Post: #1

I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to music. I don't even know what it means for a symphony to be "in B minor". I plan on picking up an instrument but that's a different story. For now I want to learn about music theory. By "theory" I mean anything that is not part of the actual playing an instrument such as:

1-Concepts and terminology
Not just classical music but also modern and international music as well.

2-softwares and other methods and tools (such as synthesizer) for producing or modifying music.

Also:
3-Classifications of musical motives.

What books or online resources do you recommend?

Post: #2

Music theory.net is an amazing resource outside of getting a teacher and taking lessons. I really like the interval training bit they have everything related to theory and plenty of exercises to practice

Edit:
You'll find it very difficult to learn theory if you have no instrument to explore what your learning.

I recommend a piano or digital keyboard. You can get a cheap 78 keyboard for under 100$. Won't be performance worthy but this is for practice.

Modern music theory is the same as classical music theory. There is no difference other than genre specific chord progressions and song structures. This is still based on classical, or simply known as, music theory.

Production and synthesizer software will do nothing for you until you understand what it means to play in the key of b minor.

You can get lost in the world of software without ever learning a note so if you're serious about learning music then pick an instrument that resonates with you and go.

I still suggest keyboard/piano for this purpose as its easy to understand and apply theory too than say guitar or violin. Once you know theory all you have rk do is learn the technique for any given instrument and viola. You can rock all night and parry everyday.

Post: #3

Dio you know how to use torrents?

https://kickass.to/ttc-understanding-the...12593.html

This is the course.

http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/u...music.html

This is great company to learn anything from music, calculus, how to cook, make drinks, etc..

Post: #4

Learning music theory without learning an instrument is strange like studying the syntax and phonetics of Chinese without being able to say Hello or Goodbye.

It will make much more sense if you actually pick up an instrument and can play music.

Post: #5

I learned the piano for a few years and also play the bagpipes, but I never really learned any music theory or chord progressions and relied on copying others and memorizing. Have also mucked around with music programs but I agree that if you don't have the fundamentals and can't just improvise something in a key, then making music is going to be impossible.

I have a MIDI keyboard and want to get some sort of course that will integrate this in it so I can actually play along, or something.
Anyone seen something like that?

Post: #6

(03-13-2015 01:35 PM)jayyrod1 Wrote:  Music theory.net is an amazing resource outside of getting a teacher and taking lessons. I really like the interval training bit they have everything related to theory and plenty of exercises to practice

Edit:
You'll find it very difficult to learn theory if you have no instrument to explore what your learning.

I recommend a piano or digital keyboard. You can get a cheap 78 keyboard for under 100$. Won't be performance worthy but this is for practice.

Modern music theory is the same as classical music theory. There is no difference other than genre specific chord progressions and song structures. This is still based on classical, or simply known as, music theory.

I disagree with this slightly. I studied classical music theory in school and then later studied jazz theory and found that even at the lowest levels of jazz theory, there was a massive jump in complexity from what I had previously studied. There are some points of departure. Classical music theory, at least at the lower levels, is obsessed with the major scale and both the modes and chords that derive from it. Jazz uses this also, but due to the common use of altered dominant chords (and tritone substitutions), other scales are often more relevant. There are also things such as stacked fourths that, whilst they exist in 20th century classical music, aren't readily considered part and parcel of what people think of as classical music.

Quote:Production and synthesizer software will do nothing for you until you understand what it means to play in the key of b minor.

You can get lost in the world of software without ever learning a note so if you're serious about learning music then pick an instrument that resonates with you and go.

I still suggest keyboard/piano for this purpose as its easy to understand and apply theory too than say guitar or violin. Once you know theory all you have rk do is learn the technique for any given instrument and viola. You can rock all night and parry everyday.

I think different instruments have certain advantages and disadvantages with learning theory. No particular instrument is superior to another (though obviously, you can't play harmony on a violin, for instance).

Keyboards are good because chords can be played on them. Guitars can also play chords. Probably the primary advantage of a keyboard over a guitar is that because of the physical aspects of the instrument, close harmony can be played, whereas guitars are mostly restricted to open harmony due to the difficulty of playing seconds on consecutive strings. The advantage of guitars over keyboards is that intervals, and thus, scales and chords, are movable, so in effect, something only needs to be learnt for one key, and there is a very strong visual cue. Yet that's also a weakness in some respects because it can make one lazy, which leads me to other instruments.

One thing about trumpets, saxophones, etc. is that because they don't have a visual or tactile cue, their players have to really know theory exceptionally well because the next note is not simply beside the last one. This is exacerbated by playing in a key (the piano and the guitar, are, in a sense, not in a key) when they either play versions of the same instrument (e.g. a trumpet in Bb or C), or play music written for other instruments (and so need to be able to transpose it).

Post: #7

Fuck theory until you can learn a few songs. One of the dumbest things I did was obsess over theory before learning to "connect" with an instrument. Theory has its place but you need to learn you basic chords and notes before you really dig into theory. Learn your major and minor scales and the corresponding chords. You csn do a ton with that before you need to learn all the fancy theory stuff.

Post: #8

Google and YouTube are your best friends.

Post: #9

My purpose for learning theory is not solely for the sake of being able to play an instrument; for example you can study a religion without practicing it. But of course I know without practicing one doesn't truly understand the theory.

Linux: Thanks the lectures are very good.

Parlay: Yes but they are overgenerous.

Jayrod: Is there any keyboard that you'd suggest?