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i cannot for the life of me learn the keys or music theory. i can learn the technical aspect just fine on my own but i just cant seem to teach myself theory or how to play. i've tried reading some theory notes and what not but that only helps me remember like one or two scales. until i use different ones then i forget the old ones. maybe im just not putting enough time into learning it but the technical aspect seems to just stick with me whereas this doesnt.

does anyone have any tips at all to teaching yourself music theory? is there a dvd i should buy? or a book? i have some theory guides, one popular one passed around on here a lot that i cant seem to remember. but yeah, im in desperate need for some help in this area because its really crippling my production. it takes me so long to figure out chord progressions because im worried about going out of key that i have to look everything up and then i lose my creativity and cant even just have a play with chords. id like to be able to know what different notes/chords i could play together so i can just have a jam.

I haven't become completely comfortable so I've got a few sites bookmarked that I like to go to when im trying to get musical. the main one is this chord progression guide http://endofthegame.net/2011/08/16/chordprogressions/ while it's still a bit of a hassle, this combined with a little keyboard chord chart i've got has helped me a lot. I try if nothing else to toy around with playing melodies everyday, the more I do it the more comfortable I get playing different progressions and what not without having to look back at the sheet. you're best bet is probably going to just be daily practice with some things like these until you just get really comfortable, then check out different scales and what not

I really wish I could get down what notes/chords are inside my head onto the piano roll quickly. I'd wouldn't have to spend 20 minutes trying to find the right chord every time then. Know chords/theory would be amazing

Learn your vocab!
Seriously, anyword/concept you don't know look it up.

Also here's my bible http://www.outsideshore.com/school/musi ... /index.htm

i'm in the same boat, kind of. i think i've learned enough to where i can write without thinking about it but it always still gets me stuck when it comes to writing out an original full piece.

one thing i know, is that someday my kids are getting fucking piano lessons.

mikeyp wrote:i'm in the same boat, kind of. i think i've learned enough to where i can write without thinking about it but it always still gets me stuck when it comes to writing out an original full piece.

one thing i know, is that someday my kids are getting fucking piano lessons.

^ i hear that man i wish my parents got me into music. though when i was young i was strictly into racing motocross and i doubt there was anything that would have interferred with that. and honestly just racing motocross is already too time consuming. it was my life till i had a compound fracture and damaged my nerve to my arm and couldnt use it for a year. that wonderful accident at the peak of my career got me into the wonderful world of music, drugs, and sent me to college. and here i am , trying to learn damn theory. i still do race sometimes and never lost my skill, but im not at the level i would be had it never happened.

btw thanks for all the links people. can someone link me a <click here and be instantly good at music theory and playing> k thx.

Eat Bass wrote:^ i hear that man i wish my parents got me into music. though when i was young i was strictly into racing motocross and i doubt there was anything that would have interferred with that. and honestly just racing motocross is already too time consuming. it was my life till i had a compound fracture and damaged my nerve to my arm and couldnt use it for a year. that wonderful accident at the peak of my career got me into the wonderful world of music, drugs, and sent me to college. and here i am , trying to learn damn theory. i still do race sometimes and never lost my skill, but im not at the level i would be had it never happened.

When's the movie coming out?

Eat Bass wrote:

mikeyp wrote:i'm in the same boat, kind of. i think i've learned enough to where i can write without thinking about it but it always still gets me stuck when it comes to writing out an original full piece.

one thing i know, is that someday my kids are getting fucking piano lessons.

^ i hear that man i wish my parents got me into music. though when i was young i was strictly into racing motocross and i doubt there was anything that would have interferred with that. and honestly just racing motocross is already too time consuming. it was my life till i had a compound fracture and damaged my nerve to my arm and couldnt use it for a year. that wonderful accident at the peak of my career got me into the wonderful world of music, drugs, and sent me to college. and here i am , trying to learn damn theory. i still do race sometimes and never lost my skill, but im not at the level i would be had it never happened.

btw thanks for all the links people. can someone link me a <click here and be instantly good at music theory and playing> k thx.

feel ya on that man. i was upset when i didnt get to play an instrument in elementary school cause i failed the test they give us.. ironic right lol? but yeah i played baseball my whole life and didn't stop til i got hurt, and that was in college, right around the time i started getting into drugs and music.. and here I am today

5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

Hircine wrote:5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

where did you take these classes and how much were they?

and yeah mikey your music sounds pretty good. sounds like you got handle on chords better than i do.

