By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
It’s confession time.
I used to be a hater, but I’ve seen the light and now I’m a changed man. But it wasn’t a religious experience that changed me. You see, for years, I HATED music theory! I loathed it, despised it, was turned off by it, saw no purpose in it, and consequently put little effort into learning it. All I wanted to do was learn to play the trumpet.
Unfortunately, theory was a part of every music course in high school, and I always struggled with it. My grade in the practical or playing portion of my music mark was always quite acceptable, so all that the music exam ever served to do was water down my final mark. That was assured every semester. Not only was theory a part of every course, but at the end of the semester, there was the dreaded music theory exam!
I loved music class, but the math exam was more fun to write than music theory! My girlfriend at the time was a very good piano player, and having already passed her Royal Conservatory Grade 2 theory exam, she attempted to help me by taking me through the Barbara Wharram Theory book. Sadly, it didn’t help much.
All of us old timers will recall exam time at WDSS when there were long rows of 30 desks stretching from front to back and from the bleachers to the east wall. On the morning of each exam, students would gather in the hallway waiting for the doors to open so we could flood in. The only thing that I knew going into every music exam was that learning how to draw the Circle of Fifths could serve me well. I didn’t understand the Circle of Fifths in any depth, but while waiting out in the hall before the exam, that was all I studied.
I attempted to memorize it, then the moment the doors to the gym opened, I’d rush to a nearby desk, grab a piece of foolscap paper of which there was a pile on every desk, and I would scribble the Circle of Fifths down as quickly as I could because in 5 minutes, I would have forgotten it. The Circle of Fifths helped me earn more marks than anything else.
As the high school years trudged on, my trumpet playing improved, but my theory mark did not. I graduated from high school as a decent trumpet player, but despite Mr. Botai’s best efforts, I didn’t know much more theory then than when I started in grade 9.
Off I went to university, not to study Music but Physical Education (I’ve told the story before), and unexpectedly, in March of 1984, I was hired to teach music at the high school after Mr. Botai’s untimely passing. Now I had to TEACH the same music theory I hated so much! And to make matters even more awkward, my youngest brother was in my class! Suddenly, I was that teacher we’ve all heard of. There I was, imparting facts that I didn’t really understand with the theory book behind my back.
But taxpayers will be glad to know that I buckled down and learned the theory I needed to teach my courses. It was a gradual process, but in time I not only learned the facts I needed to know, but more importantly, came to UNDERSTAND the concepts.
Fast forward over four decades, and I can say with great conviction that knowledge of music theory will serve any musician well and has been nothing less than critical in my roles as both a band leader and musician. Now, I don’t want to characterize my knowledge of music theory as extensive because it gets far more complex than my tiny brain can handle. I just watch a few YouTube videos by Rick Beato or Adam Neely, and I’m quickly reminded that my knowledge of music theory is infinitesimal.
But what I do know has allowed me to do things, explain things, and understand things so much better. I vowed many years ago to never forget how I struggled with music theory when attempting to teach it. When I was dropped into the Music Director position in 1984, I instantly faced the challenge of putting together a pit band for The Sound of Music. I was terrified. I had never taken part in a musical myself, let alone be in charge of all the music direction.
With no experience and only armed with the tiny bit of theory I’d retained from what Mr. Botai had taught me, I entered the unknown. With a stroke of good luck, I made it through, and despite my shortcomings, the musical was a huge success.
Fast forward to 2012, and we mounted a production of The Sound of Music a second time. This time, I was able to call upon my much more extensive knowledge of theory in putting together the pit band. You see, the printed music that accompanies the musical is an orchestral score, but we have never had a string program at WDSS, and there are precious few (if any) string players in this area with enough experience and skills to play that professional-level score. So, in the absence of strings, I was required to come up with a band score to accompany the musical.
That was where my knowledge of music theory really paid off. I had to revoice many of the parts, transpose many of the parts, decide which parts were most important when we couldn’t cover them all, help with complex rhythms, simplify some parts, and for one song, had to transpose ALL of the parts because it was in the wrong key for the vocalist. Without the knowledge of music theory that I have accumulated along the way, it wouldn’t have turned out as it did.
That production called upon every bit of music theory that I knew. And now today, I am using that music theory more than ever in my work with the Wallaceburg Concert Band. In our recent concert, I was able to write a simple band accompaniment for our version of “Four Strong Winds,” and I think it turned out nicely. With great music knowledge comes great power. My knowledge of music theory is still only the tip of the iceberg, but at least I can whip up the ol’ Circle of Fifths now in a heartbeat, and I UNDERSTAND it!
