Hi everyone!
I am an adult beginner in all things musical, in what concerns both
playing an instrument as well as knowing theory. It would be great if
you could help me
(i) pick an alternative book to replace the one I am currently using
and
(ii) tell me how I can get out of the situation I currently find
myself in (in terms of being minimally "musically competent").
From searching the newsgroup, I have identified the following titles
as being often suggested for those who are NOT looking for an academic
textbook:
- the Master Theory series
- AB Guide to Music Theory
- What Makes Music Work (Seyer et al)
- Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians (Wyatt
and Schroeder)
What I know, don't know and what (I think) I need [I am sorry this is
not clearer]:
- My goal is to be able to functionally play an instrument (the bass
guitar) as an amateur while understanding what I am doing.
- My high school education had one big hole, and that hole was music.
Until last year, all I knew was the sequence of the notes in the C
major scale.
- I am generally quite competent with "abstract systems" (math,
programming), and had thought that learning basic music theory would
be a breeze compared with getting basic skills in playing an
instrument -- wrong! Actually, I am completely stuck on the theory
side. As I mention again further below, is the answer to this "rote"?
(It is fine with me if the answer is affirmative; I just don't know!)
- Using a book ("Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory" -- I know
many abhor series of books of this kind, but the Amazon reviews
actually suggested it was helpful for adult beginners and I hadn't
thought of checking Usenet before choosing one), by now I have learnt
about concepts such as notes, different types of scales and
intervals. I know these "in theory"; I can neither listen to them in
my mind nor I am able to tell you what are the notes of the G major
scale without first writing down the C major scale, seeing where the
half-step intervals are (I know they are between E-F and B-C) and
proceeding from there by "****fting" the sequence of intervals so that
it starts on G... Is this just a question of rote? [If the answer is
yes, then I will practice it over and over again. I simply don't know
if I am lacking understanding or if the way is to simply "mechanize"
it. Please point the way! : )]
- I also have fruitfully read stuff online (including some excellent
threads in this newsgroup), but I need something more structured --
not in the "intense hand-holding" sense, but rather "here is how all
these things fit together".
- I am having a hard time following the discussion of chords in my
current book because I have to stop and think every time I see a
reference to an interval ("go up a major third from E" -- hmm, what is
that? Let us see, a major third is 4 half-steps, and the transition E-
to-F is one of those two exceptions which is just one half-step away,
so that makes [counts mental fingers]... G#!").
- Using the Hal Leonard method book for my instrument, I am happy with
the little technical progress I have made until now. But, in my
current situation, I could just as well be a trained monkey or a
robot!
It would be great if you could suggest either one or more books from
the list above or some other title that escaped me.
Also, and perhaps most im****tantly, how does one get over this
situation where any reference to a scale or an interval requires lots
of arithmetic to figure out "what the next note is"? I *will* memorize
all of them if you tell me that is the way to do it. : )
Any help would be great. I love music, go to live concerts
independently of being able to get friends to come with me on that
particular night and remain utterly clueless. I can (and do) devote
time to learning it, but both the average hours as well as the
vagaries of my work schedule are not conducive to fruitfully engaging
an instructor.
Thank you so much for any time you devote to this.
Peace,
Max
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