Any Prog characteristics in music theory?

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

Western tonal theory is just an interpretive framework so to speak, a way to divide up the physical stimulus into parameters. It's not the only kind of music theory, nor is it the only way we divide music into parameters. However, it is very similar to language in that if a person is speaking in a particular language, the best way to understand what they are saying is to interpret their speech in that language. I would say that the cultural influence of Western tonal theory is such that it can apply to a certain extent to most music that we know, or provide a frame of reference to other systems of theory, like that of gamelan, Hindustani classical music, or serialism, though it may not have to be to facilitate enjoyment. There is a lot of music to which Western tonal theory's only application is to point out its own insufficiency as a universal theoretical system. I would say this applies to a lot of avant-garde music (much of which is meant to be processed in a more basic, almost languageless timbral level), stochasticism, and Tibetan Buddhist ritual music. 
There are also subtle differences in thought in popular music "theory" and regular Western theory. For instance, a trait of jazz, which reappeared in R&B and Hip-hop, is the idea of playing "on top of" or "behind the beat" which refers to intentionally playing notes slightly earlier or later, respectively, than they are supposed to occur, sometimes to the point of creating polyrhythms in the latter genres. However, while the concept of polyrhythms and playing on top of or behind the beat have been combined to facilitate interesting grooves, in the context of R&B and Hip-hop, the specific polyrhythm isn't particularly important to understanding the music. What is important is how far behind the beat they are, how much they forsake the grid, rather than the specific interaction of parts. This involves Western theory, but isn't necessarily thought of in the same way as a classical musician. 

Captcha has been extra hard on me lately. :/