Bb).
To make chord progressions more effective, the last note of the minor scale is often sharpened (or un-flattened). So for instance, in D minor (D E F G A Bb C), the C will be turned into C# to make the end of a melodic phrase very decisive. Composers decide between the normal C or the raised C# on the fly to go with the chords and depending on style (almost always raised in classical, almost never raised in electronic music). This creates a very wide interval between Bb and C# so sometimes the Bb is raised up as well (turning A Bb C D into A B C# D) - this is typical of classical music. In minor scale exercises, either there's no raising (natural minor), or only the raised C# is used (harmonic minor), or both the raised B and C# are used going upwards but the non raised Bb and C are used going downwards (melodic minor).
Chords:
Chords generally use the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the corresponding scale and plays them together. For instance, to get the G major chord, you start with the G major scale G A B C D E F#, keep the 1st, 3rd and 5th note, which gives you G B D (this chord is written as G). Chords can also be based on a minor scale, for instance G minor scale G A Bb C D Eb F and keeping the 1-3-5 gives you G Bb D (this chord is written as Gm or Gmin or G-).
Chord symbols will add notes or modify them: 7 adds the 7th degree but it's always the lower 7th from the minor scale, not the higher one from the major scale. So G7 actually starts with G A B C D E F (and not F#), which gives you G B D F. If you do want the higher 7th, this is called maj7 (so Gmaj7 has G B D F#). Minor and 7 can be combined: Gm7 has G Bb D F (and there's minor + maj7, Gmmaj7, which is rare but has G Bb D F#).
9 adds the 7th degree and the "9th degree", which is really just the 2nd degree (once you loop back one octave): G9 has G B D F A, Gm9 has G Bb D F A, etc. 13 adds the 7th degree and the "13th degree" (6th degree once you loop back the octave) and potentially the 9th degree as well if you like, so G13 has G B D F E and often A as well. Note that this is always the higher 6th from major scale even in minor chords, so Gm13 has G Bb D F E and potentially A. The 5th is usually dropped out in 13th chords. 6 adds the 6th (G6 is G B D E), always the higher 6th just as for 13th chords. add9 adds the 9th without adding the 7th (Gadd9 is G A B D). 69 adds both the 6th and the 9th (G69 has G A B D E).
The symbol sus4 raises the 3rd up and turns it into a 4th: Gsus4 has G C D. This can be combined with 7th: G7sus4 has G C D F. When combined with the 9th as well, the chord can be written differently: G9sus4 has G C D F A and the D is usually left out, turning it into G C F A. This very, very often written as F/G, and you might see G11 as well (it's the same thing). There's also the sus2 symbol which lowers the 3rd down to a 2nd instead: Gsus2 has G A D. Some chords have both the minor 3rd and the 4th: this is written as Gm11 and has G Bb C D F (and potentially A).
Some chords have alterations that sharpen or flatten notes instead: "dim" is minor and lowers the 5th (Gdim has G Bb Db). dim7 adds a lowered 7th to that, which is really the same as a 6th (Gdim7 has G Bb Db E). m7b5 has a lowered 5th as well but a normal 7th (Gm7b5 has G Bb Db F). "aug" is major and raises the 5th (Gaug has G B D#, can also be written as G+), and this can also be used in addition to a 7th (Gaug7 aka G+7 aka G7#5 have G B D# F).
7b9 adds a lowered 9th to a 7th chord (G7b9 has G B D F Ab), 7#9 adds a raised 9th which is really the same as a minor 3rd to the 7th chord (G7#9 has G B D F A#), #11 adds a raised 11th aka raised 4th (G7#11 has G B D F A C# with some notes left out) and there's also a maj7#11 version (Gmaj7#11 has G B D F# A C# with some notes left out). Finally there's the alt7 which is a short for 7b9#9#11#5 and is occasionally seen as 7#9#5 as well (Galt7 has in theory all of G Ab Bb B C# D# F but is usually played as G B D# F Bb).
