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aberkok · 08-14-2005, 11:49 PM

You have a book already, and you're planning on taking private lessons. That's a good start and beyond that I don't know what your study habits are, so I can't prescribe anything.

I will say this though. Make sure you listen to a lot of music, and over and over. I suggest some music from what is known as the "standard practice" era, which basically means Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Find a piece you like (they wrote thousands between them, so you should be able to find one), and put it on twice a day for a week. If you don't have time for it, then do as much as you can. Music theory learnt out of a book will focus mostly on music from that era.

You need to develop your "bank" of music theory. The large myth about music theory is that one "learns" it, but if you think about it, most people are brought up (especially now with recorded music taken for granted), listening to an extraordinary amount of music and can sing along with many of the "great hits,"be it "Ode to Joy," or "Let it Be." I say that music theory is merely the isolation and recognition of things we already know. The purpose being so that we can call a device our own and use it, like you have in mind.

The more you drink in from the well, the more (I'm really, really sorry for this metaphor) hydrated you'll be for your mental theory workout. What you're looking for is the "AAAAH I know that sound from *insert piece here*!!!!" factor.

Hope this helps rather than confuses.

08-14-2005, 11:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
aberkok “Wrong is right.” Location: toronto	You have a book already, and you're planning on taking private lessons. That's a good start and beyond that I don't know what your study habits are, so I can't prescribe anything. I will say this though. Make sure you listen to a lot of music, and over and over. I suggest some music from what is known as the "standard practice" era, which basically means Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Find a piece you like (they wrote thousands between them, so you should be able to find one), and put it on twice a day for a week. If you don't have time for it, then do as much as you can. Music theory learnt out of a book will focus mostly on music from that era. You need to develop your "bank" of music theory. The large myth about music theory is that one "learns" it, but if you think about it, most people are brought up (especially now with recorded music taken for granted), listening to an extraordinary amount of music and can sing along with many of the "great hits,"be it "Ode to Joy," or "Let it Be." I say that music theory is merely the isolation and recognition of things we already know. The purpose being so that we can call a device our own and use it, like you have in mind. The more you drink in from the well, the more (I'm really, really sorry for this metaphor) hydrated you'll be for your mental theory workout. What you're looking for is the "AAAAH I know that sound from insert piece here!!!!" factor. Hope this helps rather than confuses. __________________ !check out my new blog! http://arkanamusic.wordpress.com Warden Gentiles: "It? Perfectly innocent. But I can see how, if our roles were reversed, I might have you beaten with a pillowcase full of batteries."