# Musician Stereotypes



## Psychobuddy (Sep 26, 2009)

So hello everyone, I was thinking about this the other day, you know how there is the stereotype for musicians...they're real sensitive artsy creatures. Well I was wondering do I fit that, and well...yes I do. Not really a bad thing. So what stereotype do you fit into?


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## Esp Griffyn (Sep 26, 2009)

Not really sensitive or overly arty at all. I think the most common (and truthful) stereotype about guitarists is that they have massive egos. Generally, I find this to be true, and often the ego is inversely proportionate to the talent. I've met loads of guitarists who talk themselves like they are fucking amazing and then they totally suck, and yet I can count on one hand the number of humble guitarists I have met, all of whom have impressed me with their skills.

Sadly, you don't get this phenomena among musicians who specialise with other instruments, and it does tend to make guitarists, particularly those involved with rock and metal a bit of a joke to some. If you trace it back, I think its probably a lot to do with the DIY nature of guitar from the inception of rock; a lot of guys were picking up guitars, learning 3 chords and making bands, but you don't really see anyone going it alone and trying to learn proper Tuba technique all by themselves. There are obviously some fantastic guitarists, even with the rock genre who have become amazingly skilled at their instruments, but for ever Lane, Vai or Holdsworth their are a million musically-vapid guitarists running over the pentatonic scale over a 12 bar blues progression.


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## I_infect (Sep 26, 2009)

Esp Griffyn said:


> I think the most common (and truthful) stereotype about guitarists is that they have massive egos. Generally, I find this to be true, and often the ego is inversely proportionate to the talent.



Agreed The biggest blow-hards I've met couldn't play worth a damn, or even knew any theory.


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## Dusty201087 (Sep 26, 2009)

I guess the only "stereotype" I'd fall into is just the one that anyone in the music industry/world is liberal. But that's not a super common one, and there are a lot of conservatives in music too (look at country music).


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## AngelVivaldi (Sep 26, 2009)

First off, I believe most stereotypes exist for a reason, and too many times have people especially musicians proved them to me time and time again haha. 

I think the ego thing is becoming more noticeable just because the age range of virtuosos is getting younger and younger thanks to YouTube and all of the online instructional options they have. When youre young and can shred like yngwie it's easy to let the ego take over. But hopefully with age, it will die down. 

Another stereotype is that drummer have the intelligence of a empty beer bottle, and in some cases it has proven to be true, (i.e. my old drummer couldnt find NJ on a map lmao). But give the kid a groove in 17/16 and he's good LOL


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## Psychobuddy (Sep 26, 2009)

Hey guys, I have to agree with you fully on the ego thing. The best guitarist that I know is totally humble and cool, and yes I have to agree that age has a factor in the ego. I'm sixteen but I try to keep a level head, although when I do something great with my instrument I like to flaunt it a little bit, to much and I feel bad. Oh another thing I've come across is the fact that I'm a "metal" guitarist [metal in quotes because I don't consider myself it, others do] that means I can only listen to metal. That's completely wrong, I enjoy vast areas of music the one that would surprise my "labelers" the most would have to be Top 40 Pop music. Actually while I'm writing this I'm listening to Lady Gaga, "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" to be exact, look up the song it has a wonderful Synth rhythm. All right bye everyone, I'll check back again later.


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## MF_Kitten (Sep 26, 2009)

well, musicians as a whole often have some... issues/problems, and i guess that´s pretty obvious, eh? 

then there is the angry/aggressive and egosentric difficult-to-live-with singer, the amateuristic bass player that just kinda tags along, and then there is the drummer that just wants to gain more technical abilities


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## lurgar (Sep 26, 2009)

I can relate to the ego thing actually. I first started playing the trumpet and the egos were massive. The old band joke goes: How many trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb? Five - one to change the bulb and the other four to stand around and say how much better they could have done it.


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## Nidolf (Sep 26, 2009)

Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind


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## AngelVivaldi (Sep 26, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind



Personally, I dont see anything wrong with this. It really depends on the musician and what they're trying to do. Of course there is always something to learn by taking lessons, but in my own personal experience I'm glad that I never took lessons simply because I feel that my music represents me and nothing/no one else. All in all, it depends on how you use the force i guess lol

In fact, by not learning the standards in theory and technique some people can even think more out of the box of what everyone else is doing. Take kaki king for example... no way in hell a guitar instructor can teach you technique like that! ;-)


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## scottro202 (Sep 26, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind


 
Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will. 

Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Sep 26, 2009)

lurgar said:


> I can relate to the ego thing actually. I first started playing the trumpet and the egos were massive. The old band joke goes: How many trumpet players does it take to change a light bulb? Five - one to change the bulb and the other four to stand around and say how much better they could have done it.


I thought it was "Five - one to change the buld and the other four to stand around and say how much faster/higher they could have done it." This, in my experience, is true. 

I notice that there is a belief among musicians that one has to affiliate oneself with a certain style of music, yet so many musicians that ask "What kind of music do you listen to?" or "What kind of music do you play?", themselves, have a variety of musical tastes, and the ones that only play and listen to one style find the variety of listening thing easier to believe. Maybe I'm just meeting weird musicians.


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## minusthemonkey (Sep 26, 2009)

scottro202 said:


> Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will.
> 
> Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.



Definitely agree with the above. Theory is indispensable. Formal lessons are, well, there's some good and some bad. Playing with other musicians can be worth a whole lot more, I think.

Although, humility is necessary for this to be beneficial. Ego deters one from really getting benefit from it. If one is convinced they're shreddier-than-thou they'll miss nuances in players that, on the surface, may seem inferior in many ways but may have certain techniques where one may be lacking.


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## scottro202 (Sep 26, 2009)

minusthemonkey said:


> Definitely agree with the above. Theory is indispensable. Formal lessons are, well, there's some good and some bad. Playing with other musicians can be worth a whole lot more, I think.
> 
> *Although, humility is necessary for this to be beneficial. Ego deters one from really getting benefit from it. If one is convinced they're shreddier-than-thou they'll miss nuances in players that, on the surface, may seem inferior in many ways but may have certain techniques where one may be lacking*.


 


Agreed indefinately. If a player has a massive ego, he/she won't be willing to learn more, because they will beleive that they are already amazing. Not willing to learn is a horrible thing for a musician


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## Trespass (Sep 26, 2009)

The homosexual male singer. The overly artsy music student ("Well _I_ believe..." /snobby inflection). 

Guitar players with encyclopedic knowledge on the exact way Slash executed x lick in y song.


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## AbstractAsylum (Sep 26, 2009)

I dress in bright clothes from environmentally friendly websites, I'm always laughing, and I'm pretty lighthearted. But people ALWAYS make the assumption that "he listens to music with distorted guitars, it must be terrible and he's so weird. he probably cuts his wrists."

Stereotypes can be built off truth, but are not true for everyone.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Sep 26, 2009)

scottro202 said:


> Well, I agree with theory. Musicians need to learn theory. It's "the language of music", if you will.
> 
> Lessons, if you feel necessary, the do it. I have never taken formal lessons, but I play with experienced musicians a lot, and I try to learn as much as possible from them. Just because one doesn't take lessons doesn't mean they aren't learning necessarily.



I gotta disagree considering the theory came AFTER the music not before. 

Not that its a bad thing to learn(I'm taking a music theory class in college out of pure interest) 

But I wouldn't say anyone NEEDS to learn it, but it couldn't hurt.

On the learning from more experienced players part I 100% agree. I've always looked to jam with more experienced players since there's something to learn from anyone.


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## Arminius (Sep 26, 2009)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> But I wouldn't say anyone NEEDS to learn it, but it couldn't hurt.



 I have nothing against it and would really like to learn a good way to communicate my music to others, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to learn any theory. I really hate when I tell people that I don't know any theory, and they automatically assume I'm a terrible musician. It really makes those sleepless nights of noodling seem meaningless.


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## scottro202 (Sep 26, 2009)

Aysakh said:


> I have nothing against it and would really like to learn a good way to communicate my music to others, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to learn any theory. *I really hate when I tell people that I don't know any theory, and they automatically assume I'm a terrible musician. It really makes those sleepless nights of noodling seem meaningless*.


 
I'm not saying that if a musician doesn't know theory he/she's a bad musician. I just beleive IMHO musicians need to learn theory. At least basic theory. It makes communicating with other musicians much easier IMHO.


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## I_infect (Sep 26, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind






When I used to teach, I used to tell my students(as far as theory was concerned), "It's easier to break the rules if you know what they are."


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## AngelVivaldi (Sep 26, 2009)

I_infect said:


> When I used to teach, I used to tell my students(as far as theory was concerned), "It's easier to break the rules if you know what they are."



Beautifully put! +1


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## signalgrey (Sep 26, 2009)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> I gotta disagree considering the theory came AFTER the music not before.
> 
> Not that its a bad thing to learn(I'm taking a music theory class in college out of pure interest)
> 
> ...



^this


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## I_infect (Sep 26, 2009)

Aysakh said:


> I have nothing against it and would really like to learn a good way to communicate my music to others, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to learn any theory. I really hate when I tell people that I don't know any theory, and they automatically assume I'm a terrible musician. It really makes those sleepless nights of noodling seem meaningless.




I've dealt with musicians in band situations, and if I had to choose from auditions someone who knew theory and someone who didn't, I'd choose the one who knew. It's much easier to communicate to another musician what chord, when, and how, why a minor 3rd harmony would sound so evil over this chord progression, etc. While I appreciate good technique, It's very hard to speak tablature.


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

I_infect said:


> When I used to teach, I used to tell my students(as far as theory was concerned), "It's easier to break the rules if you know what they are."


 
Haha I was going to say the same thing!

I was self-taught and theory-less for my first 7 years of playing, and during that time I wrote many songs that I thought were pretty good. After studying theory in a higher musical education, I learned that it was my lack of knowledge that made me think I was writing these innovative songs, but learning theory gave me a wider overview on music and I realized those old songs and solos I'd done weren't really all that exciting. Competent for sure, but it didn't impress me at all anymore. In short: my standards got higher.

To me, saying that theory limits your creativity is like saying a large vocabulary limits your ways of expressing yourself. It defies logic, to me. John Frusciante said something that it's like saying: "I don't want to learn a language, I'd rather just rub my penis all over people".

Many people think that theory is a set of rules, when it's not, it's a musical alphabet, more or less. You know, you can speak a language without knowing the alphabet, doesn't mean learning to write and read wouldn't help you expand on what you already know, because you'll be able to learn new words, read great authors etc. that will make you a better and more expressive speaker, more interesting to listen to.


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## Arminius (Sep 27, 2009)

I_infect said:


> I've dealt with musicians in band situations, and if I had to choose from auditions someone who knew theory and someone who didn't, I'd choose the one who knew. It's much easier to communicate to another musician what chord, when, and how, why a minor 3rd harmony would sound so evil over this chord progression, etc. While I appreciate good technique, It's very hard to speak tablature.



I do know my intervals, I'm not that hopeless


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

Aysakh said:


> I do know my intervals, I'm not that hopeless


 
Then you know theory. Like I said, it's like a vocabulary, some know more words than others, but you're still speaking the same language.

Most people know some theory, like for instance knowing the name of a basic G chord falls under theory studies. The difference is between the people who actively want to expand upon that, and those who are fine leaving their musical progress to chance, if you will.


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## I_infect (Sep 27, 2009)

Aysakh said:


> I do know my intervals, I'm not that hopeless




No one's saying you are friend and I'm sorry if it seemed like an attack on you lol. I didn't mean it to be. Personally I am a blues-influenced metal player who should be alot better at his technique for how many years I've been playing so we all have our drawbacks. No one is saying you need to take lessons from a teacher either... sometimes the best way is learning from a book etc, as long as it's _properly_ learning from a respected source. Theory starts out very basic and expands from there. And theory applies to _every_ instrument, not just guitar, so it makes you more versatile and marketable to bands in the long run.



JohnIce said:


> Then you know theory. Like I said, it's like a vocabulary, some know more words than others, but you're still speaking the same language.
> 
> Most people know some theory, like for instance knowing the name of a basic G chord falls under theory studies. The difference is between the people who actively want to expand upon that, and those who are fine leaving their musical progress to chance, if you will.



Well put. I also used to tell students, "The English alphabet is 26 letters, and the musical alphabet is 7. How hard can it be?"


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

I_infect said:


> And theory applies to _every_ instrument, not just guitar, so it makes you more versatile and marketable to bands in the long run.


 
Indeed, not to mention the most important part: It makes it easier for _you _to realize _your_ musical vision. Sure, theory helps me communicate with other musicians, but above all, it helps my own creativite mind communicate with my hands. To me, theory is the art of knowing what you want to play and then playing it, as opposed to fiddling around hoping it will sound good, or relying on habits and muscle memory. Theory helps me go beyond set scales and patterns, because I don't need "fingerings" and "boxes" anymore. Each of the 12 notes serves a purpose, some are more useful than others of course, but all of them can be used effectively in any key, both for chording and soloing. That's a very important thing that theory has taught me.


