Interesting. But now explain to me like I'm 5, what minor and major chords/scales are? The Wikipedia articles seem to assume a bit of musical theory knowledge, even trying to figure out what a chord is (seems to be just a stack of notes, but then they talk scales where there is no stack of notes at the same time). I know where middle C is on a piano, and on a sheet music and could follow a note to where it is by counting up or down (so no playing songs). I've always thought of the two clefs as left (for the bass clef) and right (for the treble clef) hand... so poor music knowledge here...

EDIT: I should note I can hear how it sounds more upbeat or whatever, but I hear the terms major/minor and chords all the time (I think I understand scale is going up the notes from whatever key you are starting at to the last key before repeating and then back down)... and just wondering on what the terms refer to...

LOL. More music theory humor: http://videosift.com/video/Django-Bates-Interval-Song

I feel like this should be a point/counterpoint, so I'll argue that this is an abomination.

If you want to use alternate tunings, tune your guitar alternatively. There is much more to alternate tunings than being able to play a pleasant chord without your left hand. If you're learning an alt-tuned song, you're probably going to run into issues playing it if you insist on leaving your guitar EADGBE, like, for example, I don't know, BEING ABLE TO PLAY OTHER CHORDS. Are you kidding me? Congratulations on having an open C chord, now play a G. Oh, you can't because you don't have access to the bottom four frets. This is an absurd invention.

And beyond learning other songs, for creating, it encourages stagnation, both musically in the song you're writing and in your development as a player and musician. One, as I mentioned, you're gonna have a hell of a time switching chords, which will be fine for, oh, about as long as this guy played in one stretch. Then your harmony needs to move somewhere, but you're up shit's creek. Secondly, alternate tunings are fun precisely because they challenge your mind. Where do you fret a C on the 3rd string when you're in open Dm? Figure it out! As you play more, you get a firmer grasp not just of the guitar, but of musical theory. You can learn a pentatonic scale and play for days, but by moving those notes from their normal position on the fretboard, you get your mind out of muscle memory playing and into a more active state.

In conclusion, this is not useful for learning other alt-tuned songs, and it encourages stagnation as a player. That, my friend, is an abomination.>> ^KnivesOut:

I don't think it's an abomination. I like it. It's really just a quick way to use a non-standard tuning, which guitarists have been doing for decades.

Song list:
Name of song, Name of band, start and stop time

0.5 A talk about the musician and so on
1 Mr. Brightside, The Killers, 16:20 - 20:40
2 Heartbeats, The Knife, 21:55 - 27:34
2.5 Long Talk about music theory in between
3 Going Under, Evanescence, 37:29 - 44:34
4 Light and Sound, Yellow Cards, 44:40 - 47:53
5 Medicine Man, ???? , 48:12 - 50:42
6 The Diary of Jane, Breaking Benjamin, 51:20 - 55:24

If someone knows the band name of nr. 5 feel free to share

Indeed you're correct that gregorian chant is monophonic, so, strictly speaking, this isn't gregorian chant. However, Biebl most certainly used gregorian chant as an inspiration for the piece. The first 30 seconds or so are gregorian chant, and so are the solos. Thanks for bringing music theory into this with the great comment.

In reply to this comment by Diogenes:
beautiful

not sure about the 'gregorian chant' tag, though... this was a polyphonic performance - and if i'm remembering correctly, gregorian chant is/was monophonic

anyway, nice sift

Indeed you're correct that gregorian chant is monophonic, so, strictly speaking, this isn't gregorian chant. However, Biebl most certainly used gregorian chant as an inspiration for the piece. The first 30 seconds or so are gregorian chant, and so are the solos. Thanks for bringing music theory into this with the great comment.

>> ^Diogenes:
beautiful
not sure about the 'gregorian chant' tag, though... this was a polyphonic performance - and if i'm remembering correctly, gregorian chant is/was monophonic
anyway, nice sift

It's pretty pathetic that a lot of people simply don't get that conventional western music style creates unconsciously followed (or consciously followed, if you study some music theory before writing music) rules that lead to similarities like this. That guy's description is pretty darn spot on.

