Posted: 29 Oct 2005 1:49 am
Theory is what makes you think some music is better than it sounds.
Pretty funny, Vern.
But I agree with Mike P., as usual.
Learning intervals is not hard; that's how we did it in piano when I was 10 or 12.
From there, you build chords, and the parts of the chords give them their designations, by a few simple rules.
Play a minor third, or a major third; put a fourth on top of that, and voila, you've got a couple of chords, and you're playing new voicings. Put a fifth on top of that....
You play around with it, you learn something; you apply it to playing, and that's using theory.
If it's hard, make it simple; if it's easy, explore it further. We all know more than we think we do.