Why you should be mad at theory

[Christian Miller]

I think you don't need to be mad at theory. Just listen to music and play what you hear. Try to improve from that point. As somebody said there are some players who know theory but can't play music.

I come into contact with a lot of people like that…. And I think this is what we’ve ended up with in classical theory. The theory is not applied to make music. That’s the problem….

the sort of skills Gjerdingen is talking about in the OP are standard for rock and pop and classical musicians. I do wonder if jazz players are getting more like classical players though.

Classical players wouldn’t dream of learning a classical piece by ear for instance! (I think Jonathan Kreisberg recommended doing just that.)

[paulkogut]

I remember reading somewhere that BB King was relentless about improving his level of knowledge and was actually pretty knowledgable about theory.

I had a short but memorable hang with BB King in the mid 1990's. We weren't able to get guitars out, but we spent about 20 minutes on his tour bus talking about the jazz, with him singing his favorite Charlie Christian solos...

PK

[JimmyDunlop]

I come into contact with a lot of people like that…. And I think this is what we’ve ended up with in classical theory. The theory is not applied to make music. That’s the problem….

the sort of skills Gjerdingen is talking about in the OP are standard for rock and pop and classical musicians. I do wonder if jazz players are getting more like classical players though.

Classical players wouldn’t dream of learning a classical piece by ear for instance! (I think Jonathan Kreisberg recommended doing just that.)

depends. You mean classical performers. The great composers had the ear to do that
Now about jazz, I think ear training is the best approach. Not ignoring some theory basics, but not till the point of getting mad. I also think the best classical composers relied way more on their ears at least at some point, once they matured they barely used to think in terms of theory.

[Christian Miller]

depends. You mean classical performers. The great composers had the ear to do that
Now about jazz, I think ear training is the best approach. Not ignoring some theory basics, but not till the point of getting mad. I also think the best classical composers relied way more on their ears at least at some point, once they matured they barely used to think in terms of theory.

Yes I agree; but please watch the video in the OP, that’s the context.

[Bobby Timmons]

I watched the video and I absolutely agree. The college theory/harmony course work doesn't teach you how to use harmony at a professional level or in the real world. And as he says, if you know how to use harmony, it's because you learned it somewhere else. That was absolutely my experience.

His side point about disagreeing with the scientific basis of harmony, I don't know. I don't have an opinion, don't know if it's naturally occurring or man made.