MUSIC THEORY: The Creative Process
Jon Stubbs- July 15, 2018
When we listen to amazing music, there’s almost a magical element to it. We know that the artists (composers and/or performers) have knowledge and skills to make that magic happen, but is there something extra? Inspiration? Creative freedom?
As music creators we tap into a combination of: experience, comfort level, curiosity, experimentation, improvisation, editing, trial-and-error, patience, tolerance of dissonance, habits, individual tastes, random action, happy accidents, and various other processes that affect the final results. Of course, our knowledge of musical elements is an important factor.
While some people claim to be non-music-theory artists, I think we ALL use music theory to some extent. Music Theory is a combination of the agreed upon language we use to describe musical elements (like pitches, chords, and rhythm), and a collection of observations about how things work.
While many self-taught artists in the digital age have developed their own systems to understand music, they are still using an agreed-upon language and a collection of observations. I suspect that ALL self-taught music makers have their own way of understanding music, chords, rhythm, melody, and scale. Even the most rabid avante-guarde modular synth sound designer has an internal language for mapping what they do with sound on a conceptual level.
There can be a negative connotation about having a deep knowledge of theory, and the use of theory. The idea is that a student of music theory is somehow divorced from the creative, artistic, spontaneous, passion of their craft, or is a prisoner of a particular way of doing things. Conversely, there are artists who struggle for an artistically “pure” motivation that is not driven by understanding or experience or pre-conceived notion.
Realistically, most of us are striking a balance; pulling from our preconceived ideas about music structure (i.e. music theory), our personal musical experiences, trial-and-error (i.e., noodling/improv), allowing creativity, inspiration, and happy accidents.
If we just follow our noses, we might end up producing content which as been produced a million times by others (the low-hanging fruit of simple triads, and 4/4 time). If we strive to scratch a hard-to-reach itch, we may need to use some knowledge of theory to point us in a direction, or perhaps more importantly to help us know what to avoid.
Perhaps some artists are just better at composing something creative and musically well-crafted than others. It’s obviously a matter of opinion and taste, but some artists have consistently pushed boundaries and given us new things to hear that are immensely compelling.
Other artists have achieved the pinnacle of musical knowledge and skill; yet his music somehow lacks an important raw quality. Obviously, this is subjective, and we all go to music for different qualities.
In my creative work, I often record or write rough shapes and then spend many hours painstakingly editing MIDI tracks or scraps of manuscript paper. I try to find shapes & sounds that get to something a little hard to reach. Ultimately, for me, it is something quite specific– as I sometimes struggle with a single musical phrase for hours, even days. The results are very satisfying, but I find I often avoid creative work (like now).
What are some of your creative process ideas?