Best ways to learn theory?

[Bikerdoc]

I was gonna give you my theory on theory but now I'm confused.

Peace

 

[adorshki]

I'd much rather be on Oprah than Rosie.

Say, you are desperately in need of help, aren't you?

 

[southernGuild]

I'd much rather be on Oprah than Rosie.

Say, you are desperately in need of help, aren't you?

I go grab the garden hose and turn in on full. Al, you go get a long stick.......We'll break this scene up. :lol:

 

[Walter Broes]

Any tips?

You'd need to get more specific - what do you need it for? Music theory is a vast field, getting a little more specific will help you reach whatever goal you have faster.

 

[southernGuild]

Is the CAGED system worth working on? I'm looking to better understand the fretboard so I can apply music theary to it. :roll:

 

[Walter Broes]

Is the CAGED system worth working on? I'm looking to better understand the fretboard so I can apply music theary to it. :roll:

I've never "officially" learnt the CAGED system entirely, but it's a very worthwhile approach to mapping out the fretboard and breaking out of the same old "E barre chord box". Or "open G box", if you're a bluegrass player.. :lol:

 

[griehund]

Is the CAGED system worth working on? I'm looking to better understand the fretboard so I can apply music theary to it. :roll:

I'm working on it now. If I understand it correctly, it is based on the five keys that have scales and chords in the first position that can be moved up the neck. Seems a good place to start and to learn the fret board. I'm using a book called "Everything About Paying Blues" by Savidge and Vrandenburg.

Wish I could say I was making progress but I confess I am just beginning to understand what they are talking about. It's not the book's fault that I tend to be thick. Been spending the bulk of my time on scale boxes and moving them around the neck.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Say, you are desperately in need of help, aren't you?

You have no idea.

Walter,

I want to know what's going through a jazzer's mind when he's jamming. It's a mystery to me how somebody can think in such complex terms so quickly. It makes my knowledge of grammar and math seem like child's play.

 

[blue335]

Good advice here. If you can access a keyboard it is easier to 'see' music theory, minor 3rd-major 3rd, fifth, stuff like that, and in the key of C you can play diatonic scales (chords based on each note of the scale) just using the white keys and it makes sense.
As you progress Truefire has some excellent courses on jazz by Fareed Haque, he is very accessible and explains things so I can understand them.
Good luck and have fun!
Blue

 

[killdeer43]

As I sift through this thread, I can't help but offer a tidbit or three, and by all means feel free to transpose these tidbits to suit yourself.

My basic, underlying theory for 43 years has been to play as much as you can as often as you can and just get comfortable playing your guitar. Learn as you go and don't be so hard on yourself. You will improve and just remember how you sounded when you picked it up in the first place.

Don't try so hard that you keep yourself in a state of confusion. Play what you know and know what you play. Do your own variations of songs that suit your own style of playing, whatever that might be. Enjoy yourself!

I play guitar to accompany myself when I sing all the songs that I've collected in a lifetime of music appreciation. Your ability will always be the sum total of the effort that you've put into learning. Embrace all the guitar has to offer but don't fight it.

Those are just a few theoretical thoughts that barely scratch the surface, but I'm stickin' to 'em, :wink:

In the early morning rain,
Joe

 

[fronobulax]

I want to know what's going through a jazzer's mind when he's jamming. It's a mystery to me how somebody can think in such complex terms so quickly. It makes my knowledge of grammar and math seem like child's play.

First, I have never really tired to play jazz bass (as distinct from Jazz Bass) and in spite of the stereotype behind Spinal Tap's Jazz Odyssey. My epiphany as a listener came when I started listening to "standards" where I already knew the melody. I started humming the melody while listening to the solo and after a while the solos started making musical sense. Previously it was just a bunch of notes over some changes. This also applies to original compositions since I can always try and figure out what the melody is and then compare that to what the soloists are doing.

Improvisation can be taught and doing so relies on theory so you are headed in the right direction. If you really want to get blown away listen to a good organist improvise, knowing that they are using both hands and feet and that everything somehow fits together musically.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Joe,

That's sort of the way I've been doing it. I transfer techniques from one instrument to another (banjo rolls on guitar, steel, even mando) but I don't understand what I'm doing--much less what others are doing.


Frono,

Organ is indeed one of the instruments I'm interested in, and for the reason you mention. Pedal steel is similar. It even has levers you push with your knees.

hf

 

[adorshki]

As you progress Truefire has some excellent courses on jazz by Fareed Haque, he is very accessible and explains things so I can understand them.

Mr. Haque also happens to have made some magnificent albums, "Flat Planet" being among my favorites.
(I just mentioned that because I'm pretty sure the name's not well known here)
:wink:
Darryl: Fareed is one of those guys I discovered by listening to KCSM-only recently did I discover he's not just an artist but an instructor as well.
Also second Frono's hint about humming the melody to yourself while listening to the solo, then they begin to make sense.
You'll even start to know who's just tryin' to dazzle you with technique as opposed to the guys who rip the emotions right out of you with just enough of the right notes.
Carry on!

 

[12 string]

It would be good to learn all you can about notes, scales and modes, and chord construction. I think it would be more useful to stay on the jazz/pop side.

Learn the ins and outs of chord substitution.

Frono's advice about singing or humming standard melodies while listening to improvisations is the best in thread. Pursue the opposite side as well: hum or sing the improvs you would like to play.

Do comprehensive ear training including sight-singing, musical dictation and playing melodies by ear.

Find a way of taking on a program of Kodaly-based solfeggio studies which will synthesize all of the above. It's very powerful elite training for your basic musicianship.

Zoltan Kodaly referred to the folk song literature of any country, culture, or language group as its "musical mother tongue" and stressed the importance of using this resource in musical literacy and ear training studies. Many of our jazz pop standards have been so folk processed that they can be very useful.

Start with what is easy and simple and take small steps into greater complexity.

Work on these skills at least a little bit every day.

Whatever the skill levels you already may have, this is the best advice I can give if I understand correctly where you're wanting to go.

' Strang

 

[griehund]

My reasons for wanting to learn some theory are because I decided to change genres. I've been a rythm strummer all my life and wanted to expand into something different. I started looking into post war blues because that's what I heard as a kid. The blues transition into R&B was the background music of my youth. You can throw in a heavy dose of doowop. I wanted to be able to play solos so I needed to learn scales so that's where I started.

Education is a slippery slope. The more you learn, the more you realize just how much you don't know. There are very few answers and many, many more questions. Also, what you know can be a lot different from what you can actually do. The difference between theory and reality.

 

[hearth_man]

I'm with Joe, (killdeer43)!!!

 

[Bing k]

Ditto on using the keyboard to understand relationships in music. The keyboard is laid out like a linear map and makes the theory easy to understand. You don't necessarily have to have a real keyboard although that does allow you to hear the theory applied as you watch it on the board. Any music store that sells sheet music will have keyboards on paper for a couple of bucks.

 

[bluesypicky]

Pursue the opposite side as well: hum or sing the improvs you would like to play.
Do comprehensive ear training including sight-singing, musical dictation and playing melodies by ear.' Strang

This is what comes first, no question. Learning to appreciate which notes / chords sound good to you, and know where they are on your keyboard, neck or pistons.
Then learn what they're called, should you feel the need.....

The most widespread question I get about soloing is: "What mode do you play in?"
Interestingly enough, I couldn't care less. Pentatonic, Myxolidian, Dorian, you name it..... :lol:

 

[blue335]

Now I understand why Bluespicky is so good, he's got notes on his pistons! Gotta get me some of those...

 

[ladytexan]

The most widespread question I get about soloing is: "What mode do you play in?"
Interestingly enough, I couldn't care less. Pentatonic, Myxolidian, Dorian, you name it..... :lol:

Gosh, I luv it when you talk scales and harmoniai to us, bluesypicky! I really do! :lol: 8) I luv it even more when we get to hear you play the stuff! :wink: