what should i learn if i want to study music seriously?

[fenz]

hi all,

i want to study music more seriously, especially in piano. what should i learn instead of playing piano? is  learning music theory needed? what is taught in music theory? do you have any suggestion what books should i read?

thanks for your help,
fenz

[mc_shas]

Err you question is very open ended. I'v just complete a music degree and there is such an extensive world of study out there. Music theory...well the kind of stuff you get in your basic music theory books can be pretty dull but when It's put in context it's exciting. I got into music theory in a big way both because I play jazz in which case you genrally need to learn to apply chord theory and scales be able to play it and also because I'm a composer. I've had some fantastic lectures breaking down the works of great composers and trying to understand their building blocks. Now when I hear something really exciting I just want to figure out how its written, what's the chord progressions, what's the orchestration...

If you really want to study music seriously it would probably be best for you to enroll on a course if you can. That way you will get a lead into some of  the thousands of subjects covered by the broad term music. Then you can choose to study the areas that interest you most. I can recommend certain books for some specific aspects of music but it's hard to recommend one as general as that. However, perhaps if you look for a good book about some of the artists or composer that you really like, then you will get an understanding of what was going on in their world and depending on the book, possible some theory relevant to their music, but...cultural setting, musical innovations, motivations, influences etc... That's sort of how I got started. I remember I got real excited when I discovered Beethoven's moonlight sonata. I think that was the point when I first properly became interested in classical music (my background had been more jazz and world before that). Anyway, Hope this helps. All the best.

[db05]

Learn everything you can!!

But seriously, you can try to gobble up everything, or have more specific goals and work on that.

[xnapoleonx]

It depends on your goals etc.

If you want to do it the 'professional' way; being able to  read sheet music is advisory.
An example of a book you can buy to start with is reviewed here: https://tutorialpiano.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-piano-for-starters-book.html

Sight reading isn't something you learn the next day though, so you'll have to continue with method books or if you'd like simple sheet music of songs you prefer.

On the other hand you can always learn songs via tutorials/youtube etc. It's also a good way to practice your skills in a less boring way.

[dr. j]

There is so much to the world of music - the history of music, music theory, the performance of music and the teaching of music.  Each is a complete subject unto itself.  So, you may need to narrow your topic and focus on one of the above subjects.  However, not to the exclusion of the others as they are all related and none of the topics can stand alone. 

Dr. J

[fenz]

i want to learn a lot: history of music, music theory, performance of music and teaching of music. could anyone specify all of them please? thanks for all of your help 

[go12_3]

How about going  to a book store in a college or university where you can browse through several books on music history and theory and what you are interested in learning.  And some of the used books can be at a bargain price too.   Good luck in your studies!   

best wishes,

go12_3

[fenz]

in my city there are no music university. just a few of music book in my university, it's difficult to find music book in the bookstore, the library is so poor. 

if i know some of music books maybe i can search it in internet...