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Keyboarding or music theory?

To fill the art requirement required of me for college, I'm currently deciding to take elementary keyboarding or music theory. Which one will help enhance my production skills the most?

Others I'm sure will disagree but I would go with learning to play the keyboard.

In my opinion they both kind of go hand-in-hand ...

life will be much easyer if you learn a bit or music theroy [and learn to sift through the bullshit and non-bullshit you'll learn], keyboarding can be learnt on your own, just like typing

quote:

Originally posted by cronodevir life will be much easyer if you learn a bit or music theroy [and learn to sift through the bullshit and non-bullshit you'll learn], keyboarding can be learnt on your own, just like typing

+1

I would say a bit of both is usefull...

a few posters above think that playing can be learnt as easy as typing...not really
at least not proper playing...there are many things...like how do you put your hand on the keys etc...when you do it the bad way..you might not be able to progress any further once you reach certain level. So let's say basics of keyboarding (just to know how it's the proper way) and a lot of theory!

but I think...I always liked to learn music theory myself, I hate being forced to remember scales, intervals...

Many teachers think it's necessary to know every single thing...like having to know every scale...
I just remember A minor and C Major, and when I need to know some other scale I just transpose those...

a practical keybaord approach to theory is probably your best bet. Either way , you aren't going to learn a whole heck of a lot in an intro music class.

I'd say go for music theory. But of course knowing alot of music theory will not make you a good producer.

As most engineers would say to most any question... depends.

If you want to make your own stuff and evolve into a more competent producer, then take keyboard because you'll be able to construct better melodies and understand how chord structure works. It will help you program more original stuff instead of relying so much on MIDI.

If you're interested in working with professional musicians and trying to communicate musically with them, then take the theory class so that you can at least be competent in the basics of music theory, which is absolutely beneficial when dealing with professionally trained musicians...

quote:

Originally posted by BOOsTER I just remember A minor and C Major, and when I need to know some other scale I just transpose those...

hehehe, white keys only, nice n easy!!

I know those two plus c sharp in major, which is all the black keys plus a couple of white, thats pretty easy too.

quote:

Originally posted by ralpheeee hehehe, white keys only, nice n easy!! I know those two plus c sharp in major, which is all the black keys plus a couple of white, thats pretty easy too.

white keys are only scale you need to know let's say you wanna know the G minor scale:
So -> C Cis D Dis E F Fis G Gis A B
you see that G Minor is -2 tones from A Minor

so again:

A Minor: A B C D E F G
-2
G Minor: G A Ais C D Dis F

you take each and transpose -2 down...easy :-)

depends. But I'd say both. You can study either on your spare-time using online tutorials. It's not hard.

EDIT: Oh, and none will improve you _production_ skills...

quote:

Originally posted by zenperson If you want to make your own stuff and evolve into a more competent producer, then take keyboard because you'll be able to construct better melodies and understand how chord structure works. It will help you program more original stuff instead of relying so much on MIDI.

actually, learning how to play the keyboard(especially an intro class) will not help with constructing better melodies, theory will help more with that. theory will also help you understand chord structure as well, as opposed to an intro piano class. in an intro to keyboard class you probably won't learn enough to really help you with production, but it may make you more proficient at messing around on your midi controller, which is good i guess... i don't see why you would need to learn how to play the keys if you just wanna produce. go with theory, then take private piano lessons if you really wanna learn to play.

ultimatly, it comes down to how much work you wanna put into your production. to really understand music theory and apply it to your EDM productions, i belieave that you would have to have several years of practice and knowledge of it to really help you.

in fact, you really dont need to know anything above very basic theory to produce quality tracks. so take the intro to theory class , the most help it will do is teach you the music luangange so you can communicate with other musicians fluently. this is important when trying to collaborate with others and you have ideas that you want to get across...it helps to know how to explain it the correct way.

anyway, whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by ASFSE actually, learning how to play the keyboard(especially an intro class) will not help with constructing better melodies, theory will help more with that.

uhh... i've been a piano player for 20 years now buddy, having been trained professionally for 8 and improv for 12 ... i'm pretty sure i know what I'm talking about...

Well when you say production skills I guess you mean melody writing included.

I'd choose the keyboard class because I'd enjoy it more and they'd have to teach me the basics of theory anyway.

If I chose theory I wouldn't enjoy it and would get pissed off wishing I was in the keyboard class.

And actually, I couldn't see myself in the keyboard class wishing i was learning theory

Does this keyboarding class actually mean learning to play the keyboard from music charts? If so, that's basic music theory right there. And playing music will help you develop an inherent comprehension of musical structure that no amount of theory can give you.

Furthermore, keyboarding will give you a background in live performance of music, which may or may not come in handy.

One thing theory will teach you that keyboarding won't is tonal balance, which is something most producers must learn. That is, don't let your musical elements occupy the same frequency range, otherwise you'll get interference. And if you didn't know that, you do now, and a class in theory is no longer necessary for you.

Theory also teaches a bunch of junk about the common associations with certain modes, melodic patterns, chord structures, and even instruments. Well, if you're at all musical, you'll understand these sorts of things without needing to be told. Except maybe the instrumentation part, but you're not really using bassoons or violins, are you?

quote:

Originally posted by zenperson uhh... i've been a piano player for 20 years now buddy, having been trained professionally for 8 and improv for 12 ... i'm pretty sure i know what I'm talking about...

i said an intro class will not make a difference...

quote:

Originally posted by ASFSE i said an intro class will not make a difference...

I certainly hope you have some evidence to back that up... Brains on before hands on buddy... Try it some time...

quote:

Originally posted by PutBoy EDIT: Oh, and none will improve you _production_ skills...

Very true... only your composition skills will benefit.

If you take keyboarding first, music theory is much easier to learn. Plus you'll learn basic music theory while learning to play piano... such as Scales, Chords and Time/Key Signitures. All theory courses that I've taken have piano performance as part of the course.

yeah i would agree with learning the piano and the notes so you can know which notes sound good together =)!

music theory 101 is the new black this coming fall term. take music theory ,dude

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