You can change the bass note of a chord without changing the other notes. For instance, C (C major chord = C E G) can be turned into C/E (C major chord but the bass is playing E = E G C). This is used to add more movement to the bass (you can have progressions with smooth moving bass like C, G/D, C/E, F, C/G, G) or to create "pedals" - phrases where chords change except for the bass being stuck on one note (such as C, D/C, Eb/C, F/C, G).
Rhythm: how to count beats:
4/4 : 4 beats per bar (very common, most music uses this)
3/4 : 3 beats per bar, waltz
6/8 : 2 beats per bar but each beat is subdivided into 3 parts instead of 2. (shuffle blues, ff7 boss theme etc)
4/4 Swing: 4 beats per bar but beats subdivided in 2 have a longer 1st part and shorter 2nd part (jazz etc). There's also the funk swing where the 4 subdivisions of a beat are long-short-long-short (it swings 16ths instead of 8ths).
2/4, 4/4, 12/8, 3/8, etc: Pretty much equivalent to 4/4, 3/4 or 6/8 but faster/slower/has different accents/etc.
5/4, 9/8, 7/8, 5/8, etc: Rare, complex meters, usually made out of subparts (5/4 is usually 2/4 + 6/8 for instance). Most common in math metal.
Notes:
The standard piano keyboard has 88 notes, arranged into a repeating pattern of 12 notes (7 white keys,5 black keys). Starting with the middle C (C4), the first octave has C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, B4 as white keys, and for black keys it has C#4, D#4, F#4, G#4, A#4 which are inbetween the white keys. The black keys can also be called Db4, Eb4, Gb4, Ab4 and Bb4 (they are the same notes, just different names). The step between each key is equal (called a "semitone"), so if you want to increase the pitch of a song as a whole, you can simply raise every note by the same number of semitones. After the first octave, the same 12 notes repeat but higher (C5, C#5, D5, D#5, E5, F5, F#5, G5, G#5, A5, A#5, B5). You have 4 full octaves upwards of middle C (C4-B4, C5-B5, C6-B6, C7-B7) and a single high note at the end (C8). The same pattern repeats downwards below middle C - you have 3 full low octaves (C3-B3, C2-B2, C1-B1) and 3 extra low notes (A0, A#0, B0).
Scales:
We mostly use 2 very important scales: the major scale (happy) and minor scale (sad). The basic C major scale is simply playing every white key in succession (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then looping to C again). If you raise the whole scale by a few semitones, the result will start on a different note and some white notes will be replaced by black notes (sharps or flats). Every key has a unique number of sharps or flats: C major (0#), G major (1#), D major (2#), A major (3#), E major (4#), B major (5#); F major (1b), Bb major (2b), Eb major (3b), Ab major (4b), Db major (5b), Gb major (6b). Sharps are always added in the same order: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#; so if you have 3 sharps (A major), you will have the first 3 (F#, C#, G#). Likewise, flats always come in the same order: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb. So for instance, if you want to play the Bb major scale, that one has 2 flats so 2 of your white notes will be replaced by flats. The first 2 flats are Bb and Eb (which replace B and E). Also, since this is the Bb scale, it starts on Bb. The end result is that the Bb scale goes Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A (then back to Bb). This is the exact same thing as taking the C major scale and lowering every note by 2 semitones, it's just that it's faster to think of it this way (except on guitar where you can simply play everything 2 frets lower).
The minor scale is similar. The basic minor scale is A minor and is played on white keys (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, loop back to A). Likewise, each different minor scales start on a different note and has a different number of sharps or flats: A minor (0#), E minor (#1), B minor (2#), F# minor (3#), C# minor (4#); D minor (1b), G minor (2b), C minor (3b), F minor (4b), Bb minor (5b), Eb minor (6b). The order of sharps or flats is the same as for major keys (so B minor has F# C# for instance). Another way to see this is that a minor scale is the same as the major scale but with 3 more flats (or 3 less sharps) - for instance F minor has 4 flats (Bb Eb Ab Db) where F major has 1 flat (Bb).