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## daveycrockett (Sep 27, 2009)

i'm just a dirty metal kid


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## lucasreis (Sep 27, 2009)

Funny how this thread was kinda hijacked into a music theory vs non music theory thread


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

lucasreis said:


> Funny how this thread was kinda hijacked into a music theory vs non music theory thread


 
Hehe true. But guitarists are indeed often stereotyped as the self-taught, theoretically illiterate guy. There's a joke that goes: "How do you make a guitarist shut up? Put some sheet music in front of him." 

(Now, sheet music isn't designed for electric guitar and with all the different fingerings and tone shaping options you have, playing guitar from sheet music isn't really optimal. But learning to read standard notation is a great tool to have, nonetheless.)


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## DaveCarter (Sep 27, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind



Ive heard a lot of this recently, to the extent of people forgetting theory on purpose because it was restricting their songwriting. Its often guitarists that I really respect as musicians, but personally I think if you cant explain what youre doing with theory, then you just need to learn more theory 

No matter how outside-the-box you want to sound, it can always be explained with some kind of theory knowledge. The advantage of that is once you understand WHY it sounds that way, you can recreate that sound again at any time in any other song. Its fair enough to play a crazy sounding chord and say "i dont care what the fancy name for it is because I think it sounds COOL!" but if you DO know that its a...G#m7add11 whilst in the key of Bm, then at another time you'll be able to think "Hmmm, so if Im in F#m, then to get the same sound as in the last song I need a...D#m7add11", and you'll be able to get the exact same vibe straight away. That just makes perfect sense to me


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## TomParenteau (Sep 27, 2009)

Potential employer: "Musician? Flake. Druggy. Party-er."

Snobby non-rock musician: "Metal player? No talent or technical ability."


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## JPhoenix19 (Sep 27, 2009)

TomPerverteau said:


> ..."Musician? Flake...."



That's me! Flake to the core


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

SplinteredDave said:


> Ive heard a lot of this recently, to the extent of people forgetting theory on purpose because it was restricting their songwriting. Its often guitarists that I really respect as musicians, but personally I think if you cant explain what youre doing with theory, then you just need to learn more theory
> 
> No matter how outside-the-box you want to sound, it can always be explained with some kind of theory knowledge. The advantage of that is once you understand WHY it sounds that way, you can recreate that sound again at any time in any other song. Its fair enough to play a crazy sounding chord and say "i dont care what the fancy name for it is because I think it sounds COOL!" but if you DO know that its a...G#m7add11 whilst in the key of Bm, then at another time you'll be able to think "Hmmm, so if Im in F#m, then to get the same sound as in the last song I need a...D#m7add11", and you'll be able to get the exact same vibe straight away. That just makes perfect sense to me


 
Precise!


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## Nidolf (Sep 27, 2009)

Haha, I didn't mean to start this big discussion. In my opinion, wheter you play good doesn't have much to do with knowing theory or not, you either have it or you don't. Theory is optional, personally I like it, I think it's interesting, but IMO you always have to rely on your ears first hand. 

Another stereotype: Classical musicians can't improv. 
In my experience, this one's actually true about 50% of the time. It depends on the person, most of the people I've met that have been playing classical music exclusively have some trouble improvising, but people who have also diverged into other kinds of music seem to have a much easier time improvising. 
People from that type, classical musicians also playing other genres of music, also happens to have been some of the most talented musicians I've met. Most of the ones I know are killer singers too.


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## Maestro (Sep 27, 2009)

I tend to see myself as artsy and sensitive, however I don't know if there is anything to do with me being a musician.

I think that the ego stereotype for guitarrists AND singers is often true and it can be a problem. Luckily I don't have the problem, I'm pretty bad at the guitar haha.

There is also the stereotype that guitar players don't know theory. That is unfortunately mostly true. Most guitar players just pick up the guitar to play tunes off tabs just for fun. There is nothing wrong with that, but it does tend to give other guitar players a bad rep. 

Hopefully as more bands follow the trend of actually attending music school to learn music things might change a bit. The stereotype of the rock musician is still the drunken garage band. But there are a lot of people out there who are getting their degrees in music and playing rock/metal. Hopefully as these educated musicians inspire a new generation of future guitar players, the image will start to change and we might see more technical styles of rock/metal start to get more respect from other musicians.


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## Dusty201087 (Sep 27, 2009)

Maestro said:


> Hopefully as more bands follow the trend of actually attending music school to learn music things might change a bit. The stereotype of the rock musician is still the drunken garage band. But there are a lot of people out there who are getting their degrees in music and playing rock/metal. Hopefully as these educated musicians inspire a new generation of future guitar players, the image will start to change and we might see more technical styles of rock/metal start to get more respect from other musicians.



