ambient Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 This guy was one of my tutors at uni. A really great guy,and great musician. He has a blog on his website. I thought this was quite interesting, especially considering my experiences at music college. [url="http://www.jaystapley.co.uk/musings-of-a-muso/authenticity-im-playing-loud-can/"]http://www.jaystapley.co.uk/musings-of-a-muso/authenticity-im-playing-loud-can/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 (edited) Knowing a lot of people in the music departments of universities, I don't think anyone here and/or I know would fall into the 'sequence of steps = creativity' trap. Even if rules are taught, they are taught in the light of "Here are the rules. If you want to be truly creative you do so by breaking these rules rather than following them." Following things step by step can only be creative if there is significant flexibility in the steps. Which can happen. Effectively, that's what Brian Eno's oblique strategies are. And there's a very wide grey area between non-creative step following and utterly undirected pure creativity. Edited January 21, 2016 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 You have to learn the rules first, so you know which ones you can break/bend and when. Otherwise, it's just a mess. "Creativity" often used to cover up for sloppiness, imho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswareham Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) An acquaintance when we were both teenaged wanted to play bass. His family were minted, so off he went to some bass academy in California with his first bass, a Musicman Stingray. I learnt on my own by playing along to records with a loaned Marlin bass bought from a catalogue and thne some Korean made Aria thing. He came back able to play other people's bass lines with great precision and faultless technique. My playing was rough and ready. He couldn't write a song if his life depended on it. I write my own songs. So yeah, music theory is great, but too much can completely stifle your creativity. Edited January 22, 2016 by chriswareham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Nothing wrong with the story but the conclusion is nonsense. Too much theory cannot stifle creativity any more than knowing too many words can make you a bad writer. Knowledge of every single musicological fact will not make you able to write great music. Nor will it prevent you from doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colgraff Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 The willingness to be creative (please note that I do not say ability) is born from a willingness to experiment without the fear of failure. So anyone can learn to sing, write, paint, etc. if they are prepared to experiment and learn along the way. Being taught the basic principles, cultural norms and conventions is a great help, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalpy Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 The step by step process to creativity in education is a necessary evil in many ways. When students meeting targets is a prequiste for the educator as well as accountability a prescribed method to achieve such goals is important. What is essential in this compromise is that the students are learning the building blocks of the skill they are studying and understanding the possibility of how to use these to their own ends. That's a whole different kettle of fish to manage in a classroom environment but with the efforts of educators like Guy Claxton it is easier to analyse how to design tasks that offer the possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) [quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1453495044' post='2960123'] You have to learn the rules first, so you know which ones you can break/bend and when. Otherwise, it's just a mess. "Creativity" often used to cover up for sloppiness, imho... [/quote] The idea that theory is about rules is an outmoded idea. Theory is about categorising sounds and this only resulted in "rules" back in the days when it was assumed that there was a right and a wrong way to sound. Example: theory tells me that playing a natural 3rd in a minor key will sound a certain way, it is not "wrong" as such, merely challenging to make palatable . Infact if theory can give you a good heads up what almost any notes will sound like ahead of time which means if anything you are aware of more options. Edited January 23, 2016 by bassman7755 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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