To make chord progressions more effective, the last note of the minor scale is often sharpened (or un-flattened). So for instance, in D minor (D E F G A Bb C), the C will be turned into C# to make the end of a melodic phrase very decisive. Composers decide between the normal C or the raised C# on the fly to go with the chords and depending on style (almost always raised in classical, almost never raised in electronic music). This creates a very wide interval between Bb and C# so sometimes the Bb is raised up as well (turning A Bb C D into A B C# D) - this is typical of classical music. In minor scale exercises, either there's no raising (natural minor), or only the raised C# is used (harmonic minor), or both the raised B and C# are used going upwards but the non raised Bb and C are used going downwards (melodic minor).
Chords:
Chords generally use the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the corresponding scale and plays them together. For instance, to get the G major chord, you start with the G major scale G A B C D E F#, keep the 1st, 3rd and 5th note, which gives you G B D (this chord is written as G). Chords can also be based on a minor scale, for instance G minor scale G A Bb C D Eb F and keeping the 1-3-5 gives you G Bb D (this chord is written as Gm or Gmin or G-).
Chord symbols will add notes or modify them: 7 adds the 7th degree but it's always the lower 7th from the minor scale, not the higher one from the major scale. So G7 actually starts with G A B C D E F (and not F#), which gives you G B D F. If you do want the higher 7th, this is called maj7 (so Gmaj7 has G B D F#). Minor and 7 can be combined: Gm7 has G Bb D F (and there's minor + maj7, Gmmaj7, which is rare but has G Bb D F#).
9 adds the 7th degree and the "9th degree", which is really just the 2nd degree (once you loop back one octave): G9 has G B D F A, Gm9 has G Bb D F A, etc. 13 adds the 7th degree and the "13th degree" (6th degree once you loop back the octave) and potentially the 9th degree as well if you like, so G13 has G B D F E and often A as well. Note that this is always the higher 6th from major scale even in minor chords, so Gm13 has G Bb D F E and potentially A. The 5th is usually dropped out in 13th chords. 6 adds the 6th (G6 is G B D E), always the higher 6th just as for 13th chords. add9 adds the 9th without adding the 7th (Gadd9 is G A B D). 69 adds both the 6th and the 9th (G69 has G A B D E).
The symbol sus4 raises the 3rd up and turns it into a 4th: Gsus4 has G C D. This can be combined with 7th: G7sus4 has G C D F. When combined with the 9th as well, the chord can be written differently: G9sus4 has G C D F A and the D is usually left out, turning it into G C F A. This very, very often written as F/G, and you might see G11 as well (it's the same thing). There's also the sus2 symbol which lowers the 3rd down to a 2nd instead: Gsus2 has G A D. Some chords have both the minor 3rd and the 4th: this is written as Gm11 and has G Bb C D F (and potentially A).
Some chords have alterations that sharpen or flatten notes instead: "dim" is minor and lowers the 5th (Gdim has G Bb Db). dim7 adds a lowered 7th to that, which is really the same as a 6th (Gdim7 has G Bb Db E). m7b5 has a lowered 5th as well but a normal 7th (Gm7b5 has G Bb Db F). "aug" is major and raises the 5th (Gaug has G B D#, can also be written as G+), and this can also be used in addition to a 7th (Gaug7 aka G+7 aka G7#5 have G B D# F).
7b9 adds a lowered 9th to a 7th chord (G7b9 has G B D F Ab), 7#9 adds a raised 9th which is really the same as a minor 3rd to the 7th chord (G7#9 has G B D F A#), #11 adds a raised 11th aka raised 4th (G7#11 has G B D F A C# with some notes left out) and there's also a maj7#11 version (Gmaj7#11 has G B D F# A C# with some notes left out). Finally there's the alt7 which is a short for 7b9#9#11#5 and is occasionally seen as 7#9#5 as well (Galt7 has in theory all of G Ab Bb B C# D# F but is usually played as G B D# F Bb).