Eat Bass wrote:

Hircine wrote:5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

where did you take these classes and how much were they?

and yeah mikey your music sounds pretty good. sounds like you got handle on chords better than i do.

if you're referring to the tune in my sig thank you but i can't take the credit for those haha. collabed with a buddy of mine who is really incredible when it comes to writing music. I did all the sound design, arrangement, and drums in that track. those chords and stabs were all him. but i learned a ton working with him, finished that tune in like two hours

mikeyp wrote:

Eat Bass wrote:

Hircine wrote:5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

where did you take these classes and how much were they?

and yeah mikey your music sounds pretty good. sounds like you got handle on chords better than i do.

if you're referring to the tune in my sig thank you but i can't take the credit for those haha. collabed with a buddy of mine who is really incredible when it comes to writing music. I did all the sound design, arrangement, and drums in that track. those chords and stabs were all him. but i learned a ton working with him, finished that tune in like two hours

good stuff. i wish i had someone to collab with.

Eat Bass wrote:

mikeyp wrote:

Eat Bass wrote:

Hircine wrote:5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

where did you take these classes and how much were they?

and yeah mikey your music sounds pretty good. sounds like you got handle on chords better than i do.

if you're referring to the tune in my sig thank you but i can't take the credit for those haha. collabed with a buddy of mine who is really incredible when it comes to writing music. I did all the sound design, arrangement, and drums in that track. those chords and stabs were all him. but i learned a ton working with him, finished that tune in like two hours

good stuff. i wish i had someone to collab with.

you don't know any producers irl?

Check out what I just posted:

http://dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=257021

Before i started producing i could never force myself to learn anything music theory related. But after i started producing and been playing the keyboard more and got into the whole thing, the interest came out of nowhere and I was able to memorize way more stuff and "store" way more knowledge on music theory than ever before. For me the thing is basically, I can only memorize stuff that I WANT to know. I cannot force my self to learn something. You might have the same "problem"

Really though, Starting from this page http://www.outsideshore.com/school/musi ... /index.htm
If you keep going each individual page and take the time to completely understand each line you will be okay.

I wrote a curriculum if you're interested.

http://blog.indabamusic.com/2012/09/the ... ick-louie/

Lemme know if you have questions.

Eat Bass wrote:

Hircine wrote:5 weeks of composition / arrangement / notation classes. Having a few years of experience in live music and drumming plus knowing how to read sheets made the process a lot easier.

where did you take these classes and how much were they?

and yeah mikey your music sounds pretty good. sounds like you got handle on chords better than i do.

took them in the same place where I used to take drum classes when I was just starting, teacher was a nice japanese lady that played organ and piano. payed about 200 reais, 100 usd I guess.

I have the scales printed off and put on my wall... grabbed them from wikipedia.

I only ever make shit in Fm, and like maybe D#m and F#m, so there's not much to learn.

As for chord progressions I'm screwed.

Eat Bass wrote:i cannot for the life of me learn the keys or music theory. i can learn the technical aspect just fine on my own but i just cant seem to teach myself theory or how to play. i've tried reading some theory notes and what not but that only helps me remember like one or two scales. until i use different ones then i forget the old ones. maybe im just not putting enough time into learning it but the technical aspect seems to just stick with me whereas this doesnt.

does anyone have any tips at all to teaching yourself music theory? is there a dvd i should buy? or a book? i have some theory guides, one popular one passed around on here a lot that i cant seem to remember. but yeah, im in desperate need for some help in this area because its really crippling my production. it takes me so long to figure out chord progressions because im worried about going out of key that i have to look everything up and then i lose my creativity and cant even just have a play with chords. id like to be able to know what different notes/chords i could play together so i can just have a jam.

I still haven't learnt, and I think it shows in my music

Tbh I just learn scales, and play around with them. Once you know the progression of a given scale you can do anything you want within that scale, including chords, note progressions.etc. The best imho is just to start with the C major scale and play up and down the keys. Obviously that's pretty basic, the next one I moved onto after that was the Phrygian scale, which I still use very heavily. Again, imho if you aren't getting theory (like me - and tbh I don't really or want to spend the time on it), just work with scales and rehearse them