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Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

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Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#71

Le logiciel gratuit et open source Pure Data permet de consolider ton apprentissage. C'est tout approprié pour comprendre comment et pourquoi les notes ont telle ou telle hauteur, tu pourras facilement recréer n'importe quelle gamme, notamment les gammes microtonales. Pure data est aussi intéressant pour comprendre et composer de la musique sérielle. Aussi, pure data étant une véritable appli audio , il pourra tout a…

Mec, pourquoi répondre en français ?

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#72
post #49

I grew up in a family of classical musicians, got a degree in music, and was briefly a professional classical musician myself. So my advice may be very out of touch with the experience of someone learning for the first time, but my experiences learning beyond European classical music theory left me feeling insulted. The basics of music theory are presented as though they are the foundations upon which all subsequent…

"they are the foundations upon which all subsequent music is derived" I had the impression music theory was used more to analyze existing music, and less so to create it.

> I had the impression music theory was used more to analyze existing music, and less so to create it.

Of course it should be. But it's sometimes taught otherwise.

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#73
For adults, the best way to learn to play piano and understand music theory is just to do it with a children’s piano book. I have a few friends that do this, and you learn everything at once, the way you’re supposed to learn it. Read music, train your finger muscles, understand basic theory introduced gradually, and for an adult you can get through the children’s books pretty quickly because you can learn a lot of these concepts more easily.

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#74
post #73

For adults, the best way to learn to play piano and understand music theory is just to do it with a children’s piano book. I have a few friends that do this, and you learn everything at once, the way you’re supposed to learn it. Read music, train your finger muscles, understand basic theory introduced gradually, and for an adult you can get through the children’s books pretty quickly because you can learn a lot of th…

I second this, thats exactly how I was taught after my 30s. I play some intermediate tunes quite ok today

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#75
You might like Scaler 2 https://www.scalerplugin.com/

It isn't really for learning theory but more for wielding it to write chords.

I use it as a VST in Ableton but you can use it standalone.

I also started learning piano as an adult around 6 years ago and have mostly been trying to use it to understand the theory to compose and improvise rather than perform. The more theory I learnt the more bits of Scaler made sense and I think half recognising concepts from Scaler as my piano teacher was explaining them at the piano was a help.

Also one other thing that I want to stress as I see it - some of theory is based on fundamental truths to do with clashing frequencies but also some of it is just trying to put a framework around what we already know sounds good, and the ultimate rule for music I think is, if it sounds good, it is good. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#78
post #66

For years I made the error of learning music theory without enough ear training. You have to hear and feel the theory, it's not only intellectual. Then I found 2 exercises are all I needed for playing and composing music by ear: - Functional intervals / scale degrees: https://tonesavvy.com/music-practice-exercise/220/functional... . If you start tone deaf like me checked "Fixed Key", learn all the intervals, then res…

wow - i am terrible at that. i play guitar, keyboards and sing (ok) but i cannot do that. nice util tho. must practice more...

Same. Ear training is hard.

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#79

I’m in a similar situation to you. I could never keep my chords types straight, so I built https://www.learnyourchords.com

Nice. I built something similar. Apart from mine being much less polished, I also didn't include the keyboard; just the name of the chord. That way I could practice the chord shapes that I had learned (or look them up if I forgot).

With the keyboard there, I feel like I'm practicing copying that, instead of learning the chords. Especially with the timer ticking. I'd be curious to hear about your reasons for putting it there. Possibly your goal is very different from mine.

Re: Ask HN: Tools to learn music theory?

#80

I grew up in a family of classical musicians, got a degree in music, and was briefly a professional classical musician myself. So my advice may be very out of touch with the experience of someone learning for the first time, but my experiences learning beyond European classical music theory left me feeling insulted. The basics of music theory are presented as though they are the foundations upon which all subsequent…

Yeah it's a shame that music theorist haven't pursued more of a "natural sciences" approach. As Neely says music theory is more like music conservation of a specific style. But the harmonic series, Coltrane, Barry Harris, etc... they seem to be more making discoveries than inventions.
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