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My classically trained grandmother to me when making me learn theory: “You must first learn the rules and the box, so when you break out of them you know why you’re doing it and what it will accomplish”
As a music theory nerd, I generally agree, but I prefer to call rules "suggestions" and boundaries "a framework" because you're always free to break any "rules" or "boundaries". That framework is super important though, because it allows us to make choices with intention, rather than blindly searching. Hower, it's important that you're always free to break away from that framework and create your own. Knowing more frameworks just gives us more ways to intentionally express ourselves. Even the people who choose not to learn theory will have their own framework, but the self learner is more likely to have a more limited framework because their framework will be built on a shallow understanding of things they've aleady played while missing the details.
I started playing (bass) around 1989. Soon after that grunge came along and with that theory was kind of thrown in the trash. Art/music/creativity was meant to be born of from inspiration, intuition and emotion, not theory. As such, theory was scoffed at (at least by people I mingled with then). Nothing was more detrimental to my playing than this attitude. I had no idea how to even approach the instrument. A few years later, I became friends with someone who was studying jazz guitar at the university (believe it or not, his true passion at the time was thrash metal). The way he explained the application of theory to me was that theory didn't dictate what he played. He just heard a melody in his head, picked up his instrument and started noodling. Then the moment he began to understand what he heard, the whole fret board would light up with all the possibilities of where he could go next (or intentionally not go) and it would all fit (or intentionally not fit). And as his ideas shifted, so too did the map on his fret board. This was a watershed moment for me, and I remember that conversation to this day (more than three decades later). This idea seems rudimentary to me today, but at the time it was truly liberating.
Well said. I hate it when people say theory will limit their creativity, when in fact they are only limiting themselves. There's nothing wrong with learning more, you can only gain more by doing so. You can still do whatever you want on the guitar and with music, just cause you learn theory doesn't mean you now HAVE TO stick to that. It's all about your approach and I wish more people would understand that
Is there a specific order you recommend people to follow your videos through? They're all very inspiring, just wondering if you personally would prioritize some first, will watch them all regardless :D
I used to be someone who hated theory but then realized I was an idiot. But still, Steve Vai IS boring and please do not aspire to be like him. No one wants to listen to that.
Not a fan of your football analogy. There are so many sports about running with a ball to a goal, like Rugby, and they are arguably significantly more entertaining then football.
Not only is he boring, but it is so technical and repetitive that his music lacks any emotional communication. While technically good, he makes exercises instead of art. Nothing wrong with it, Bach did the same, most romantics did the same...