You can change the bass note of a chord without changing the other notes. For instance, C (C major chord = C E G) can be turned into C/E (C major chord but the bass is playing E = E G C). This is used to add more movement to the bass (you can have progressions with smooth moving bass like C, G/D, C/E, F, C/G, G) or to create "pedals" - phrases where chords change except for the bass being stuck on one note (such as C, D/C, Eb/C, F/C, G).
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 540 posts since 8 Jul, 2015 from Canada
Hey man ^ that is an insanely in depth post, thanks!! However I am familiar with the concept of chords, and scales etc, what I am more concerned about is how long does it take to get used to playing scales, and familiarizing with the notes? For me right now I know how to form major and minor harmonic and natural scales, etc. However it is daunting to play any scale other than C major or A minor etc, it just seems so complicated to implement black keys into the mix, how long does it take to get used to that? Should I just play my midi keys and try to play major scales other than just C major (TTSTTTS) etc etc?
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
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- KVRAF
- 6804 posts since 20 Jan, 2008
hmm
That doesn't have much to do with music theory. And really it's not something that can/should be learned in type. To every instrument there is technique. Learning good technique early is something that requires on site supervision. How to hold your fingers, wrist, arm. Bad technique can take years to undo. I never learned the piano adequately because I was self taught and lacked the self discipline I did learn the guitar more then adequately even after initially self taught and took lessons later.
How fast you learn is dependent on your level of commitment. Are you going to play for a half hour to an hour a day dedicating yourself to the lesson plan first? That takes a lot of self motivation. A teacher will usually guide you and remind you of the importance of practice. If you are paying someone that you have to see each week and perform for you'll be more likely to advance in your playing faster then simply reading something somewhere and taking a maybe / someday type attitude.
That doesn't have much to do with music theory. And really it's not something that can/should be learned in type. To every instrument there is technique. Learning good technique early is something that requires on site supervision. How to hold your fingers, wrist, arm. Bad technique can take years to undo. I never learned the piano adequately because I was self taught and lacked the self discipline I did learn the guitar more then adequately even after initially self taught and took lessons later.
How fast you learn is dependent on your level of commitment. Are you going to play for a half hour to an hour a day dedicating yourself to the lesson plan first? That takes a lot of self motivation. A teacher will usually guide you and remind you of the importance of practice. If you are paying someone that you have to see each week and perform for you'll be more likely to advance in your playing faster then simply reading something somewhere and taking a maybe / someday type attitude.
Dell Vostro i9 64GB Ram Windows 11 Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, Mixcraft Guitar Pod Go, Linntrument Nektar P1, Novation Launchpad
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- KVRAF
- 16977 posts since 23 Jun, 2010 from north of London ON
Get off my lawn!!Ben H wrote:I would say it depends on how old you are.
Dang kids....
Even at my age which is 60 years old I would say to go for it...it may take some time but it is worth every time you put fingers to keys.
Barry
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing
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- KVRist
- 272 posts since 27 May, 2013 from Leesburg, VA
the black keys are really no different than the white ones.
if you play 7 white notes in a row upward beginning at C, you've got C Major scale as you know.
if you play 12 notes in a row upward beginning at C, and don't skip the black notes along the way, you've got what's called a chromatic scale - every note differs from the last by what's called a "half-step", or also called a semitone.
With that info, you can notice the amount of half-steps between the notes of your C Major chord (C, E and G):
C to E = 4 half-steps (counting white and black keys)
E to G = 3 half-steps
Now - you can practice by choosing a random key on the keyboard, black or white, hold it down and then count 4 half-steps up, hold that note, and another 3 half-steps and hold that note. There's a major chord, with the "root" as the first key you chose.
If you fiddle long enough you should be able to play a major chord beginning on any note without counting.
You can then do the whole same process for minor chords.
This is exactly how I started after learning to read music on my own, since I didn't have the patience to learn the traditional way (my dad was a music teacher and he didn't have patience with me either!)
Once you can play the major and minor chords on any key you can just try different combinations and see what sounds good; if you want you can try to figure out their relation to each other later (vice-versa you can start with a "well known" chord progression and try to play it.)
