Music theory

So you're saying you can write music for an 80 piece orchestra just by ears and with no knowledge of how an orchestra "works" in terms of harmonic balances, counterpoint, and instrumentation/orchestration?

You must be quite the natural talent.

If I had good writing skills, yes. It's not a big difference to a metal-song - you just have more different instruments which you can use.
Btw. it makes no difference if it's a 20 or 100 person orchestra ;)
 
It's not a big difference to a metal song?
Please don't say anything before you actually compose a piece for an orchestra.
It is certainly more challenging than writing a metal song.
 
It's not a big difference to a metal song?
Please don't say anything before you actually compose a piece for an orchestra.
It is certainly more challenging than writing a metal song.

It surely is a bigger challenge but all in all it's the same. Just with more instruments. The main diffeference is - besides the violins and stuff - that there is no typical song structure. This is what makes it a bit more complicated. But I have to admit that I would never be able to write something for movies or games. This is real skill imo
 
It surely is a bigger challenge but all in all it's the same. Just with more instruments. The main diffeference is - besides the violins and stuff - that there is no typical song structure. This is what makes it a bit more complicated. But I have to admit that I would never be able to write something for movies or games. This is real skill imo

:OMG:



I seriously can't tell if you're trolling or just an idiot. No song structure? NO SONG STRUCTURE? You don't know jack shit about music. Go learn about phrases, periods cadences and large scale tonal and and organizational form and come back and tell me a piece for orchestra has no structure.

Also you CANNOT learn perfect pitch, only relative pitch. Perfect pitch is something you're born with, you can have amazing relative pitch but its still not the same.
 
To those saying you don't "need" theory for such-and-such, sure... well, you don't need it. But it can only help. There is a structure and process for all skills you acquire in life, whether it's lengthy or not. Music happens to be a very deep subject. Why, I ask, would you want to ever limit yourself by deciding not to learn theory? Even if you can only learn by teaching yourself, it's worth making an effort for. If you're just casual about music, playing, and composing, then it's not a big deal. If all you want to do is play covers, again not a big deal. But if you want to truly compose to the best of your abilities, of course you're going to want to study music theory. Again, there are rules and structures to every trade in life. Extra knowledge on the subject is only going to expand your creativity.

Always trust your ear, music is something that's listened to and if it sounds good that's all that matters.

s

True dat. And learning theory will allow you to make what sounds good sound even better.

:OMG:



I seriously can't tell if you're trolling or just an idiot. No song structure? NO SONG STRUCTURE? You don't know jack shit about music. Go learn about phrases, periods cadences and large scale tonal and and organizational form and come back and tell me a piece for orchestra has no structure.

Also you CANNOT learn perfect pitch, only relative pitch. Perfect pitch is something you're born with, you can have amazing relative pitch but its still not the same.

Agreed.
 
I seriously can't tell if you're trolling or just an idiot. No song structure? NO SONG STRUCTURE? You don't know jack shit about music. Go learn about phrases, periods cadences and large scale tonal and and organizational form and come back and tell me a piece for orchestra has no structure.
Dude, I said not the typical song structure (>implies intro, verse, chorus, verse,....). Read more carefully next time.. DOn't get this pitch thing though...
To those saying you don't "need" theory for such-and-such, sure... well, you don't need it. But it can only help. There is a structure and process for all skills you acquire in life, whether it's lengthy or not. Music happens to be a very deep subject. Why, I ask, would you want to ever limit yourself by deciding not to learn theory? Even if you can only learn by teaching yourself, it's worth making an effort for. If you're just casual about music, playing, and composing, then it's not a big deal. If all you want to do is play covers, again not a big deal. But if you want to truly compose to the best of your abilities, of course you're going to want to study music theory. Again, there are rules and structures to every trade in life. Extra knowledge on the subject is only going to expand your creativity.

For me it's useless to learn any theory anymore because I don't need it for anything. I'm nothing more than a bedroom guitarist and if I will ever do any serious own songs I think it's enough to have a bit creativity and to know what sounds good and what not. Btw the longer you play an instrument, the better your own songs will be - even without any theory.
 
I'm nothing more than a bedroom guitarist and if I will ever do any serious own songs I think it's enough to have a bit creativity and to know what sounds good and what not.

