(part 8 of 20)
Music Theory
Basic music theory is very helpful when going deeper into music composition, particularly in understanding keys/scales/tonality, rhythm/meter, and music notation standards. It’s certainly good to learn theory when relevant to a specific composition. For example, if a student writes sharps and flats arbitrarily, without understanding keys and scale degrees, this is a good time to learn about how scales are constructed. However, music theory in general should be learned separately from composition.
A common yet serious danger arises from teaching music theory as though it’s the foundation of music composition. It is not! Creative improvisation is. Far too often theory is considered a prerequisite to composition, or worse yet, as a rule book for composition. Remember, much great music was composed before music theory as we know it today was even developed.
Music theory is based on music analysis. It can give us an interesting perspective on what a composition consists of, but it tells us nothing about how the music was conceived. It might be possible to analyze ice cream to learn that it’s made of milk, cream, and sugar, but mix those up in a bowl and you won’t get ice cream. As stated before, improvisation is an inherently creative process, fundamental to composition, and of course music composition is a creative art. Music theory taught as a fundamental rule book for composition strips that creativity away.
Basic music theory is crucial, but for composition it should generally be taught as needed to improve music notation.
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Index
- Introduction
- Why Piano?
- Improvisation:
- Notation:
- Related Skills/Knowledge:
- Composition: