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theory over rated

#41
Fassa Albrecht said:
Difference between those guys you've mentioned and the other 99.9% of theory-knowledgable people is that the guys you mention use theory as a base for creativity, instead of seeing music theory as a rigid, not-to-be-broken straitjacket which doesn't allow for originality, which is a trap that a LOT of people seem to fall into.
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99.9%? Really? With all due respect, your posts suggest that you don't know nearly enough about this stuff to dismiss "theory-knowledgeable" players the way you do. If you really think theoretical knowledge is the enemy of creativity for 99.9% of players, you would probably benefit from casting your net a bit wider, so to speak.
 
#42
Been playing almost 50 years, am mostly self taught and here are my thoughts.

Learn as many songs along the way as you can. Learn as much theory as you can. But don't drive yourself crazy doing it.

As you accumulate more knowledge and develop greater muscle memory everything bass will become much easier for you. It will seem to fall in place.

I've become a much more solid player since I've begun to pay attention to theory and detail...over maybe the past 15 years. The light comes on and more doors open in terms of how I figure things out and also receive offers to play.

My 2 cents.

Good luck.

Koog
 
#44
Richard Lindsey said:
99.9%? Really? With all due respect, your posts suggest that you don't know nearly enough about this stuff to dismiss "theory-knowledgeable" players the way you do. If you really think theoretical knowledge is the enemy of creativity for 99.9% of players, you would probably benefit from casting your net a bit wider, so to speak.
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You beat me to the punch. I'd say the opposite is true. Lack of knowledge of music theory is the enemy of creativity. If you name 99.9% of the best players, 99.9% of them will be well-versed in music theory. Think of people like Ritenour and East. They know theory inside and out, and don't seem to have any limit on their creativity. East has a degree in music from UCSD.
 
#45
If learning theory really sucks for you, then don't overdo the theory part when you practice. Nothing contributes more to burnout for relative beginners than theory overload, imho. My suggestion is to give it a few minutes of your practice time (some days at the beginning of practice, some days in the middle, some days at the end), then move on and HAVE FUN. It just means it will more than likely take you a little longer than others to get all the theory stuff down, but that's the tradeoff.

As the others have said, keep learning songs that you really like and you'll figure out some theory stuff on your own anyway (although the finer points may remain hazy).
 
#47
helterschecter said:
Iv taken lessons for over a yr now and iv learned some theory. My question is do I really need to learn all the scales or should I just learn to play the songs I want to play..which happens to be the reason that I want to play bass in the first place
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if your goal is to play a tune how its played on the recording, then you can get by without it, if thats all you want. but..

you'll be able to hear and understand it all so much easier if you keep studying music. when i need to learn a bassline, i can hear it and play it back usually without thinking. this is from years of studying music.

if your just a hobbyist, then i suppose learning voiceleading is useless. but knowing your chords and basic concepts is worth it even the the hobbyist level.
 
#48
It is hard to learn, but so is learning any other language. You would not say "Do I really need to know how to read, write, and speak", but this is what it is like. And no learning theory does not limit you, just the opposite. Are Whitman, Poe, and Twain limited by their vast knowledge and grasp on the English language? No! They are improved and have a bigger tool box to chose the right tool for the job.

I would also really encourage you to stop thinking of music as "Songs", but rather as a language, it has really helped me in the past few years. I am constantly asking myself, "What is it that I want to say". I think that if you would ask yourself that you might start understanding theory more (It worked for me). Most of all don't get too caught up in it, after all, it is just theory.
 
#49
Fassa Albrecht said:
Difference between those guys you've mentioned and the other 99.9% of theory-knowledgable people is that the guys you mention use theory as a base for creativity, instead of seeing music theory as a rigid, not-to-be-broken straitjacket which doesn't allow for originality, which is a trap that a LOT of people seem to fall into.
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Only the inexperienced. They're the only ones who see theory that way.
 
#50
Snarf said:
Largely a product of their producer who did all the arrangements.
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100% not true at all. While George Martin did arrange some beautiful stuff on strings and horns for them and contributed some excellent keyboard work and occasional ideas, The Beatles themselves were very clearly who made the Beatles sound great, not George Martin. They were so not the product of a producer.
 
#52
JDeewond said:
Sounds to me like you should learn english first.
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Sounds to me like you might want to tone down on that kind of attitude; there's plenty of people on this forum whose native language isn't English. Considering that you, most likely, speak only English, or perhaps English and French, I suggest you be quiet until you've learned to write in 4 languages fluently.

See how annoyingly arrogant that is?

Before you ask: Dutch, English, German, Indonesian.
 
#53
Richard Lindsey said:
99.9%? Really? With all due respect, your posts suggest that you don't know nearly enough about this stuff to dismiss "theory-knowledgeable" players the way you do. If you really think theoretical knowledge is the enemy of creativity for 99.9% of players, you would probably benefit from casting your net a bit wider, so to speak.
Click to expand...

I can only speak from what I've seen and heard for myself.
 
#56
helterschecter said:
Iv taken lessons for over a yr now and iv learned some theory. My question is do I really need to learn all the scales or should I just learn to play the songs I want to play..which happens to be the reason that I want to play bass in the first place
Click to expand...

Music theory isn’t over rated - but options are.
Keep learning everything you can - theory, songs, etc - have fun and just don’t give up (if it’s fun - do it.) do both.
 
#57
Fassa Albrecht said:
Difference between those guys you've mentioned and the other 99.9% of theory-knowledgable people is that the guys you mention use theory as a base for creativity, instead of seeing music theory as a rigid, not-to-be-broken straitjacket which doesn't allow for originality, which is a trap that a LOT of people seem to fall into.
Click to expand...

One thought is that if 99.9% of people are falling into that trap, their comments would pervade this forum. You'd see comments like: "You have to play according to theory, and never try anything original."

I'm not seeing it.
 

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