Music theory intimidates me.
Ever since public school, where we sang Christmas carols in the hallways every December, I’ve regarded sheet music, chord progressions, and scales as the relics of some alien civilization: Something to be studied, but too strange to be adopted.
I’m finally trying to change that though, starting with a music theory class offered by alison.com. Pretty cool site if you don’t know, offering free university-level training on a variety of subjects.
Turns out it’s a LOT more confusing than I thought.
First there are the scales: Heptatonic scales, diatonic scales, chromatic scales… And musicians can switch from one to the other mid song, like it ain’t no thang.
Then there’s the notes within each scale. I can keep up with the letter scheme (ABCD…) easily enough, and even the flats and sharps aren’t completely overwhelming. But perfect fifths, diminished sixths and so on… well, my head starts hurting.
The biggest problem is most of the resources I’ve found don’t seem to teach with the intent of actually helping you play anything better. Take this opening definition for a perfect fifth on Wikipedia:
In music theory, a perfect fifth is the music interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.
Wiki-‘I’m-so-smart’-pedia
Which is fascinating, but completely useless to someone trying to understand chords and triads (not the gang).
The next paragraph does a bit better, describing it as an interval of five consecutive notes on a diatonic scale. At least I’m only left looking up one term, “diatonic scale”, instead of four or five, which often happens.
What’s strikingly absent in these opening paragraphs is any mention of what instruments are used to play a perfect fifth, why the diatonic scale is used, or how it relates to any other note to produce a particular harmony. The words “piano” and “keyboard” aren’t even used until almost halfway down the page.
Okay, yes I’m gripping, but here’s the thing: I, like many others, prefer a holistic approach to understanding something. Give me a bunch of facts without the links connecting them, and you’ll lose me in 30 seconds. Tell me WHY I need to know something, and it sticks.
For every concept introduced in this online course, I’ve probably spent at least three times that much doing further research online to make sure I understand what it’s being used for. Maybe schools should take that approach instead of just giving you a bunch of facts to memorize.
Alright, rant over.
I’ve finally understood enough to start practicing, so I borrowed my sister-in-law’s ancient Yamaha yesterday:
It ain’t pretty, but it will help me learn to build chord progressions and understand harmonies on more than an instinctual level. And that’s VERY important for what I have planned for the future.