Why Music Theory, Scales, Ear Training, etc are IMPORTANT

[Mad_EP]

I know many of you have a healthy thirst for more musical knowledge.. and that is great.

..but to those who try to use "Man, I learned theory and now I am chained to t3h rules and my creativity is gone.." as an excuse...

Watch This.

This is Victor Borge (who you may not know - though you should) - a pianist who on his 80th birthday did a celebration of many concerts. On one particular concert - the crowd demanded an encore they weren't prepared for. The violinist suggested a well known gypsy tune called Czardas (by Monti - youtube it - it is everywhere). All fine and good - but Victor had never played it.

Not only did he improvise the whole accompaniment to the violin piece, but his improvisations were WAY more complex and interesting than the *actual* accompaniment. Sure, he got caught off guard a few times - but only by unexpected key changes, that he still rolled with.

And oh yeah - did I mention he was 80?!!! (at 80 I would be amazed if any dubsteppers were making ANY wobbles that didn't include an adult diaper).

[Disco Nutter]

[Efrafa11]

I know many of you have a healthy thirst for more musical knowledge.. and that is great.

..but to those who try to use "Man, I learned theory and now I am chained to t3h rules and my creativity is gone.." as an excuse...

Watch This.

This is Victor Borge (who you may not know - though you should) - a pianist who on his 80th birthday did a celebration of many concerts. On one particular concert - the crowd demanded an encore they weren't prepared for. The violinist suggested a well known gypsy tune called Czardas (by Monti - youtube it - it is everywhere). All fine and good - but Victor had never played it.

Not only did he improvise the whole accompaniment to the violin piece, but his improvisations were WAY more complex and interesting than the *actual* accompaniment. Sure, he got caught off guard a few times - but only by unexpected key changes, that he still rolled with.

And oh yeah - did I mention he was 80?!!! (at 80 I would be amazed if any dubsteppers were making ANY wobbles that didn't include an adult diaper).

I don't know about the more interesting than the original part but agreed.

[didi]

at 80 I would be amazed if any dubsteppers were making ANY wobbles that didn't include an adult diaper

[JFK]

That did nothing for me.......

I thought it was awful.

[drake89]

That did nothing for me.......

I thought it was awful.

so does sub.fm do anything for you? it rarely if ever does for me...

[3za]

(If your that guy)


What about the music producer joe meek?




Or that guitarist, what is his name... Jimi Hendrix???




If some of the best music ever made has been made by people that didn't study any of those things, then surely IT'S NOT IMORTANT!?!?!??

[wormcode]

Reminds me of Derek Paravicini. This is very abnormal, but still amazing.
There was a really good one on Stan Lee's Superhumans series where he sat around taking requests from music snobs and nailed every one of them. Here's a 45 minute doc about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fibZudrZUto

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

Good thread

[Mad_EP]

Or that guitarist, what is his name... Jimi Hendrix???

If some of the best music ever made has been made by people that didn't study any of those things, then surely IT'S NOT IMORTANT!?!?!??

I didn't say you had to study it formally - but if you think Jimi Hendrix didn't know his blues scales and just played random notes & luckily hit upon a few good ones, then you are crazy.

Also - that doesn't mean EVERYONE that makes great music knew what they were doing... But the percentage of talented musicians is already a pretty small pool to begin with. Of that population - there are more people who know what they are doing musically than those who are completely blissfully ignorant and just happened to hit the right notes at the right time.

[AxeD]

There's a difference between studying music theory and learning a scale on a guitar though. I know
a whole bunch of scales on me geetar, but I can't read notes (except for drums).
But I do agree for the most part.

[Attila]

Reminds me of Derek Paravicini. This is very abnormal, but still amazing.

Shouldn't be forgotten that he hasn't done much but play piano since he was three. If I heavily studied one instrument daily for 28 years, I'd hope to be rather proficient as well.

[3za]

You missed the main point of my post...

IT'S NOT IMORTANT!?!?!??

I'm pretty sure I backed that up???


I love the 3rd inversion on the d7alt chord in this track

[Attila]

I think hell is a studio where Satan makes you produce that track repeatedly for the rest of eternity.

[wormcode]

Shouldn't be forgotten that he hasn't done much but play piano since he was three. If I heavily studied one instrument daily for 28 years, I'd hope to be rather proficient as well.

That's true, but 'rather proficient' is an incredible understatement. People do play stuff since they were little kids, and they haven't reached near his level of perfection. He hears a song once, and it's forever embedded in his brain and he can recall it perfectly for the rest of his life. But as I said it's very abnormal and not something 99% of people could do anyway. Just a very cool case of how autism can affect the brain.

[Attila]

Yeah man definitely, I didn't mean to sound like I was undermining his skill at all, especially for someone who has trouble functioning in a lot of other areas. Savant(ism?) is one of the most fascinating psychological phenomena to me. Scientists just to need to unlock the secrets so I can reap the benefits...

[Ghost of Muttley]

Victor Borge was one of the funniest people ever.

[Mad_EP]

Victor Borge was one of the funniest people ever.

^^^
Someone who gets it.

What most people don't understand is that he didn't become a funny pianist cos he couldn't play the piano well enough to make a career - he rivaled any of the best pianists of his day. He just also happened to be one of the funniest people to ever walk the planet - so he made a career combining both. For instance - in some of his bits, where he "misses" notes... what makes it funny is not just that he misses a note.. but he makes sure to play the ABSOLUTE worst note to hear.

[3za]

I couldn't get past the title, I didn't even watch the video in the op, or knew who Victor Borge was

He was funny fo sho

[Mad_EP]

I couldn't get past the title, I didn't even watch the video in the op, or knew who Victor Borge was

He was funny fo sho

Hahahaahah -

3za: "Not only will I reply to a post I won't even internalize... but I will argue it twice!"

Cos arguing without internalizing new information is fun!

C'mon man... I respect you more than that! I know you got at least some brain cells that communicate with each other from time to time... why in the world would post an inane response without even taking in what the original post is about?

Did Al Queda put you up to this?