Music theory or audience? - General

I have a though question here, and maybe somebody can answer me better. I've got two options here: either learn music theory, which I believe it isn't as needed because with technical practice I just managed to make a good sound (somebody tells me it's better though to know music theory just to know WHY it sounds good), or getting an audience somehow. If it's the second, I might want to know low-budget or free ways to promote music efficiently, aside from live performances which is a thing that I cannot do right now (my live laptop broke after I played live at Berlin's AMAZE Indie Connect 2013). Anyone?

How are those two things at all mutually exclusive?

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;45986750]How are those two things at all mutually exclusive?[/QUOTE] It's not exactly that they are mutually exclusive. One is something that is possible to learn while it might not be a priority, and another is getting audience. The thing is, I don't know if I really should do both, because doing the first one implies there's not going to be a lot of difference in what you're promoting between each release. I don't know really.

music theory is good if you want to make sense of what you are playing. It's like science, however you don't need to learn music theory to pick up a guitar and cover a few songs. I was able to comprehend music theory very well after getting more familiar with just covering a dozens of hard songs on bass guitar. I mean ridiculously hard and technical songs. I'd suggest learning music theory first. Being able to comprehend notes on a sheet and know what a C major 7th #5 is for example will make you more professional in the long run. People like professionals

Hopefully I'm understanding this thread correctly. Music theory is simply a way of giving symbols and words to things you might already do. But going deeper into music theory allows you to learn new things and organize the music more. There are no drawbacks to learning theory, and its a myth that it hampers creativity.

The thing is that I know approximately when a song sounds sad and when a song sounds happy, and that mostly happens by ear and a bit of my mind, but I don't know jackshit about what exact scales could make certain emotion to a song. Maybe if I could find a reference to what emotions do certain scales cause, I could practice that a bit. But overall, I really think I could learn music theory.

you probably should learn music theory, even if it's just scales/keys. Basically, that's all you need. Even if you don't start doing scales, you'll notice over time that you go for particular frets/notes that work well with eachother. When I write, I mainly use a keyboard, and I don't go "I'm going to write in A Major" I just play the notes that fit well with the other notes, and it ends up being in A Major.

[QUOTE=JtRtheRiPPeR;45992509]The thing is that I know approximately when a song sounds sad and when a song sounds happy, and that mostly happens by ear and a bit of my mind, but I don't know jackshit about what exact scales could make certain emotion to a song. Maybe if I could find a reference to what emotions do certain scales cause, I could practice that a bit. But overall, I really think I could learn music theory.[/QUOTE] You should learn basic music theory

i'm doing music theory at college at the moment for my production course and as far as my education's going, it's pretty steady and easy to pick up (esp. if you already know a few tidbits that weren't really organised)

Maybe I should really try to learn theory first then.

I still don't see how the two are mutually exclusive, you can learn music theory while still looking for ways to promote your music.

Yeah. Do both. They are both valuable for completely different reasons.

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;45999483]Yeah. Do both. They are both valuable for completely different reasons.[/QUOTE] Then on the meantime I should know also any low-budget methods of promotion, because, honestly, even if I don't yet know music theory to reason them, my last 4-5 works are way more decent than the rest and yet some sort of official stuff I want to showcase around. Funny thing is, Ren Queenston (from LAPFOX TRAX, a label I've been following very much) doesn't really know music theory, but actually their music sound good, positive and pretty. Even if I'm going to improve quite a bit with music theory, I'm just naming an example of someone who doesn't really need music theory to sound good, as I might guess. I even from time to time and frequently am up for sampling and stuff, because sometimes hiphop is about that (or trap in my case).

Why are you asking us if you should focus on either promoting your music or learning music theory and then saying "oh but you don't need music theory to sound good"?

[QUOTE=Skeeter;46003548]Why are you asking us if you should focus on either promoting your music or learning music theory and then saying "oh but you don't need music theory to sound good"?[/QUOTE] Because whether needing music theory or not is my biggest doubt now, honestly. And yeah, sometimes I even contradict myself after a while.

You definitely don't [B]need[/B] to know music theory. I know pretty much none other than what I've picked up along the way. If you have a good ear you will know what sounds right/wrong without theory. Theory IS a useful tool though. I knew pretty much zero theory when I wrote this: [media]http://soundcloud.com/sonis/sonis-over[/media] [QUOTE=JtRtheRiPPeR;46003008]Then on the meantime I should know also any low-budget methods of promotion, because, honestly, even if I don't yet know music theory to reason them, my last 4-5 works are way more decent than the rest and yet some sort of official stuff I want to showcase around. [/QUOTE] Keep putting tracks out regularly. Do bootlegs of popular songs. Send your tunes to blogs and artists you look up to who have similar styles. Post them in facebook music groups. Try to do tunes for compilation albums. It's really just a matter of putting yourself out there constantly and sticking to the grind.

[img]http://static2.shop033.com/resources/61/1121/picture/F5/67141109.jpg[/img] hit that shit up son it was the only good book they made me do in high school