 I hope to be one of those newer guys, I'll be applying to Berklee here soon


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## QueeZeR (Sep 27, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind


While I love theory and think it is a great tool, my songwriting has declined horribly since I started taking classes.

Also,


I_infect said:


> "It's easier to break the rules if you know what they are."


I fucking hate that saying!


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## JohnIce (Sep 27, 2009)

QueeZeR said:


> While I love theory and think it is a great tool, my songwriting has declined horribly since I started taking classes.
> 
> Also,
> 
> I fucking hate that saying!


 
Interesting... would you want to elaborate on that? I've found it to be the complete and total opposite in my case, so I'd be interested to hear your story.


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## Konfyouzd (Sep 27, 2009)

i don't know...? 

i just don't play the guitar very well...


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## Arminius (Sep 27, 2009)

I_infect said:


> No one's saying you are friend



Oh don't worry, your posts were very nicely said. I'm the one who said that I'm hopeless


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## TomParenteau (Sep 27, 2009)

Go to college for music? Fuck that! I like money, so I went to engineering school.


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## QueeZeR (Sep 28, 2009)

JohnIce said:


> Interesting... would you want to elaborate on that? I've found it to be the complete and total opposite in my case, so I'd be interested to hear your story.


Well, I can't really be sure the theory is to blame, since a lot of things changed at roughly the same time. (Listening to a wider variety of music, becoming aware of good technique, sound quality/mix etc.)

But what have happened is simply that I get less and less ideas, and when I write something it feels like it lacks depth. It appears to me to be just a wall of notes.
What makes me feel that theory might be (partially) responsible is because I find myself analyzing everything: chords, chord progression, intervals and so forth.

I guess it could just be a temporary lack of ideas, and I want something to blame, though 2 years of steady decline is starting to worry me.


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## DaveCarter (Sep 28, 2009)

If anything, I think theory could actually help with problems of uncreativity. We all get those spells where nothing new comes to us, but I can do it the theory-geek way. I find something totally out of my usual music territory, something I dont even usually listen to, and just turn everything in to a formula. Chords become I, ii, iv, vii etc, lead parts become scale degree e.g. 1, 3, 5, #4, 7. Then you can apply that formula to something totally different. Choose your own key, your own time signature, your own tempo. Make the drums half-time, constant double bass, polymetric, whatever you want. The result of doing that can then inspire you to change chords/note here and there, so by the time youre done tweaking it may not be anything like the original song that you took the formula from. It might end up sounding crap, it might be amazing, but you wont know until you give it a try


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## stevee (Sep 28, 2009)

I think theory actually helps a lot when you're actually trying to play or write what you hear in your head.


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## JohnIce (Sep 28, 2009)

SplinteredDave said:


> If anything, I think theory could actually help with problems of uncreativity. We all get those spells where nothing new comes to us, but I can do it the theory-geek way. I find something totally out of my usual music territory, something I dont even usually listen to, and just turn everything in to a formula. Chords become I, ii, iv, vii etc, lead parts become scale degree e.g. 1, 3, 5, #4, 7. Then you can apply that formula to something totally different. Choose your own key, your own time signature, your own tempo. Make the drums half-time, constant double bass, polymetric, whatever you want. The result of doing that can then inspire you to change chords/note here and there, so by the time youre done tweaking it may not be anything like the original song that you took the formula from. It might end up sounding crap, it might be amazing, but you wont know until you give it a try


 
Exactly. When I was younger, I could hear a song and say "I have to learn that!". Now I can hear a song and say "Oh, I hadn't thought of that, I have to try that!". I barely ever learn songs anymore, but I pick up ideas from songs all the time just from listening to them. A neat chord change, turnaround, harmony or whatever. Part of that is ear training of course, but if it wasn't for studying theory I wouldn't be able to draw any conclusions from it. So my creativity has improved a lot from studying theory.



QueeZeR said:


> Well, I can't really be sure the theory is to blame, since a lot of things changed at roughly the same time. (Listening to a wider variety of music, becoming aware of good technique, sound quality/mix etc.)
> 
> But what have happened is simply that I get less and less ideas, and when I write something it feels like it lacks depth. It appears to me to be just a wall of notes.
> What makes me feel that theory might be (partially) responsible is because I find myself analyzing everything: chords, chord progression, intervals and so forth.
> ...