I like it when people make statements about something they basically know nothing of and then after you waste time showing them how they're wrong they say that they don't NEED to know anything about the matter because they're perfectly happy with what they already know. :headbang:
 
I don't know about scientific evidence, but I can be given a pitch and usually be pretty accurate in saying what it is, or asked to sing a pitch. I don't have perfect pitch though, but it's not relative because I don't need any pitches to be played beforehand.

Also everything said about not needing/caring about music theory makes me want to an hero....
 
Also everything said about not needing/caring about music theory makes me want to an hero....

Metal forums are usually full of retarded kids who think good soloing is reading guitar tabs and repeating what a real artist has created. Its basically like using a stencil to draw a picture and going "NOT ONE LESSON, SO TALENT."

Makes them look really stupid :p
 
I don't know about scientific evidence, but I can be given a pitch and usually be pretty accurate in saying what it is, or asked to sing a pitch. I don't have perfect pitch though, but it's not relative because I don't need any pitches to be played beforehand.

Also everything said about not needing/caring about music theory makes me want to an hero....

i think he was being all philosophical, witch when you break everything down, what is perfect ? what is music ? what is art ? what are you willing to do for 50 dollars ? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE ? playing music ? if so, what kind of music ? rap ? what kind of rap ? what is rap ? rhyming ? what is rhyming ? 2 words that sound the same ? what are words ? sounds that describe objects ? are farts sounds ? wait... is rap, music ?
 
i think he was being all philosophical, witch when you break everything down, what is perfect ? what is music ? what is art ? what are you willing to do for 50 dollars ? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE ? playing music ? if so, what kind of music ? rap ? what kind of rap ? what is rap ? rhyming ? what is rhyming ? 2 words that sound the same ? what are words ? sounds that describe objects ? are farts sounds ? wait... is rap, music ?

if not, does that mean there is no meaning to life ?
 
Btw the longer you play an instrument, the better your own songs will be - even without any theory.

In a sense, yes, but I also believe that the longer you play a single instrument (without touching any other instruments or bothering to learn theory), the more sterile your compositions end up sounding. I got into a composition rut a while back and even WITH having taken a decent amount of theory courses and understanding what I do, I wasn't able to truly break free until I stopped playing guitar for nearly a year and during that time focused on piano/keys. I felt very much rejuvenated and I know I wouldn't have written my best songs to this day had it not been for that.

This is not to say that the same thing will happen to most people -- partly because I hold my composing to a very high standard and I think most people are content with composing mediocre songs, but also because composing is a very personal process, and how it happened for me won't necessarily resemble others' experiences -- However...

My main point, objectively speaking, is that the more tools you have to draw from while composing, ultimately the better your songs will turn out. The knowledge of how to play guitar is one tool. The knowledge of how to play piano is another tool. Theoretical understanding is another tool (a huge one at that). As is being able to read music (understanding theory is not the same as being able to read music). Singing/humming melodies is another, as basic as that seems (some people can't accurately hum a tune, which is totally weird for me to imagine). The studies of foreign/different cultures of music (Indian/Eastern/Ethnic/etc.) The list goes on...

If you only have one of those tools, you can compose music, but if you have several tools at hand, expect greater things to happen. I think that a true composer (one who will do anything to improve composing ability) should strive to obtain as many compositional tools as possible. Otherwise he's only limiting himself.
 
Metal forums are usually full of retarded kids who think good soloing is reading guitar tabs and repeating what a real artist has created.

I could play Stairway to Heaven when I was 12, considering Jimmy Page was 24 when he wrote it ... I think that's really saying something!

s
 
inb4 the following makes me sound like a pretentious douche, cry some more.

1. Perfect pitch (or at least relative pitch) can be trained, and fairly quickly at that
2. Theory is always a good thing. This said I've in fact experienced that it can stifle creativity if one adheres to certain ideas too rigidly, which isn't necessary.
3. Being content playing something cookie-cutter (see: anyone over the age of 13 who plays something like that professionally) is dumb, in my opinion. I seriously can't fathom it.

@eveningninja: Dude I want to trade musical ideas. Or at the very least, send me some of your stuff :lol: