Originally posted by Death55
They sound quite cool but he will never be able to create his own songs without some theory.

Originally posted by Hammurabi
I don't think it's possible to develop a clear personal style without being knowledgeable, at least to a certain extent.

I'm going to take it a step further than ketsueki and disagree [u]completely[/u]. How many legendary guitarists do you think know a lick of theory? Robert Johnson? BB King? David Gilmour? Slash? SRV? Edge?

Now, perhaps these guys can list how many sharps there are in the key of F major or whatever, but do you think that they lie awake at night (well, not Robert Johnson or SRV) in a cold sweat, worried that they'll never develop their own style or write beautiful music without learning the Hungarian harmonic minor in all its positions on the fretboard?

Theory is not meant to dominate us and dictate where we can take music; think of Mozart - he was a master over theory, and made it do whatever he wanted it to. Even with the limits he had imposed on him by the state of music in those days. Theory is just a tool, and we make use of it, then put it back in its little box and close the lid.

Who wants to listen to music to be awed by the music theory behind it? Music is meant to move on a much more basic level than that; granted, while still operating at higher levels.

Music should come from the gut, not the brain.

[/rant]