The More I Read and Learn The More Confusing It All is

[beaglegod]

Firstly I want to say hello to all as Ive just wandered onto these forums.
Secondly Id like to apologise if this turns out to be a lengthy post, but its my first and I have a lot of stuff cluttering my mind that I need help sorting out.

My wife and I rescently descided to start learning how to play piano, as I have been learning bass for the past 5 months and we both are intersted in the keys. So purchsed an 88 key Yamaha and "learn and master piano" to get us started.

Now about 5 or 6 months ago I started reading "the complete idiots guide to music theory" i figured this would give me a leg up on learning bass, so I started studying the theory on my own, after a few weeks I started taking some lessons and right  out of the gate the bass teacher was loading or should I say overloading me with material, all the modes of the major scale and melodic minor scale, every unaltered 7th chord and all of their inversions, tons of sight reading exercises, etc.

I kept at it until I spoke to a proffesor at berkley who looked at my practice routine and said  that just looking at it made him tired, he than told me I would be better off learning and transcribing great bass players, or learning from favourite players by ear note for note.I was sceptical even though I had heard him play and I knew this guy had his stuff together, I than started emailing every pro bass player I could asking them what they thought of this advice and surprisingly they all seemed to agree with him. So I started doing this and started having a blast.

Now that I have my keyboard however Ive started cracking open the theory book again, Ive noticed that the "learn and master piano " cpurse is very basic in this regard, but once again as I study and review theory it just seems to me as a begginer to be detatched from making music. By this I mean it almost feels to me like Im learning things about music that will never translate into making music. The best way I can describe this feeling is , its as if Im reading up on all the details of what makes my car run but I cant imagine this knowlede helping me to operate my car.

Yet I read of how some of my favourite players all know theory and how it some how becomes second nature to them, guys like Herbie Hancock,Corea,Zawinal,etc.

It just seems to bog my head down, I guess Im perhaps a newbie thats trying to bite off more than he can chew or thats perhaps reading up on stuff Imnot ready for, I dont know. So what Ive descided to do is to use the "learn and master" course as is and hope that this will lead me to a better understanding of how I can use some of the concepts Ive read about but cant seem to see how to use, or practicr them for that matter.

I mean do I just spend hours practicing modes to play jazz, or funk fusion. Music isnt confusing to me , I hear it and I love what I love, it moves me and I understand what the artist is saying. It clear cut. Learning how to learn is what feels like a tangled mess of approaches theories, oppinions. Time being one directional only makes things seem worse since its so precious, I want to be able to know what I have to do to get where I want to be.

Has anyone else felt this way before? Can anyone offer any advice? Im all open ears,eyes and heart.

[db05]

"The deeper I go, the deeper it gets." - Jamie Andreas

If you're confused, that's a good sign.  You seem like a serious learner. Chin up.

Risking generalization, I'd say there are theoretical players and ear players, and one is not necessarily better than the other. You can transcribe by ear, but I can't even do that to save my life. 

I don't think that theory is over your head, but it takes time to sink in. Don't expect to understand everything in your book or chapter in one go. If it doesn't translate to making music, find your own way of applying it, for example analyzing a score, or improvising your own tune. Or maybe you're more interested in studying musical history and forms than theory?

[practice]

Hey, I'm a newbie myself, but I can tell you that if you want to play jazz, scales are very important, since jazz is all about playing notes on a scale in different ways.