I’ve heard some people say things like, “I don’t know any theory, I just play by “feel”. I don’t want to learn theory because it will mess up my “feel”.”
I’ve heard other people say things like, “If your “feel” couldn’t handle a little bit of theory, it must have not been that strong of a “feel” to start with…”
Both of these sentiments make me chuckle, and together they help us to see the middle road we want to walk down as musicians. Knowing as much theory as we need to be able to express ourselves well with maximum impact, and never allowing the intellectual side of things to dominate the magic and emotion that made us fall in love with music in the first place.
If you know me at all, you know that I am a theory Nerd with a capital “N.” I love it. Since I was a kid, music has been an obsession for me. If I wasn’t playing it, I wanted to be reading about it or meditating about things I’d been practicing or reading about.
In my personal experience, when it’s time to get on stage and play in front of a crowd, or it’s time to press record in front of a microphone, theory goes out the window, and I become lost in emotion.
Charlie Parker, whom many consider to be one of the greatest innovators and improvisers of the 20th century is quoted as saying, “First you learn the instrument, then you learn the music, then you forget all that sh*@ and just play. ”
I think this is great advice. Let’s be open to learning all the theory we can, all the while remembering that the theory of music is not music itself.
I highly agree, feeling and theory are equally important.
As I have mentioned before, I’m in my beginner stages as a musician, though I am not completely unfamiliar to music. I used to be able to play a few melodies on piano, and I can name all the keys on one as well as read simple sheet music.
But I’m still learning to just being able to just play what I think sounds good, and I think that’s essentially one of the question music theory answers. Like why does some chords sound good together, while playing two keys (on the piano) next to each other sound not so good.
I personally think the harmonica is excellent in conveying both theory and feeling, since it’s a easy instrument to carry around, whilst also being very diverse in it’s ability to create sounds.
Found this old thread whilst idly browsing the forum (sorry to dig up old posts)…but agree wholeheartedly wuth what you’re saying.
Many years ago I played electric guitar, self taught, with plenty of bad habits.
After a while I hit a wall and never progressed beyond a particular level… With hindsight and the steady wisdom that comes with time I can see that it was a complete lack of music theory that held me back - with even the basic level of theory I’ve learnt recently I can see so many playing opportunities that I couldn’t before.
In short, if stuck, then knowing more of the mechanics of music could certainly open a few fresh ideas to explore, not to mention that music theory applies to all instruments too.
Or you can just take the advice my father gave me when I was 12 years old and took up sax, and this man loved music. He said that playing an instrument was a beautiful thing. But you shouldn’t touch one until you can play it properly. But in he’s defence, it took me a couple of weeks to get a half decent embouchure.
@MikeyJay yeah good point that it applies to all instruments. Knowing it helps us become better multi-instrumentalists, if we should fancy such a fancy title.
I’m glad that you’ve resurrected this thread because there’s tension in this idea that should be constantly examined. Theory is science, and in the final analysis music is art, not science. So do ignore the inherent tension here is short-sighted.
I think this is an opportune moment to re-quote the father of bebop, Charlie Parker who obviously understood theory beyond what and of us do, but played with amazing feel:
Hey man. So true. Thing is you don’t forget the theory, that would be like saying forget how to play and just listen. It becomes part of you and you use it automatically, without the need to concentrate on it. Just like how you have to concentrate on your fingers when you start playing heaps of instruments. People tend to not realise they’ve picked up on theory. Scary word man
@anon42706161, it is exactly like that! I have and still have a hard time with the theory. Thought I wouldn’t really understand.
But now that I’m focusing on more practice, I’m realizing that I can really put theory into practice. Completely automatically!
In my view, you might know the theory but still be a horrible player. Indeed, there are a lot of self-learners who can play incredibly well and don’t know any theory at all. My ex actually was like that.
Totally agree with this middle ground. Learning theory doesn’t mean giving up on feel—it’s more like giving yourself a bigger playground to explore in.
