THE SUM OF THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING

[♔Chello]

THE SUM OF THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL UNDERSTANDING

I have grown up with discussions where theory has always been challenged with practical demonstrations.
My father had an unusually good musical ear, and at the same time he had the ability to explain music both theoretically and practically.
He later remarried, and his wife was a trained musician.
They had students together for 30 years.

We had many discussions about music, and very often his wife objected to my statements, because she thought they were not theoretically tenable, plus they would not work in practice.
My father always understood what I meant, and found a theoretically viable explanation, plus he demonstrated this practically.

Once they discussed the circle of fourths and fifths and how these affected the harmonies of music, and both were repeatedly surprised that I understood the theory, even though I had never learned it - I understood it intuitively.
They tested me several times and I was right every time.

The essence of this story is that my father and I learned the theories of music intuitively by practical experiments, while his wife had learned everything from the best teachers.
Despite her superior theoretical knowledge, she always lost the discussions, because she had a limited musical ear.

I don't need to learn to understand music, because I hear whether the harmonies are correct or not.
Understand me correctly - theoretical understanding can nevertheless be a practical aid.