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I have something of a love/hate relationship with music theory.

 

On one hand, it can be ridiculously euphoric to finally understand why something just works - like a puzzle piece finally fitting, forming a beautiful bigger picture. But the rest of the time, it's just stubborn and disappointing. Like no matter which rule you apply, it will just never click. 

 

The Beatles never learnt to read sheet music, or understood the theory behind their songs. They just heard what worked and what didn't.

 

The rest of us aren't so lucky, though. So the big thinker types wrote these rules of how things usually are, which the rest of us can desperately cling to.

 

What sucks though, is that the rules aren't always applicable. The best songs usually challenge the rules in at least a few ways, meaning the rules are always changing, and true to different extents. Take Bohemian Rhapsody: songs should stick to one or two genres to not disturb their audience, never run over four minutes, end on 1st or 5th, not modulate key more than twice, and stray from operatic falsetto in rock music- yet this song remains Queen's greatest success, because they knew which rules to break, and most importantly, when.

 

Rules were made to be followed, not broken - or else there'd be no point in writing them. Rules should be constant and fixed, and any changes should be widely reported in large red ink. And rules should all be of equal importance, and never, ever contradictory.

 

But that's just not how it works. Not in music theory, and not in life.

 

It's like playing a game you'll never really be good at. You can learn all the rules, train as much as possible, consult your teammates - but if you don't have that built in instinct of when and how to pounce, you'll never truly succeed.

 

It's funny, how I subject myself to music theory's endless complications, since it's taken me years to grasp the rules of just living. WikiHow articles on how to make a good impression or long Reddit answers on why I just can't make friends like everyone else always helped - but it was like I was playing a game I was never meant for. 

 

Once in music class, I was completely lost on negative harmony. We were looking at two contradicting statements that must both be true, but everyone else seemed fine with. My brain was pretty much melting.

 

I tried to explain why it couldn't be true to my teacher, who agreed: "It doesn't make sense. It just is. Blame the Italians, Naomi."

 

I've spent a lot of time trying to be okay with the fact nothing is always true, whether it comes to people or music. But the bottom line is, there's nothing I can do to change that.

 

Maybe one day I'll hear the one true trick to understanding the major Locrian scale, or what people really mean when they ask for 'advice' on a problem. But for now it's nice to know the contradictions aren't a failing of mine, but a truth inherent to life.

 

So hey, I'm certainly no Mozart, and God knows I'll never write a bassline half as good as Tina Weymouth. But it's still fascinating, and such a gift, to be able to catch even a glimpse into how something as beautiful as music can just work.