The importance of theory to others?

[torph]

So, I've been playing the piano for a few years now (had lessons up until the start of this year). I'd made a habit of learning the pieces I wanted to learn alongside with the ones I was taught in-lessons. My teacher essentially 'kicked me out' because she felt I was putting more effort into the pieces I wanted to learn than the ones she was giving me.

I've never been all that good at sight-reading, but I can sort of manage. I'm fairly competent at memorizing. I'm terrible at scales and the like, and I only managed to get to Grade 2. However, in the time I've had without lessons, I've moved on to pieces which are considerably harder than the ones I was given and am able to play them pretty much perfectly, with some practise. I learn them partly by ear and partly by watching covers on the internet and mimicking their hands. If there is any sheet music available, I'll use it to identify any parts I'm having trouble with, but won't rely on it fully.

Anyway, my question is this.

If, hypothetically, I were to pursue any kind of career that involved music somehow, how far would theory come into it? I know you need a certain amount of grades to be a teacher (and I'm not cut out for that anyway), but say I just wanted to do small-scale performances in pubs or whatever. What then?

[iansinclair]

It's like a lot of other fields.  IMHO, theory will never hurt you.  Even rather elementary theory, such as the relationships of various nearby keys to one another (e.g. tonic, dominant, subdominant...), the relationships of a key to its relative minor (or major, as the case may be), etc.  Also some knowledge -- perhaps not so much theory as history -- of various styles of music (either eras -- e.g. classical, romantic, baroque, etc.) or regional (e.g. central European vs. Celtic vs. Romany vs., say, Japanese).

This is particularly true, oddly, if you are planning to do much improvisation or work with fake books -- your suggestion of possibly playing pubs suggests that ("hey, mate, play "The Rose" for us").

On the other hand, getting by with a decent ear is perfectly possible...

I would suggest, though, that while it is much more fun to do only the pieces your really like, it is helpful to find pieces (they don't have to be Czerny studies!) which will help you gain facility and flexibility with "building blocks" -- scales, chords, arpeggios and the like.

On the other hand, fi you were looking to pursue any sort of more formal musical or piano career, some theory beyond the basics is going to be essential.

[sucom]

Thinking about this, no-one is going to ask you any theory questions if you are playing in a bar. And if you learn music by rote or watching others, you may just get by and play pretty nicely.  But ..........

and this is quite a big but..........

I'm thinking of the artist - his imagination may be absolutely brimming with ideas that he can't wait to put on canvas.  But if he doesn't have a firm knowledge of the tools he is going to use to recreate what is ready to flow through him, how will he recreate it?

Then I think of a person who has the potential to create the most beautiful carvings.  How would he do if he worked with blunt tools?  To create the most detailed work, he would need to spend time sharpening those tools.

You know the feeling when you learn to drive.  At first, you have to think about changing gear, indicating, looking over your shoulder, keeping your hands at 12 to 2 or quarter to three.  After you have learnt and have some experience behind you, there is no need to think about these things anymore.  They become automatic.

I think there is a high possibility that those here who have studied music theory and spent time 'sharpening their tools' are likely to believe you need to get some disciplined practice and theory behind you.  And there may be others who believe that music is music and if you can get by with or without one thing or another, then fine.

The question is, if you like the idea of playing in public places, how detailed do you want your music to be?  How much expression do you wish to have at your disposal?  How far are you prepared to go to get the most out of your inner potential?  Basically, how sharp would you like your tools to be?  The sharper they are, the more they are able to express outwardly what is within you.  If you want to give your best to anyone listening to you, are you also prepared to find that inner self discipline to allow you to give your best and allow your inner potential full expression with no limitations?

My teacher taught me something really important in my life, besides playing the piano.  He taught me that when I thought I was giving my best, I actually had more to give.  And he also taught me that the only way to progress to my full potential was to find the self discipline within myself to 'sharpen my tools'. 

Ok, I've gone on far too long!    I think you might have already guessed that my thoughts are that anything you can do to improve yourself in the musical direction is going to be helpful to you.

[torph]

Thanks for the wisdom. Given me a bit to think about.