andrew burke wrote:
> Somewhere, sometime, Miles Davis spoke about being able to play what
> you can whistle or sing being restrictive; you had to learn theory to
> know that you can (successfully) play some things like a half-major
> and half-minor chord. In another interview _about_ Miles, Dizzy
> Gillespie remembered Miles coming to him when they were a whole lot
> younger and asking about a specific note: Where did you get that note
> from? was the quote if memory serves me well. Diz went to a piano and
> played the whole chord, then illustrated the single note, saying There
> is the note, right there, in its place. Miles was satisfied - he was
> always learning, always curious about putting the theory of music into
> practice - but he had to know the theory first. (He learnt piano to do
> just that, to extend his theory.)
>
I have almost precisely this argument about music theory with my sister,
who insists that she composes entirely by ear. She thinks theory is just
a set of rules telling her that what she composes is wrong. I say that
theory can help you to write things you don't already know how to hear.
Dominic
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