Theory is just an organized history of labeled observation, with sometimes a little unsavory gatekeeping thrown in.
Techno has theory, just like any genre, even if it hasn’t ever been well articulated.
Learning theory is just a way to internalize a bit of what other people have already learned about creating music.
It’s useful for a lot of people. But certainly it isn’t essential for making good music.
Waaay back when, when i was in college, studying “What Is To Be Experimental Music Now”, at The Evergreen State College, i had zero music theory knowledge. We spent the most time out of the whole course going over Beethovens late piano sonatas. I cant read music, and felt way in over my head, but the teacher was very reassuring in that i didnt need to understand music theory to understand what we were discussing.
It came down to this: Have a fucking idea. Codify the idea in your music. Music is a code to be deciphered. Get your idea across…
Beethoven was absolutely stone deaf when he wrote Opus 101…
My teacher at the time was writing all his own programs to make his own computer music, and composing music for chamber orchestras/ percussion ensembles…
I had just turned 21 and i stayed drunk for 2 years.
All the 12 tone theory i learned in that course went out the window. My teacher would dismiss all of popular music with a wave of his hand, and also dismiss the idea that you needed to know how to write/read music or understand music theory in order to make it.
have a fucking idea.
codify it in music.
get the point across.
that was it.
im still paying off the student loan…
You might find your lost keys in the dark while groping but it might be easier, shorter and less painful with the light on.
You might also then just grab them straight away in the same manner as everyone else…
I agree with this logic and it really does matter.
You’d be surprised at how less stressful making music is when you have this.
I’ve been using a more theory based approach on more of recent tracks and it’s like a huge weight of uncertainty has been lifted.
I can suss out most of it but for some reason I was just winging it for a while. Now that I made a conscious effort to apply it again I’m feeling a lot better about music again.
I mean I’m not going to ruin something good because it breaks the rules. But when I feel uncertain about something, I can apply some theory. The uncertainty goes away and I can move forward.
It’s worth working on learning theory if you write anything melodic and/or with chord progressions. You don’t have to learn everything in one go. Keep learning as you go and when you see how it’s benefiting your music you’ll want to learn more.
100% agree. I look at it from my guitar playing — learning tabs is cool and all, but being able to understand what it is that I’m playing and understand why it sounds the way it sounds allows me to break out of pieces I’ve learned in a competent, creative and “fearless” manner. I think what most people confuse is that they feel/think that music theory is somehow prescriptive, ie it tells us what to do, so then it’s equated to less freedom or less spontaneity. That’s not the case however, as music theory is descriptive, ie it tells us what has worked in the past (and how/why), so it presents a strong base to launch from, not a ceiling to bang against.
More important still than music theory to me is ear training — especially being able to identify and feel intervals and rhythm is a big one (I guess that’s theory too 
)
Of course, there’s probably a lot of people that think this. But I think the majority of musicians who don’t make an effort to learn any great amount of music theory do so because they just don’t feel that they need to know it to achieve what they want to achieve.
Most people who drive know fuck all about how cars work, yet still manage to drive around without fucking everything up. Now imagine standing at the entrance to a car park telling everyone who drives in that you know loads about cars and you really think they’d all be better drivers if they know loads about cars too. A lot of them will probably shrug and be like, “yeah, probably”, but a few are going to a bit less polite. That’s just how people are.
I love the analogy, and I would mostly agree with you - but a part of me doesn’t.
Giving anyone in any context a brief and a set of requirements (however strictly they must be addeared to) will have an impact on the outcome of their work.
Some of the greatest musicians of our time have known almost no musical theory, and without a doubt that lack of knowledge impacted the way they approached their work and gave us some of the most unique music of the 20th century.
Some of the greatest painters never attended art school, etc.
Consider another way to approach your anology would be that if your job was to create new words, looking in a book of existing words won’t help.
It’s an interesting topic to be honest.
I think that in the same way learning specific theory for certain genres makes sense, I would also recommend limiting that knowledge if the music you like to create tends to be more experimental - you have more to learn by doing, in that case, than listening to others.
It really depends on the kind of music you want to create.
I think that there’s a middleground that works well for most people. Understanding enough to be efficient, and to be able to execute your ideas is important. And knowing about some of the rules even if you intend to break them can also be valuable.
Just enough music theory.
Depends on the car you are driving. Most cars will get you where you want to go without knowing what’s going on under the hood.
But try owning a classic car or formula car without that knowledge and you’ll spend a lot of time at the side of the road.
Personally I think theory is great, up to a point. Past that point I think it’s a case of diminishing returns.
I am learning guitar at the moment after playing keys most of my life. Knowing intervals, chord and scale construction, modes etc is proving very helpful in learning the fretboard and starting to transcribe songs.
However, if I went down the rabbit hole of learning modes of the harmonic minor, for example I think it would just tie me up in knots and stifle my music.
I see it a bit like learning a language. I want to know enough in order to effectively outline what I want to say. Too much vocabulary and I might just come across as aloof or unfocused in my ability to communicate.
It’s why you don’t tend to see grand pianos in our living rooms.
Although I did used to share my dining room with large parts of a Mini.
On that note if anyone needs any MX-5 spares my partner would appreciate you buying them from me.
Been there, done that.
I think the analogy would be more accurate to driving with or without knowing the theory of driving and what the rules of traffic are. You can most definitely learn this by doing and watching others but it will take time.
To know a car is more like nowing the internals of a synth imo
Like how there’s people who’ve read the highway code and then there’s taxi drivers?
Joking aside though, I get your point, but I’ve had gear snobs tell me that I can’t make good music without knowing what an oscillator or vca or whatever is doing. I mean, I know all that shit (it’s way more interesting to me than music theory), but I don’t think it really matters to make decent music.
But those people were geniuses, most of us are not.
I was told I could just listen to how it sounds and wasted years not understanding the most basic theory. I regret this, it led to so much frustration and wasted time.
How will you know what words already exist if you don’t look in dictionaries?
Knowledge can never be bad.
Oh I would if I could… A man can dream I suppose…
I don’t think it is as simple as people who don’t learn music theory feel it stifling or whatever - if you don’t need much theory for the music you are making then why bother? It definitely does not follow that how much theory you know determines how much your music will be appreciated.
A lot of the music I like is made by “non musicians” a lot of the music which bores the tits off of me is made by musicians, but obviously neither is always true.
Everyone thinks making techno is easy until they try to do it, and TBH it is quite easy to make very basic or really formulaic techno, but same can be said for most genres, once you learn the fundamentals.
I think the most important thing for music or any form of creative output is do what pleases you, and whatever you feel the need to learn do so, and whatever you don’t need don’t worry about, life is short.
Creativity is foremost about honestly expressing yourself, whatever form that takes, it is a journey not a destination IMHO.
Talent and natural ability are more important than theory anyway.
This is the most inspiring thing I’ve heard so far. Do what you need to do, but at the same time realise that nobody stays the same forever.
Keeping an open mind is more important to me than sticking to my guns. If somebody tells me there could be something valuable somewhere for a minimal amount of effort, I’m likely to be interested. At the very least.
This is where I definitely agree - having basic theory gives you the building blocks to make the most of your creativity.
And I’d never suggest as a blanket statement that more music theory is inherently bad - in plenty of genres it can be the difference between good and bad music.
But…
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.
But don’t sell yourself short - maybe there’s a genius hiding in there waiting for the right inspiration.