A common question amongst music students is, "what do we need to know in order to play and understand music?"
The answer to that is, a LOT!
The study of western music can go across and beyond genres and theory.
But, all this knowledge can be categorised into 3 main topics. This creates a sense of direction in learning.
It is important to have a clear understanding of these if you want to reach a state of unlimited creative artistry.
Knowing these topics well is also essential for any professional musician and educator because, these give you a complete overview of the art form. Call it the fundamentals of this language if you want.
3 Main Categories
As mentioned above, the study of western music can go across and beyond genres and theory.
Having said that, you still need to start somewhere. We refer to this starting point as the 'fundamentals' of music theory.
I have divided these fundamentals into 3 main topics:
Harmony
Ear-Training
Proficiency
Harmony
In simple words, harmony is the study of musical notation, notes, rhythm, composition, improvisation, analysis, transcriptions, scales, arpeggios, chords, melodic construction, etc.
Just like every topic in this list, this is a very deep study. A general study of these can take between 4 to 10 years depending on how much time and effort you put behind it.
Reasons for knowing harmony:
To get a sense of direction
Analysing and transcribing musical works for deeper study
Understanding melodic and chordal construction
Relating scales, arpeggios, and chords
Understanding how to improvise over diatonic and non-diatonic chord changes
Visualisation of musical creativity
Deeper understanding of consonant and dissonant sounds
Creating a vocabulary for improvisation
These are some of the most common outcomes of knowing harmony. As you keep digging into it, you will find more.
Comment down below if you have more things to add!
Ear-Training
Ear-training is the study of hearing all that harmony we just mentioned above.
At the end of the day, we play with intuition and self-expression.
But it is crucial to have trained ears to grow as a musician in the studio, on stage, or in the classroom.
Ear-training can be divided into 3 basic types:
Rhythmic - Hearing rhythmic ideas and sequences
Harmonic - Hearing stacks of notes/chords
Melodic - hearing music played in linear form/melodies
Some other advanced forms of ear-training:
World Music Ear-Training
Micro-Tonal Ear-Training
Frequency Training
Proficiency
Proficiency refers to the application of harmony and ear-training on an instrument/musical work.
There is clearly no practical point in knowing all that harmony and having trained ears if there is no real world application of the same.
This can be a lot more demanding and practically challenging depending on what you play since it requires dedication towards the practice of music making.
Though I personally feel the creative process should be as natural and organic as possible, there is no doubt about the fact that knowing and internalising harmony and ear-training will have a direct and sub-conscious effect in your music.
And that is a great thing.
Want To Learn Music?
If you wish to learn the art of music and express yourself your way, email me: contact@subharaj.com for pricing and details!
*Open to students from all over the world and all age groups.
Here are some of the things I talk about in class:
Music fundamentals and theory
Ear-training
Composition
Improvisation
The guitar as a solo instrument
Musical, compositional, and improvisational philosophies
Artistry
Expression
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