Re: Not having musical training - the good and the bad

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

Quoting Matt Davignon <mattdavignon@gmail.com>:
> So, why don't I drop everything I'm doing and learn to read western
> notation? I simply don't like the system. I think the musical staff
> should be written chromatically, rather than requiring the reader
> pre-memorize a pattern of valid notes (and then breaking that rule
> with sharps and flats). I want the symbol for a half-note rest to
> actually look like it takes more time than a quarter note rest. I'd
> like to see notes take up as much room on a bar as their duration. (A
> 1/4 note takes up 1/4 of the bar.)
I agree whole-heartedly.

When I first encountered MIDI back in the 1980s, my notion was that I  
would compose with standard notation however I quickly discovered that  
I preferred piano-roll editors.  I have composed in standard notation  
since 1986 -- even for contrapuntal music.

I studied standard music-theory in college however I put it entirely  
out of my mind when composing/creating.  However, if I encounter a  
"problem" -- i.e., a passage that doesn't "fit" with everything else  
-- then I can "zoom in" on it and apply music theory knowledge to fix  
it.

-- Kevin