Thank you so much !

 

Don't you think it would be the reason that original post sounds odd?

 

As much as I appreciate the importance of music theory these phrases spring to mind

"Know the rules then break the rules"

"The only rule is that there are no rules"

"Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear." Claude Debussy

In both art and music, I guess in the end, it boils down to study the theory then live by the rules and play by the rules if you are happy with that but also know that in breaking the rules you can create something unique and beautiful

Edit: Don't get me wrong I really do appreciate music theory and am constantly studying it but there is always scope to push the boundaries

 

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Yes of course, but let me add these words to your phrase:
"Know the rules first then if needed break them consciously not thoughtlessly and anyhow".

Btw, the only rule I learned here is:
"Just dodge it if it hurts".
and I really don't know how to break it.

 

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indeed yes! ...that's when it can get interesting

excpet of course when the unconsciously happy accident that turns out to be a winner but those are probably few and far between

 

The only places I know that acting accidentally may eventuate in interesting results are minimal styles when the whole music is just 1 or 2 phrases. Other than that, I don't think so.

I can say decisively that more than 90% of songs nowadays are minimal (but unfortunately most of them are not interesting anymore). You know why? Because musicians do not tend to overvalue the music knowledge.

 

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What a bad news:

"Debussy acquired a taste for parallel motion in fifths, fourths and octaves from medieval music.
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Debussy's harmonies and chord progressions frequently exploit dissonances without any formal resolution. Unlike in his earlier work, he no longer hides discords in lush harmonies, and the forms are far more irregular and fragmented. These chords that seemingly had no resolution were described by Debussy himself as "floating chords", and were used to set tone and mood in many of his works. The whole tone scale dominates much of Debussy's late music.

The second set of Préludes for piano (1913) features Debussy at his most avant-garde, where he uses dissonant harmonies to evoke specific moods and images. Debussy consciously gives titles to each prelude which amplify the preludes' tonal ambiguity and dissonance. He uses scales such as the whole tone scale, musical modes, and the octatonic scale in his preludes which exaggerate this tonal ambiguity, making the key of each prelude almost indistinguishable at times.
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Debussy believed he had much more to learn from artists than from musicians, who were primarily interested in their musical careers."

What does consciously mean above? If it means bad I will add him to my black list. Just kidding. Listen to some of his works. They are really amazing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy

 

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Guilty

 

It's like having a tourist map when visit a new city, you will know where the bars, restaurants and places to stay are, and you are free to choose which ones suit your taste, but you can also sit in a field with a pizza and a bottle of vodka, and then pass out for the night

The way I see music theory is it gives you somewhat predictable outcomes, so you can play around and explore those areas without having to walk down every street and avenue to find what you are looking for, or you can go and sit in a field (break the rules) and get smashed out of your head.

 

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You guys are forgetting that theory is just that........THEORY. A formulation of ideas, not carved in stone rules.

 

Thing is if you see V/vi on a song sheet you can't guess it's meaning, it is a notation that refers to something factual.

 

True, reading a chart. But I was refering to the writing and use of..

 

That's a topic for another thread I'm confused enough already Unfortunately this one has slipped in that direction, when the original intention was to discuss an actual substitution, not a theory about whether or not to use one

 

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Me too want to focus on the topic but as you see Roman numerals and also others are kind of thorn to people's comfort zone. No one is really interested in these topics anymore. The era has been totally dominated by DAWs.

 

Well I find Roman numerals and numerical note values very useful, and I'm all for relative notation as I find it simplifies the understanding of musical structures (chord progressions & melodies), providing an overview and great insight before you dig down into the actual chords and notes.

 

Last edited: Aug 12, 2016