>>64561589
Yeah, actually I'm studying for the ABRSM Theory Grade 8 exam

>>64561589
alright you fucking faggot, there's one of these threads every month. lemme put you in your place. first of all, do you enjoy food? are you able to taste food and have favorites and dislikes? Can you discuss food without being a chef or knowing anything about cooking?

fucking pretentious piece of shit. i've been studying music theory since i was 5 because i had asian parents who forced me to, so i know what i'm talking about. viewing music solely through music theory and analysis removes the soul and passion out of it. that's why it's a fucking dead field and modern music has honestly progressed past it.

and here i'll one-up your pretentiousness. i don't care if i fell for the bait. do you know anything about the physics of sound? do you know why two notes one octave apart sound the same? why does a major scale sound "happy" and a minor scale sound "sad" when it's just a series of frequencies? why is your precious twelve tone scale not even possible? there are even more fundamental mathematical relationships that your shitty music theory takes for granted

Yes I graduated from Berklee with a masters in microtonality and studied under Cecil Taylor. What do you know pleb?

>>64561589
>How many of you actually know anything about musical theory?
I know quite a bit.

>Do any of you even have the slightest clue what sort of notes comprise the melodies of the songs you love most?
Yes, typically my first response to finding music I love is to analyze it to find out what makes me love it.

>Can you recognize the key of the various harmonies the chords of your songs are written in?
I don't have perfect pitch so I can't usually identify the key very well without some reference. Recognizing intervals and chord qualities is second nature and I can identify most basic progressions pretty easily.

>Moreover, how many of your revered critics know a lick about actual music writing and theory?
I'm not sure. I don't 'revere' many critics and the ones I respect are composers or excellent musicians in their own right.

>Does Anothy Fucktano, for example, have even the slightest background in music?
No, but I don't consider him a music critic. He does an ok job describing music but doesn't even come close to evaluating it or analyzing it. But that's ok since most of the music he "reviews" is garbage anyway.

Honestly I agree with you that this board is terrible in this regard and is probably a factor in why music "discussion" on the board seldom goes deeper than "X is shit" or "X is GOAT".

I'm not saying you have to be a theory expert to enjoy music, I'm sure many users of this board really do enjoy music, but honestly I can't imagine not wanting to have a deeper understanding of music if you truly enjoy it.

>>64561589
>Do any of you even have the slightest clue what sort of notes comprise the melodies of the songs you love most?
I know how to play most of my favorite songs, so yes. But a good portion of my favorite music doesn't use conventional music theory or it's from a non-Western musical system.

>>64561891
>Can you discuss food without being a chef or knowing anything about cooking?

This has always been a terrible analogy. Sure you can talk about your subjective tastes in food without being a chef but have you ever heard two chefs discussing food? They talk about things like balance, technique, restraint, texture, composition, and history. Their understanding of the subject is obviously much deeper.

>>64561589
>How many of you actually know anything about musical theory?
I'm not formally educated in it, but I do know a fair bit, yeah.

>Do any of you even have the slightest clue what sort of notes comprise the melodies of the songs you love most?
I mean, I can work it out by ear, but I don't have perfect pitch, so... no, I guess? If I wanted to examine at a certain bit of a song I'd look at a score, just to be sure I wasn't flubbing it.

>Can you recognize the key of the various harmonies the chords of your songs are written in?
Not by "proper" name, no, not formally educated and really have no reason to be, but yes, I can identify harmonies, chord progressions, that kind of shit.

I don't really care about specific critics

now fuck off

>>64562047
most wine isn't made for wine snobs. well i guess /mu/ is the wine snobs of music, so you're right that analogy doesn't work here.

The "theory" behind most music discussed on this board isn't exactly quantum physics...seems dumb to have a superiority complex about the circle of fifths or whatever OP is talking about. You could learn all of that in like a couple months. The real trick is applying it in a way that other people want to hear, and there's no class or theory for that.

>>64561589
>How many of you actually know anything about musical theory?

I'm working on getting my Harmony III right now (highest level of theory in Canada, before ARCT [Honorate Masters]

>Do any of you even have the slightest clue what sort of notes comprise the melodies of the songs you love most?

Yup

> Can you recognize the key of the various harmonies the chords of your songs are written in?

Yup.

Fuck off man, you don't need to have any qualification to appreciate music.

>>64561891
Pretty much this, some of my favorite artists aren't classically trained and yet make amazing music. Honestly in some ways I think music theory limits creativity, especially people that can't seem to leave the comfort of it.

>>64562467
Nothing wrong with being formally educated in theory, so long as you treat it like an optional guideline rather than dogma.

Maybe it's better to learn about it AFTER you start actually making music?

>>64562577
It's kind of funny, some of the first "rules" I learned in composition classes were broken in one of the more well known Mozart pieces.

Can't remember the piece but he had an 8th into 7th and didn't go to 5.

>>64561891
Great post