Kurt Cobain Said Music Theory is a Waste of Time

[@johnrobinette5510]

Music theory isn't the rules, its the explanation!

[@MidnightMark12]

It's like trying to do chemistry by accident.

[@Dreyno]

I agree with that. Things sound good because they sound good. Not because they’re in d major or a mixolydian scale. Everything in theory is just a way of explaining the relationship between notes. Not why they sound good or bad. Theory can’t account for what the human brain finds pleasing.

[@davidjorgensen877]

His parallel to grammar is apt. Both should be ignored during the initial creative process and applied afterwards to fix any parts that don't effectively communicate what you intended them to. Maybe if you're a genius you never need to fix anything, but that doesn't apply to the vast majority of us. Grammar and music theory are just tools to polish your work and make it better.

[@GCKelloch]

@@Dreyno It actually can to some extent. The brain responds to how tones combine and resolve regarding pitch relationships and intermodulations over time. It's probably more science-based than we know.

[@MidnightMark12]

@@GCKelloch Wave mechanics is certainly science-based

[@seannachaidh9999]

I was a music theory and composition major. My first theory prof's words have always stuck with me: "Music theory teaches you how to analyse how music works. It's not intended to teach you how to write music. You compose from your heart. Break the rules."

[@clueless_mitochondria]

thank you... ive been stuck

[@MidnightMark12]

The Circle of 5ths is the tool.

[@marty1619]

And they were right!

[@blakec1505]

Do you get laid tho be honest

[@brandonmarshall3249]

Thanks for sharing this quote, such a great way to phrase it.

[@TheUnmitigatedDawn]

Most people: Kurt didn't know music theory, he didn't know that chord. Rick Beato: I know that. But his ear knew.

[@fleef69]

Rick Beato is like the Gandalf of music KZbin I swear, man is wiser than anyone else. It’s true that when it comes to music it doesn’t matter if your brain knows something, your ear always knows better anyway. And while the musical knowledge in one’s brain does have value, the knowledge of the ear is always more important.

[@swansonjoe7121]

Lmao. Rick Beato is also a fool

[@Mephilis78]

​​@@swansonjoe7121 says the famous musician Swansonjow7121. If I see your record, I'm going to buy immediately so I can hear your musical genius.

[@fleef69]

@@swansonjoe7121 expound

[@swansonjoe7121]

@@Mephilis78 🤓

[@theimprovisedgarden7999]

Steve Vai put it best essentially saying you need to have as much technique and theory as is required to do what you want to do with your music, that's it.

[@bigcummypoopfart6146]

Exactly. Music isnt a sport its a personal journey and its all about your self expression and what you want out of it. If learning all the ins and outs and hows and whys behind your playing intrigues you so be it but if you dont want it dont feel you need it, then you dont

[@minkorrh]

Hahaha. He nailed it when you listen to Nirvana. Zero technique/zero theory/zero good.

[@bigcummypoopfart6146]

@@minkorrh i love your band dude, oh wait you dont have one

[@Bellabaddi]

Yep...or where you want to go with it.

[@101Volts]

Listening to the first 2 B-52s albums where Ricky H. Wilson was often a minimalist, yet a creative one with odd string omission tunings... This is right. If you only go by "technique is everything" and forget the song being fun (or otherwise forget the song serving a purpose,) where are you? Ricky went with the Rock Lobster riff because he thought it was stupid but funny.

[@DanFlashes99]

Cobain intuitively figured out a lot of music theory, he just didn't bother to learn the words for the concepts he was utilizing. Because that's primarily what music theory is for, an agreed upon language so we can communicate with each other about abstract concepts

[@MidnightMark12]

In the language of music, Cobain communicated by grunt and gesture. What a worthless, worthless scab on the ass of the industry.

[@matthewchavezm.b.s5503]

Music is spoke exactly how it should be when it is played by whatever instrument. Talking about it is completely unnecessary but can be useful.

[@MidnightMark12]

Talking about Cobain is completely unnecessary and not at all useful. What a waste of flesh.

[@Skwid-Lives]

He knew the words

[@TheTurkishKebabExperience]

@@MidnightMark12 of flesh? The fuck you gonna use flesh for?

[@hansolo9585]

He was part of the era where it was cool to act like you don’t care about things. He also claimed he didn’t care about practicing but practiced relentlessly

[@shawndunlap714]

Kurt Cobain sucks

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Lol he didn’t practice shit

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

Thats really an oversimplification of what he was doing. He certainly was not interested in trying to “look cool” - as any cool person knows that would be very uncool. Kurt was effortlessly cool because he *was cool*. He was extremely genuinely uniquely himself, which still resonates to this day with billions of people.

[@ricardososa7534]

@@Johnnysmithy24The entire band literally practiced like 6+ hours a day for 6 months before recording Nevermind

[@Joe-f8j3p]

Dave Grohl said in an interview that their song were written by jamming together.