I learned to play guitar teaching myself mostly finger style to start with then I learned slide guitar drop tunings, open tunings and so on. I hit a plateau and decided to get some lessons, so I didn’t think I knew much about music theory until one day discussing guitar with my music teacher we were talking about a song, and he’d say and what note is that your playing I instinctively said as plucked the string I was on, " Oh that’s an A note" he laughed and said “you’ve taught yourself music theory by learning the names of the strings, the key your in, each note on each fret and you know your drop tunings and open tunings, so you pretty much know music Theory!” I assimilated stuff by making mistakes and finding stuff and putting it together. I’ve been applying this to harmonica for just a couple of years initially, as originally I was a “feel” player recently my Knowledge of music has allowed me to start picking up the Chromonica quite quickly. Although I don’t understand how music is written out with all the dead flies on the page I hear it in my head and I pretty much know where to go, I still make mistakes but then I work out why I made that mistake.
I used to be a bit hesitant with theory too, thinking it might take away the “magic” of playing. But when I started taking online lessons at https://www.artmaster.com , I found it actually added a new layer. Knowing a few basics didn’t kill the vibe; it just gave me more tools to play with.
I have ask you and a couple of others about music theory and both were recorded pros and told me to focus on playing the scales, etc… I have picked up a little but my main focus is get the timing and rhythm in muscle memory. If that occurs I MAY try to learn more as it will make much more sense and easier to learn, only if it will add a couple of links to the chain. I am not a book learning person. Mistakes and practice are what have began great teachers.
I don’t remember if I said this before but it bears repeating.
If you want to play with a professional sound, it is worth the effort to treat it like learning a foreign language. For all but the most exceptionally talented, that’s not something you can learn by feel. You wouldn’t tell somebody to just “say what they feel” before they’ve learned the basic grammar of a language. You can be full of feeling, but unable to express it. If you try, it won’t be received in the way you intended.
The same is true of aiming for a professional sound without learning music’s basic principles. You can play, it’ll sound ok. People will tell you they like it. But when you see how people respond to music that is played in a very professional manner, it is night and day.
Theory won’t make you a professional, but it is one leg of music’s foundational principles.
I should say, this is different than telling people “play what you feel” to help them get out of their heads while performing. That’s just standard good advice for people too busy listening to their inner thoughts to hear the other players in the band.
I’m one of those who has not studied any theory except for the very basics that I’ve picked up from this forum. I know I will never be a great player because of it. I could talk about the joy of making music and mindfulness and developing new neural pathways and giving me something to do in retirement etc. All of that is really about protecting my mental health. I believe its achieving that and that’s good enough for me.
I feel the greatest admiration watching and listening to solo performers who are so good that the alterity of musician and their instrument vanishes, they seem to merge into one, neither separate from the other. That may be what Luke was alluding to with his Charlie Parker quote in the initial post.
I just wish I had listened to what my mother told me when I was little.
The good news about theory is that it isn’t terribly complex - about a season of study for 30 min a day and you’ll know more than 90% of harmonica players. Learn note names, scales and scale degrees, and chord tones.
If you want to learn to read music, the same amount of time will work to get you started (and then its a skill you can continuously develop over a lifetime, just as it is for everybody).
Very much so. If you want to learn to read, I’d recommend starting with something like a Phil Duncan book that has the staff above some tabs. Cover the tabs but peek when you need to.
So the key is just practise? Or should I try memorize the position of notes on each harmonica? Usually I find the first note on harmonica and then it’s not so hard to follow notation… but I am lost when I would like to use another position than first
Personally, I consider all harmonicas (in my mind) to be in the key of C. This is the same approach that saxophone players take. Whether they play an Eb (alto or bari sax) or Bb (soprano or tenor sax), three fingers down on the top hand is always considered G.
As for learning notes, learn the notes that are in every hole of the C harp. The notes are the same no matter what position you play in.