I wrote my college music theory final breaking down burn and highway star, gotta love the purple =D

It is correct to be a snob. I am proud to be a snob.

Music has fundamentals just like physics or chemistry. Music is the study of the WAY MUSIC WORKS.

music is about feelings, yes, but the way the musician creates those feelings is called "using music theory" just like the way a physicist creates a nuke by "using physics".

Musicians are more qualified to appreciate music, just as a potato farmer is more qualified to grow potatoes. Both processes have spiritual sides, but you can't just plant potatoes in hydrochloric acid and say "i PREFER hydrochloric acid to soil".

however, i agree that it is not ALL technical, just as potato farming and physics are not ALL technical.

The best music can indeed be created by someone with no formal training, but it's LESS LIKELY. Also formal training can knock all the artistic "gut feeling" out of you if you have a bad teacher. But that doesn't prove that music is all a matter of taste.

Simply, there is good music and bad, and musicians have studied this and know this. If you are not a musician, I know it's hard to comprehend, just as the existence of black holes is hard for most people to comprehend.

If you are a musician then you know that the "good" feelings don't come at random according to your predefined (genetic?) tastes. Your tastes are interacting with the music in a rational way (if you turn your brain on).

If you just like to listen to whatever crap the commercial radio station plays, then you're not really listening, you're just putting up wallpaper.

Wow! He can really twists some nobs and put a record on a turntable! Must have taken him minutes to learn that! And the way he makes it sound exactly like everything else out there, amazing.

Those losers spending years and years to learn a musical instrument have nothing on this guy! DJ's have so much talent they don't have to learn an instrument or have any musical theory knowledge at all. As long as that BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM back beat keeps going, they could fart into a microphone and the Ecstasy drunk crowd would think it's genius!

I had a music theory teacher who demonstrated tuvan throat singing to us when we were studying the overtone series, and he taught most of the class how to do it (though we found once we weren't in his presence, receiving constant correction and encouragement, we had a lot more trouble doing it, and most of us lost it then). I doubt he would object to the suggestions for loosening up and all, but he did none of that. He also noted that mouth shaping can allow you to produce harmonics without having to get the tone all the way down in your throat.

I think this guy did a fine job of trying to explain his experience.

i think you really have to be into your fast guitaring to appreciate his songs fully. yeah CaptainPlanet420, he could have spent his time more on becoming a great songwriter rather than on music theory, but yknow, he does write better songs than most

he says he practices for 13hrs a day, or did. a few famous guitarists say they put in around that amount of time too (jimi hendrix said around that too, and tom morello). quite a lot of guitarists could learn to play something like this, but it's knowledge of music theory that allow someone to write something like this

Kids (and adults) are gonna play video games; just accept that. Granted, that time should be budgeted and controlled, but they are just fun. This game does have the positives of non-violence and possibly generating interest in playing a real instrument. I started viewing the Fretlight video and decided that I see no music theory behind it. Once you start getting into an actual guitar, you should be learning the "whys" of music as well as the "hows".

I wasnt kidding and your analogy doesnt hold up. Computers and cell phones can essentially be called "facts". You can see how they are made, touch them, and can recreate one on your own. Evolution is just a string of guesswork and speculations, hence why it's called a theory. If you dont believe me what a theory is, here's the definition.

the·o·ry Pronunciation[thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] –noun, plural -ries.
1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.
2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.
4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.
5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.
6. contemplation or speculation.
7. guess or conjecture.

Therefore, we should be asking ourselves whether its the right thing to be teaching our children about a theory when presenting it as a fact. Also, if we teach this theory then we should allow the teaching of creation, intelligent design, or any other theories that might be out there. If we disallow one, we should have to disallow all.