After putting all this together I tried changing the chords using inversions sometimes, and eventually added notes and practiced seventh chords next. Just that takes you pretty far down the road.
if you play 7 white notes in a row upward beginning at C, you've got C Major scale as you know.
if you play 12 notes in a row upward beginning at C, and don't skip the black notes along the way, you've got what's called a chromatic scale - every note differs from the last by what's called a "half-step", or also called a semitone.
With that info, you can notice the amount of half-steps between the notes of your C Major chord (C, E and G):
C to E = 4 half-steps (counting white and black keys)
E to G = 3 half-steps
Now - you can practice by choosing a random key on the keyboard, black or white, hold it down and then count 4 half-steps up, hold that note, and another 3 half-steps and hold that note. There's a major chord, with the "root" as the first key you chose.
If you fiddle long enough you should be able to play a major chord beginning on any note without counting.
You can then do the whole same process for minor chords.
This is exactly how I started after learning to read music on my own, since I didn't have the patience to learn the traditional way (my dad was a music teacher and he didn't have patience with me either!)
Once you can play the major and minor chords on any key you can just try different combinations and see what sounds good; if you want you can try to figure out their relation to each other later (vice-versa you can start with a "well known" chord progression and try to play it.)
After putting all this together I tried changing the chords using inversions sometimes, and eventually added notes and practiced seventh chords next. Just that takes you pretty far down the road.
Last edited by synzh on Sun Jul 12, 2015 4:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 9800 posts since 18 Aug, 2007 from NYC
Practice and then repeat.shonoob wrote:Hey man ^ that is an insanely in depth post, thanks!! However I am familiar with the concept of chords, and scales etc, what I am more concerned about is how long does it take to get used to playing scales, and familiarizing with the notes? For me right now I know how to form major and minor harmonic and natural scales, etc. However it is daunting to play any scale other than C major or A minor etc, it just seems so complicated to implement black keys into the mix, how long does it take to get used to that? Should I just play my midi keys and try to play major scales other than just C major (TTSTTTS) etc etc?
Thanks!!
Familiarizing yourself with playing other scales will be much easier for you, if you give yourself a goal. For example, each week choose one, or maybe two scales (like one minor, one major) and try to compose within just that scale. Start simple... This is a good time to look at circle of 5ths, and choose the scale that only has 1 black key. A minor, all whites... Right? Move up a 5th witin A minor and you'll Reach D. The D minor scale has 1 black key. Play this for 1 week to get a good feel for it. Likewise, Moving from C Major to G Major, there also is only 1 black key. Pay attention to the relationship/pattern of adding the black key as you move up your scales by 5ths.
There's lots of different ways to familiarize yourself with this, but no matter what method you find best, it still comes back to practice, practice, practice. And, practice does not have to be something boring, it can simply be an assigned limitation that will make you a better player, composer, produce or whatever your goal is... Musically/sonically practice will make you better.
Don't worry about time. If you are into it this far (you found KVR a dedicated forum to plugins), so consider that you've already fell down the rabbit hole. No turning back now...
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- KVRist
- 272 posts since 27 May, 2013 from Leesburg, VA
elxsound, agreed. You can learn the same scales beginning on keys other than C the same way - by counting half-steps
if you start on C and play the C Major scale you've got:
C to D = 2 half-steps
D to E = 2 half-steps
E to F = 1 half-step
F to G = 2 half-steps
G to A = 2 half-steps
A to B = 2 half-steps
B to C = 1 half-step
if you use the exact same pattern of half-steps as above, again starting from a different key, you'll wind up with the major scale in that key.
If you follow the circle of fifths as elxsound says it will be easier to become familiar with all the notes in a new key, by adding a new black key at a time (in another scale.)
if you start on C and play the C Major scale you've got:
C to D = 2 half-steps
D to E = 2 half-steps
E to F = 1 half-step
F to G = 2 half-steps
G to A = 2 half-steps
A to B = 2 half-steps
B to C = 1 half-step
if you use the exact same pattern of half-steps as above, again starting from a different key, you'll wind up with the major scale in that key.
