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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @adlai 5 Nov \ on: A small rant about music theory and contemporary music Music
I think you should keep in mind a few things:
- Lots of music is just people shedding excess creative energy, and putting the product out there in case anyone else finds it interesting; so similarly to how you won't find most people's random conversations interesting, you shouldn't expect to find most music clicks with you.
- Music theory is a catastrophe. There are several different theories, some directly descended from the original Pythagorean theory, some constructed in contrast to it, and some that tried starting from scratch. Many terms are used with conflicting meanings, without any regard for avoiding this confusion. I find it almost not worth bothering with all this; play the music that you like, and don't let the verbal metamusical nonsense distract you.
- If you are going to pay attention to formal theory, then you should keep in mind that the various named intervals name idealised intervals, although what you actually hear from playing is whatever your instrument generates; and in the case of modern instruments like a piano or a guitar, you're probably using using equal temperament and aside from the octave, none of the named intervals accurately describes anything you do!
Basically, I think it's good to view all academic music theory with a grain of salt, the same way you'd read any academic theory as only being an oversimplification of whatever natural phenomenon is being described. Don't let someone else's coping with complexity ruin your subjective enjoyment of your own activity.