TigerBill's DrumBeat Community Forums for Free Expert Advice on Drums and Percussion.

Theory is great in terms of expanding one's vocabulary.

Knowledge is good. Knowing more things than you used to know is good.

HOWEVER...when soloing...I'll just speak for myself...when soloing, I know I'm in trouble if I'm thinking "OK, G dorian...B diminished...Eb major pentatonic..." Now, I know all of that stuff, but it's not occupying my conscious thoughts when I'm improvising.

Charlie Parker once said something along the lines of, "learn everything you can, and then forget it all and just play." (I need to look up the exact quote - something tells me I'm not doing justice to Bird with the way I'm paraphrasing.) The point is, learn as much as you can, gather as much information, but when you're playing, you have to trust your instincts, and your ears.

There's a lot to be learned when it comes to jazz harmony, and harmony in general - it's a long-term project, that's for sure. Nobody ever finishes learning harmony - there is always something new to learn. However, simply knowing this material won't make anyone a great improviser, just like memorizing the dictionary won't make anyone a great storyteller.

Yes, learn your theory - jazz theory, "classical" theory...learn how other cultures organize their music (Indonesian gamelan music, North Indian and South Indian, Chinese...etc.). Learn it with the idea that you'll internalize it, so your note choices will be guided by your ears and your instincts, and not by mathematics.

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