 
After getting into theory studies, I saw a lot of my old songs aswell as songs on the radio etc. in a very different light. Stuff I previously thought was good simply didn't cut it anymore, and I had to work much harder to satisfy myself both as a songwriter and as a listener. I may write songs at a slower pace and in lesser quantity now, but my ideas and expression has in turn improved a lot.


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## xenophist (Sep 28, 2009)

While some guitarists are sensitive and artsy , the stereotype of metal guitarists are not. Watch some Black Dahlia Murder documentaries. They look like the funnest, laid back, and obnoxious(in a good way) guys to hang out with. I honestly hope I can fit into that category.


> *From the Majesty DVD*
> *Preppy girls walk by*
> Brian: That was the biggest group of bitches I've ever seen!


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## cycloptopus (Sep 28, 2009)

Nidolf said:


> Lets not forget the "I-don't-want-to-learn-theory-or-take-lessons-because-it-might-inhibit my-creativity-I think-I'm more-innovative-this-way"-kind



I used to jam with a drummer that wouldn't practice (other than band practice) for this reason! He was good, but if he practiced he could have been great.



QueeZeR said:


> I fucking hate that saying!


So true. Just way too played out, and seems so empty these days.


I think, if using theory works for you, then do it. If not, no big deal. The question is more about, "are you achieving what you want in the music you play?" If not, it may help to learn theory. Too much attachment to theory can restrict your creativity, and not having any theory can be stale and limited. One or the other is not the be all end all either way. Some of the most innovative musical breakthroughs have occurred as rebellion to convention. And some amazing pieces are a result of strict adherance to theoretical concepts. 


I dunno, I think stereotypes exist because there is some truth to em. There are always exceptions to the rules. But if you wear a shirt that says "I hate chicks," more than likely no chick is going to walk on up to you and start up a conversation...though you never know...


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## Variant (Sep 28, 2009)

TomPerverteau said:


> Go to college for music? Fuck that! I like money, so I went to engineering school.



I don't know, in _*this*_ economy, if you find yourself employment adrift, the music thing might actually pay more.  I've got a B.S. degree in mechanical design and I'm pretty sure I could find work quicker playing music in some capacity than in any "real" industry right now... even if it was putting a money jar out on the street and strumming random shit on an acoustic. 


*Variant is going on 400 days of looking for work.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Sep 29, 2009)

I'm a weird arty guy, but not overly sensitive.
I'm also really goofy/silly and like to have fun.


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## Psychobuddy (Sep 29, 2009)

lucasreis said:


> Funny how this thread was kinda hijacked into a music theory vs non music theory thread



Oh that's quite alright [sorry if that sounded sarcastic in your head, it sounded that way in mine, but it's not] if people are enjoying themselves I say go for it. As for my views on theory vs. non theory, I say theory all the way. It's much easier for me to make the sounds in my head on my instrument if well...if I know how. That's what theory helps me do.


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## Maestro (Sep 30, 2009)

Dusty201087 said:


> I hope to be one of those newer guys, I'll be applying to Berklee here soon


 
Good luck with that man. I might be applying to Berklee myself. Haven't decided yet.

I think the world needs a lot more musically educated singers and guitar players. For some reason these seem to be the most common type of musicians who might go their whole lives without musical knowledge. 

There is nothing wrong with being self taugh if music is your hobby. However, I feel that if you consider yourself a musician, you should learn music. There is a difference between a guitar player and a musician. One just plays the guitar, the other understands it.


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## Scar Symmetry (Sep 30, 2009)

I'm your typical brutal/beautiful/epic kinda guy.

I'm not sensitive or artsy, but I love gentle, beautiful piano arrangements just as much as I love Beneath The Massacre 

a picture speaks a thousand words:


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## CrushingAnvil (Sep 30, 2009)

I hate the: 'I listen to Jazz so my music will be super-prog and technical' douchebags.


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## Arctodus (Sep 30, 2009)

I'm an anti-guitarist personally. I look nothing like a person who would play one. I only play it for some reason because I feel if it was fate. I've gotten pretty far without theory too. You eventually learn self-theory of scales from just listening how notes ascend and descend. As Marty Friedman says, make your own scales.

I sort of hate most people in modern bands that got made. Most of them know shit and will buy into anything if you sell it to them. The people who follow them believe in that too.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Oct 1, 2009)

Scar Symmetry said:


> a picture speaks a thousand words:


That pic is so awesome!!  



Arctodus said:


> I sort of hate most people in modern bands that got made. Most of them know shit and will buy into anything if you sell it to them. The people who follow them believe in that too.


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