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Am starting out producing in ableton, so was wondering how much theory I need to know to assist me producing?

I just want to be able to do chord progressions and jam out ideas on the piano basically.

Get a copy of 'Music Theory For Dummies', should sort you out. You can probably find a .PDF of it if you Google.

cheers wub, didnt think of that actually. will start reading it tonight

you dont need any, just let the music flow

dashwood616 wrote:you dont need any, just let the music flow

i disagree, when you are first starting out let the music flow but to take your music to the professional level you need at least the basics of music theory

The more theory you know the better honestly. Start out by learning what each note on the keyboard/piano roll is and what notes make up the chord for that root note. Learn the difference between minor and major scales, and develop your ear so that you can identify what each note sounds like (example hearing a G note in a song without seeing it being playing on a keyboard. just knowing it is a G because of its pitch). Fun fact. A lot of dubstep music is very dark in feel. A lot of that is because the note progressions often follow a minor scale which helps give it that quality.

dashwood616 wrote:you dont need any, just let the music flow

Don't listen to this man. Learning theory (not even just western music theory) won't ever hinder your creativity; au contraire, it'll eventually enhance and empower it.

Depends on how deep you want to go. Humans have been making music since before we could speak and there's a lot to know about.

you don't "need" to know any
you should know lots

Learning theory isn't as rewarding as it seems. Music should be something you feel. That's it. Theory turns feeling into structure.

Theory will help the music "flow."

Kit Fysto wrote:Music should be something you feel. That's it.

It should be something you think about as well. Infact, you should be using both your limbic brain and neocortex with everything you do.

well as i said all i want to be able to do is do some chord progressions for synths / piano pieces etc, and be able to jam some ideas out on the keyboard and i need to know some music theory to do this anyway

jackybb wrote:well as i said all i want to be able to do is do some chord progressions for synths / piano pieces etc, and be able to jam some ideas out on the keyboard and i need to know some music theory to do this anyway

More than just some, if you don't want to be repetitive and cheesy as hell .

Start with Messiaen, go from there.

Throw in some Schönberg too! And if you feel like playing, add some Satie and Cage to the mix.

bkwsk wrote:...add some Satie

Jokes aside, this is actually really amazing, simple piano music to learn.

Yeah, although I like the Vexations better. Especially when played 840 times in a row.

Why did my post get deleted?

Wikipedia is a good resource for music theory!

Recently found this music theory site

http://www.teoria.com/

Hope it's of use to you.

you dont need to be able to sight read piano music, however knowing the ins and outs is pretty useful. Learning about musical structure, timing, notation, chords, dynamics, harmonies etc. can prove very useful. Most people can just tell when something doesn't sound right though, which is just as important as the theoretical side of music. I'd suggest picking up an instruments if you haven't already, it will help you a lot in terms of learning theory (it means you can apply it to something) and also for creativity while producing.