Are You a Believer That People Can Appreciate Music Perfectly Well Without Knowing Any Theory?

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I don't ever think about the theory of a song that I like never even occurs to me. Elton John uses a lot of chord inversions? Of course he does, because he's he is doing them on purpose. They might not know the names for them, but they know how things are put together. That's the intuition part. But also the progressions are very sophisticated, John, too. He goes to all these different places using his intuition. But he has to know what the chords are to come up with them Too.

There is no human endeavor that does not have a theory of it — a set of ideas about what makes it work and how to do it well. Music is no exception, popular music included — there are reasons why certain keys, chord changes, and rhythmic structures have proven successful over the years. Nobody has done more to help people understand the theoretical underpinnings of popular music than today’s guest, Rick Beato. His YouTube videos dig into how songs work and what makes them great. We talk about music theory and how it contributes to our appreciation of all kinds of music.

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Rick Beato obtained a master’s degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory of Music. He is currently a producer and owner of Black Dog Sound Studios in Georgia, as well as host of a popular YouTube channel. He has worked as a session musician, songwriter, and lecturer at Berklee College of Music and elsewhere. He is the author of The Beato Book Interactive as well as other music-training tools.

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