Friday, November 24, 2006

Ups and downs of studying music theory

My music theory tutor seemed quite worried yesterday when I had scored only 50% of the marks for Question 4 and 5 for one of the Grade 6 Music Theory Year 2002 exams papers that I had attempted for this week. I was rather inconsistent when it came to my scores. On good days, I can score close to full marks; On not-so-good days, half of my answers were wrong.

Hopefully, practice would make perfect. I seem to have inconsistent performance when it comes to deciphering which key a particular section of the music is in. I also appear to have a difficulty in getting the right answer if I were to be presented with an abstract of a score and asked if it were written during the Classical or Romantic era. My ears are quite good in telling the difference, but my eyes don't seem to differentiate well.

On the good side, transposition appears a component where I can score. I can also identify the chords accurately if I have managed to determine the key that the music is in for a given section.

There's three months before it is music theory exams. I hope I brush up on music theory so that I can pass when I sit for the exams next March.

My tutor commented that there's a difference between a young child who is studying music theory, and an adult who is studying music theory. What do you think?

I would like to interpret it as a young child will tend to learn music theory by finding time to read and study what the theory guide books say. The adult understands music theory by comprehending the concepts and learning to apply the concepts. I don't find myself spending much time to read and remember the definitions of the numerous musical terms or the books. I also often struggle to find time to do my music theory assignments due to other competing interests and demands.

Anyway, here's presenting the ups and downs of studying music theory.

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