If you follow the circle of fifths as elxsound says it will be easier to become familiar with all the notes in a new key, by adding a new black key at a time (in another scale.)
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thecontrolcentre thecontrolcentre https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=76240 - KVRAF
- 35189 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny
Most things become second nature if you put in the time ... around 1000 hours should do it.shonoob wrote:I am talking about simple things as a complete beginner like learning major/minor scales, and also how long does it take to get familiar with the keyboard notes, and chords?
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- KVRist
- 217 posts since 23 Nov, 2014
As a main point I'd have to go with what a lot of other people said. The largest part of learning is being hands on with it. Music Theory is more about describing what's going on rather than how it works, if you look at it more as a toolbox than the typical meaning of "theory" (which does describe the why, the how tending to be 'law' but this is kind of an issue of using scientific language for art).
Though on the flipside if you only really learn from what you are experienced with and don't read up on it that much (like me >.>) you will know the things pertaining to what you want to do, but then may find that your lack of at least technical knowledge in other areas may hurt you a little bit' down the road when you try to expand on what you've figured out (say you learn about rhythm hands on and are comfortable with that aspect but then have trouble later on when trying to do syncopation without having read too much on it).
Though on the flipside if you only really learn from what you are experienced with and don't read up on it that much (like me >.>) you will know the things pertaining to what you want to do, but then may find that your lack of at least technical knowledge in other areas may hurt you a little bit' down the road when you try to expand on what you've figured out (say you learn about rhythm hands on and are comfortable with that aspect but then have trouble later on when trying to do syncopation without having read too much on it).
Off topic but am I the only one who was curious as to what Jancivil would of said? Or am I just not getting the joke? lolariston wrote:(And god help you if Jancivil gets a whiff of this thread).
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- KVRAF
- 16977 posts since 23 Jun, 2010 from north of London ON
Jancivil has an...ermm..piquant way of expressing her opinions. I'll just leave it at that. 
Barry
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing
If a billion people believe a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing
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- KVRAF
- 3879 posts since 28 Jun, 2009 from Wherever I lay my hat
She's easily annoyed by people who think they can do in days what others need years to accomplish. And she's quite vocal about it.Katelyn wrote: Off topic but am I the only one who was curious as to what Jancivil would of said? Or am I just not getting the joke? lol
Seriously, I think she's right. I don't know, maybe I'm getting too old for this... but if I wanted to learn music, the LAST place I'd go would be an internet forum.
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- KVRist
- 217 posts since 23 Nov, 2014
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Generally, yes, you want to start by reading on the subject and trying out a little yourself before going with questions. But as other people said, it really helps to have someone that already knows ect. If someone can't pay for lessons, places like youtube (say someone playing and explaining something in the video) and forums really help to get feedback/advice when just reading on the topic isn't enough.
There's also the fact that not everyone knows a lot of other musicians in real life, so a site like this is a good way to talk with other people about the subject.
Not using an internet forum to learn something new would kind of defeat half the purpose of this site. We would then basically be left with a bunch of VST/music news.ariston wrote:She's easily annoyed by people who think they can do in days what others need years to accomplish. And she's quite vocal about it.Katelyn wrote: Off topic but am I the only one who was curious as to what Jancivil would of said? Or am I just not getting the joke? lol
Seriously, I think she's right. I don't know, maybe I'm getting too old for this... but if I wanted to learn music, the LAST place I'd go would be an internet forum.
Generally, yes, you want to start by reading on the subject and trying out a little yourself before going with questions. But as other people said, it really helps to have someone that already knows ect. If someone can't pay for lessons, places like youtube (say someone playing and explaining something in the video) and forums really help to get feedback/advice when just reading on the topic isn't enough.
There's also the fact that not everyone knows a lot of other musicians in real life, so a site like this is a good way to talk with other people about the subject.
