It’s a fair question… after all, we learn to identify which key a piece of music is in, and we carefully think about functions of chords… there are all these rules in music theory and then it seems music itself breaks them left and right.
So, why do some notes stray from the family and color outside the lines?
Enjoy!
You might also find this interesting: Odd Meter Made Easy
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4 Replies to “Music is often mysterious… (Breaking the rules)”
my favorite sound bite for folks wondering why i study so much theory instead of memorizing the bass lines for covers, and why it helps me be a better bassist instead of constraining me:
music theory is not the rules of playing music, it’s the vocabulary to communicate with myself and other musicians about what we are playing….
“music theory is not the rules of playing music, it’s the vocabulary to communicate with myself and other musicians about what we are playing….”
Beautifully said, Vanessa! And it does make for some great discussions – on instruments and off 🙂