Putting the TLDR here so people know I made one: I have a patchwork, abstract understanding of music and music theory. I want to fill in these gaps as comprehensively as possible in the limited time I have as a dad. End goal is to eventually write symphonic music (even if its not great). Thanks.
I'm looking for recommendations for resources, strategies, etc. for someone with what I call a "swiss-cheese" understanding of music theory. What I mean by swiss-cheese is essentially someone who hasn't received much, if any, formal training or music education but has as a hobbyist developed varying chunks of knowledge regarding music theory, performance, composition, etc. Something that's geared towards bite-size, or "crash course" formats is ideal, as I'm a father of two and don't have a whole lot of time.
Some background, to give a better idea of what I'm looking for:
I've always loved music and been actively musically creative to one degree or another. I think I have a pretty decent musical ear and have self-taught amateur skills in songwriting and a handful of instruments. I've always been interested in composition and orchestration but never really developed the foundational knowledge to pursue something like that. Grew up listening to John Williams and The Planets symphony along with all my rock and roll.
I've "played piano" my whole life (late 30s now) and played clarinet in band through high school. Took piano lessons as a child and continued to fool around with the piano over the years. This is how I developed my sort of abstract understanding of music theory. I can usually listen to something a couple of times and figure out the general chord structure and melody (always transposed to C - its the only key I can comfortably do this in). Given a few more hours I can usually develop a basic arrangement that sounds pretty decent.
I can't really read music anymore. I can kind of work out basic stuff, and understand most of what notation means, but when it comes to understanding notes and keys with notation, I've lost a lot of that knowledge and skill.
I've played in a couple of bands and "written" music. Beyond that I have a sort of patchwork knowledge of music theory. I know how chords and chord progressions and intervals work and what makes the different scales sound different. I know what Leonard Cohen is saying when he talks about "the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall (minor 6th) and the major lift (the fourth again)".
I've picked up some basic composition and orchestration knowledge just from dabbling and watching youtube videos. I get the harmonic series, understand the typical roles of instruments in an orchestra, etc. I vaguely understand what counterpoint is but not how to do it well. I've played around in Cubase with virtual instruments recreating parts of scores by listening to the individual instrument parts on MuseScore. Experimented with creating my own stuff (never gets too far). Again, time constraints make it difficult.
Hopefully this gives a better idea of what I'm looking for. A way to fill in the technical gaps that is a refresher where needed, more comprehensive in certain areas; picking up the "unknown unknowns". Is it possible to create good music without some of the foundational stuff I'm missing?
Again, even just general suggestions for strategies is great. My end goal is to be able to start writing symphonic pieces without just throwing ideas against a wall. Thanks in advance!
Submitted December 15, 2023 at 11:21AM by I_am_a_regular_guy https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/18j1648/learning_resources_for_swisscheese_musical/?utm_source=ifttt