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Theory Buffs or "All Ears"?


Zyggiefromjiu

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Just wondered what you guys thoughts are about people who work with an insane amount of theory skills to produce riffs and songs? like in the way of Paul Gilbert, Chris Broderick, Joe Satriani and John Petrucci, all of which use this knowledge to their advantage when writing riffs and especially solo's While on the other hand you have guitarists like Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen, Nolly Getgood, Kirk Hammett and the likes who all have limited theory knowledge so they use the "all ears" technique of picking notes seemingly at random and seeing if they work together opinions people? :) which do you prefer? and how do you think the sounds each of these makes and how it contributes to their riff and solo writing?

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? I am of the impression of that when using theory, you may be limited by it. By playing what you feel like, you can produce some very interesting things. Although, theory is also important, as it enables you to improvise much easier, and it's also much easier when writing very fast riffs.

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? but you can be VERY limited by lack of theory knowledge! the argument will always be there as to which one is better but personally i prefer hearing something that's been completely thought about and i look up to people who not only do very impressive things, but are also able to explain what they did and why they did it :)

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? great topic to bring up for me Theory by far i tend to lend up using music theory 1 way or the other when am playing or writing or other times when soloing i think up a quite musical idea then just let it rip even if am just trying to use my ears i will automatically start working out why it sounds like that and what i could do next and before that i would have a rough idea what it will sound like before i play it

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? Well, I'm only using all ears at the moment, since I'm not planning a music career... But don't take my word for it, here's Gregg Rossetti of New Jersey-based neoclassical/progressive metal group Suspyre! :D WF1nrqmGBVY Advice at about 4:30 although this interview seemed pretty good overall.

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? I've been playing guitar for over half my life and I've never used any theory. There is a place for that sort of thing but its so narrow minded in its spectrum. Shooting from the hip is the best way to get anything done IMO.

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"? i "shoot from the hip" all the time but sometimes it just doesn't sound the way i want, or maybe there is one note that just doesn't fit, and that's where your theory comes in :) you can select the note or phrase that you want to use by applying some half decent theory knowledge to it :)

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Re: Theory Buffs or "All Ears"?

i "shoot from the hip" all the time but sometimes it just doesn't sound the way i want' date=' or maybe there is one note that just doesn't fit, and that's where your theory comes in :) you can select the note or phrase that you want to use by applying some half decent theory knowledge to it :)[/quote'] That is very true, but feeling around blindly in the dark always has its rewards. One of the biggest things I've overcome was being too critical of what I wrote. Every musician falls victim self-criticism. It took me years to get over it but now writing is a lot easier.
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  • 1 year later...

I'm sort of a mixture between the two. I am aware of scale and chord theory, and I know how they work together, but I don't sit down and write a riff using theory, I just play the guitar. I use the theory to know which notes work together, but beyond that I just play till it sounds good.

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I practice scales and what not all the time but I'm still anti-theory. My coworker (who also plays guitar) said I should take some as I'd probably be really good at it. I told him no, it would take the fun out of music. Make your own rules. Don't follow what others tell you to do when playing.

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I practice scales and what not all the time but I'm still anti-theory. My coworker (who also plays guitar) said I should take some as I'd probably be really good at it. I told him no' date=' it would take the fun out of music. Make your own rules. Don't follow what others tell you to do when playing.[/quote'] Well, I still find sticking to the rule of tempo is good because my rhythm is crap a lot of the time. Some rules are helpful in guiding riff construction but I'm nowhere near good enough to start trying to flaunt convention.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, I'll take the hook on this one. Theory "a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact" And, a quote of my own regarding Music Theory " An Apple by any other name is still an Apple" Some people that know a lot of theory still play badly, some people that know no theory play badly. Some people that know a lot of theory play extremely well, and some people that know no theory also play extremely well. Music Theory doesn't tell you what to play, it explains what you played. There is a big difference between Music Theory and written score. Score,or tab tells you exactly how to play something. Theory will explain why it sounds the way it does. So,I'll take the challenge with you guys that say you don't know or use Music theory in your playing, and prove that an "Apple by any other name is still an Apple" I have never come across any Music Theory that says "Never play this note and always play that note" You can play anything you like, and most times it will sound like crap,unless there is some structure involved. But If you want to have a melody that sounds for arguments sake "Egyptian" Use lets say E Major, F Major and D minor chords,and play the melody based on the 5th mode of the A harmonic minor,(E Phrygian dominant) and you will be close. Or,for you none theory guys, play that pattern your mate showed you, or you learned off YouTube, over some basic "power chords", then muck around with them a bit till it sounds sort of good. Either way,we are both playing the same thing. Your turn.

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Theory does in a manner of speaking mandate you play a certain note in a certain situation though. It isn't technically correct to mix what would otherwise be clashing scales for instance but that doesn't mean you can't do it and can't actually make it sound good. Of course it's less likely that one could craft a song of any reasonable standard deliberately using improper notes it isn't entirely beyond the realms of possibility, nor is it beyond the realms of possibility that a song using only proper notes in their proper place could actually be very poor. Theory may indeed tell you why the technically correct progression you played sounds good but it also lies sometimes saying the technically incorrect progression you played can't possibly sound good.

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Theory does in a manner of speaking mandate you play a certain note in a certain situation though.
In what context? If you are saying Theory states you must only play the notes C D E F G A B for a C major scale then yes,that is the theory.But, it does not say you can only play those notes over a C Major chord. You can add or delete notes to suit your taste. Or if you are in E minor don't play the notes F G# Bb C# Or D# ? I do that all the time to and it fits the theory fine. Atonal music, some people like it, others don't.
It isn't technically correct to mix what would otherwise be clashing scales for instance but that doesn't mean you can't do it and can't actually make it sound good.
What do you mean by that? Could you give me an example of "clashing scales".
Theory may indeed tell you why the technically correct progression you played sounds good but it also lies sometimes saying the technically incorrect progression you played can't possibly sound good.
I disagree with that statement.
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