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adXok · Post by **adXok** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:29 pm

Hi, dear forum members. I am new to music theory lessons and I am searching to find some music theory lessons videos and currently found some on Youtube. Is it worth do learn music theory from online videos or will I learn more from the books. There a re plenty of videos out there and they say exactly the same things except maybe that:

Treatise On Pentatonics - video preview

johnrule · Post by **johnrule** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:54 pm

Since music theory is the 'math' of music (don't get scared) you should probably take a course at a University. You will need the discipline of guided instruction to gain any substantial benefit. Otherwise, you may just glean a small bit of information that wouldn't do you much good. Ear training is also important IMO...

You could start with something like this to get a feel for things...it's basically a system of flash cards to help you with sight reading, intervals, semantics, etc.

JR

Lying Low · Post by **Lying Low** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:03 pm

You can teach yourself theory. I know of one example where an electronic musician taught himself music theory just so he could get TV commercial scoring jobs and now he does all kinds of that stuff.

#1: Drink lots of coffee (chain smoke if you can)
#2: Learn more every day for months and months and then probably continue learning for years and years
#3: Don't let people you tell you that you cant successfully self learn
#4: College has nothing on google, you will never run out of information

gambaytheunspoken · Post by **gambaytheunspoken** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:45 pm

It is absolutely worth it. Listen to music you like, search the net for scores, midi files and study them in detail. Also use your local library for scores and music partitions. Formal instruction can be useful but I've found it just gets in the way if you already know what you like and what you want to do. Ever heard of Gil Evans? Fantastic musician and arranger, mostly self-taught, spent a lot of time in libraries. Here's an example of his work. THe arrangement mind you, the lead trumpet is Miles. h[url]ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N090STPx-2M&feature=related[/url]

Ciao!

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:45 pm

Here are some free resources:

http://www.musictheory.net/

http://cnx.org/content/expanded_browse_ ... =Catherine

Not free but cheap:

http://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/prepurchase2.html

6 pdf books for 37$. I'm really pleased with them.

Good luck!

wrench45us · Post by **wrench45us** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:58 pm

full online book
thanks to google books
(may not display on start, but navigate an dyou can find start)

http://books.google.com/books?id=GR1b8w ... ds&f=false

ageofaudio · Post by **ageofaudio** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:31 am

one tip, try to "do" what you study. theory is very important but you have to practice otherwise is an end in itself.

Ghost Snake · Post by **Ghost Snake** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:17 pm

ageofaudio wrote:one tip, try to "do" what you study. theory is very important but you have to practice otherwise is an end in itself.

How does one practice theory ? I guess I know the "math",but i never use it because I always search for things by ear....but I'd like to know more expert people's approach.I think i only use theory to know which chord progressions I have in a given key (ex. ii - V - I )

ivory1029 · Post by **ivory1029** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:23 pm

Ghost Snake wrote:
ageofaudio wrote:one tip, try to "do" what you study. theory is very important but you have to practice otherwise is an end in itself.
How does one practice theory ? I guess I know the "math",but i never use it because I always search for things by ear....but I'd like to know more expert people's approach.I think i only use theory to know which chord progressions I have in a given key (ex. ii - V - I )

Most music theory books (esp. textbooks) will have little exercises in them to get you familiar with the basics. Unfortunately, unless you have the answer book to go with it, you can't check yourself.

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:34 pm

I hate that analogy.

Music Theory is philosophy. Sometimes it's apples and oranges and sometimes it's a gorilla. Theory isn't something you should do alone. But it is something you need to do, not just read.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:01 pm

johnrule wrote:You will need the discipline of guided instruction to gain any substantial benefit. Otherwise, you may just glean a small bit of information that wouldn't do you much good.

I think that's terrible advice. Most people I have ever talked to agree that any amount of theory that they learn is useful, and it's certainly no impossible to learn it without instruction.

Instruction is helpful but not absolutely necessary, and you don't need to learn everything there is to learn about theory for it to be useful.

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:22 pm

It's not impossible to learn theory without instruction, Just slow with little reward. I was for the most part self taught and collected every book I could on the subject. It wasn't untill I actually started studying under someone that theory came to life. I became a better musician and composer in 3 months of studying under someone then 5 years or reading about it.

Melkor · Post by **Melkor** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:40 pm

adXok wrote:Hi, dear forum members. I am new to music theory lessons and I am searching to find some music theory lessons videos and currently found some on Youtube. Is it worth do learn music theory from online videos or will I learn more from the books. There a re plenty of videos out there and they say exactly the same things except maybe that:

Treatise On Pentatonics - video preview

AdXok ...... You previewed this at the Reaper forum and you are the author of the above video ?

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:54 am

I advise a teacher at the outset, as the teacher has the applicable experience and YOU DON'T. Since the goal is to obtain the mechanics in a cogent way, trusting your own brilliance is only a good idea if you're truly brilliant, truly focused, and have a true knack for cutting thru bullshit. Unless you have a goodly experience going in that applies to this kind of task, this is probably not going to be true.
A lot of what you'll find online is some bullshit that's liable to get in the way and waste your time.

A curriculum designed by a person of experience, with exercises designed to maximize your information and get you to turn it into knowledge, demonstrated in concrete results monitored by someone who knows wtf gwyne on is a focused approach. 'I'm going to browse the internet and parse through all the noise by myself' is assuredly not.

Muse-Med · Post by **Muse-Med** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:47 am

Learning music theory. . .

I see that this is an older topic, started almost 1 month ago. So, by now, the person who started this particular thread probably has made a decision to how he or she will learn music theory. However, despite a number of thoughtful comments shared on this topic, there is are a couple of aspects about LEARNING music theory which has yet to be discussed.

Chances are that a person, found here on this bulletin board, requesting the best methodology in learning music theory, or learning ANYTHING, is an adult learner. Adult learners tend to "learn" differently than younger learners. There exists PhD-level research articles on this very subject. But the bottom line for most adult learners is (to no one's suprise), is that they tend to learn the best by DOING. In other words, most adult learners seem to learn and remember the "lessons" the best with hands-on experience and experimentation. This is probably very obvious to most people here. However, how one GETS that "hands-on experience and experimentation" is also important. This varies greatly from individual to individual. Some people make great self-learners. Others seem to require the more structured class-room experience. So, the question to ask one's self when seeking to learn about anything is this: "How do I best learn?" "In the class-room?" "By myself, alone with a book and/or set of videos?" We all tend to have different preferences on HOW to learn.

And. . . there is one more thing to remember. Generally, playing music usually involves interaction with other people (especially in some kind of ensemble setting). So, whether you decide to learn by reading books or within a class-room setting, it's probably a good idea to find someone or some people (preferably with more knowledge and skill) to play the music with (or "jam" with) in order to further experiment with the newly learned musical concepts and ideas. Generally speaking, as musicians, we are not islands.

Just developing this very interesting and thoughtful conversation a little further. . .

What is wrong with music theory?