[@bgmchrisc]

If you can't jam with someone, are you a musician? Of course you are. 'Musician' comes in many forms. A songwriter who works alone is just as much a musician as someone who only plays classical compositions and has never written a note in their lives. The whole of music is so much more than just playing your instrument, and figuring out what scale and key a song is in. Music is art, not math.

[@chriskitchen4772]

Original music was created that makes someone a musician. Whether one can "jam" with someone else does not negate this. I agree with you.🙂

[@Deth69Destruction]

I really hated that question. I have studied music for a long time in my life. I finished 5 years of Music Pedagogy (so, now I am a Music Teacher). But before all that, I wrote some songs without any knowledge of music theory, just fifths and some chords. Then I learned music theory, improved in precision and cleanliness when playing, although I never felt like a solo guitarist (it's not "in my veins" or something like that). Certainly, I felt excited to use some interesting rhythms, new kinds of chords and things like that, but I never abandoned my essence. For me, music theory it's a very useful resource for playing music and being a musician, but it all depends on what you want to do. And I don't want to write songs thinking in music theory, I use very little music theory. We all have different goals, and music theory just wasn't in Cobain's plans, that's all.

[@WhoBlah21]

Also didn’t Kurt used to jam with other musicians in Seattle before Nirvana?

[@burroughs334]

@@WhoBlah21I’d take the Home Depot guy’s comments about what’s required to “jam” with a grain of salt. 😂

[@jamesthepanther]

I get what you are saying, but sometimes I think the contrary…just in the way of looking at music like a language. If music is a language, jamming means another musician can come to you and “speak” with their instrument, and you can respond to what they are saying with your instrument. It becomes a conversation and this is where the most powerful magic of music lies. Someone that memorizes a song for example, but can’t jam, is like a Chinese person memorizing Shakespeare lines in English, but not even knowing the meaning of the words they are saying. They may be technically speaking English, but they are not fluent in English.

[@paulciampo2104]

The truth? Do both. Learn. Then throw it away and let your brain pull whatever it likes from the theory subconsciously.

[@Lacostanico]

or.......dont, and just do whatever the f you guys want....

[@paulciampo2104]

@@Lacostanico Yep. No one can stop you.

[@Lacostanico]

@@paulciampo2104 Im not hating on your comment, im just saying: music is such a personal and subjective trip, do this do that, I mean, just have fun, youll eventually figure out what you prefer, thats a better "advice" in any case...I feel people are always fighting about this, you should know music theory or No!, just play by ear!...the answer is neither is better, theres musicians that never formally studied and became great, others spent years studying and became great....first of all have fun playing...

[@paulciampo2104]

@@Lacostanico I don't make assumptions usually... No worries, I didn't think you were.

[@nachyomoney3598]

Not learning music theory and trying to be a musician is like not learning how to read or write and trying to author a novel. Being willfully ignorant is just a disgrace to yourself. Good luck finding people who will take you seriously if you won't even take yourself seriously.

[@kipponi]

Eddie VanHalen said: there are twelve notes in octave do whatever you like❤😂. I like it👍

[@GCKelloch]

Yes, in the 12-tone system.

[@ashleyjohansson230]

and when you actually learn music theory in college: 2000 page book on the rules of arpeggios and how to use them "correctly"

[@TheAgentAssassin]

EVH started off playing classical piano and won quite a few contests as a child.

[@foljs5858]

@@GCKelloch well, even musicians from other cultures that have microtonality still play pianos and fretted guitars most of the time - especially for everything pop/rock/ballad they do. So unless you play oud in Egypt or something like experimental electronica a la Aphex Twin, it's basically the 12-tone system or bust

[@rickc2102]

With a Floyd, there are infinite notes in an octave.

[@Gian4455]

I think that the context here is important. I lived through the whole "grunge" revolution and people sometimes forget that right before that you had all these great virtuosos playing in bands and talking about how fast they were and about modes and how the practiced guitar even while going to the bathroom. So when the whole Seattle scene came about it was not about how many hours you practice, or how many arpeggios or modes you knew by heart, but about how much feeling can you put into music. If you check all the other Seattle bands, they had way more complex music (technically speaking) than Nirvana, and they could play solos, jam and improvise, but they also were not talking about the technical stuff all the time. The uncool part was to brag about how many hours you practice and how much music theory you knew, because those talking about that were mostly doing music that had no feeling.

[@marty1619]

Chops don't equate to a lack of feeling, and limited knowledge doesn't equate to greater feeling. The feeling part comes from the individual player's expression. But we cant REALLY tell what someone else feels while they're playing... Countless people over the years have told me that I "don't play with feeling" But I've felt EVERY note, chord and sound from the bottom of my heart since I was 6 years old, 41 years ago. And so I'd listen to the also countless people that made the point of telling me how much they appreciate the care I'd put into what I'd do. As far as bragging about theory, its like bragging about IKEA or LEGO instructions lol Peace Y'all.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

So I took "Lithium isn't in a key" as a challenge. Its mostly in E major and E minor; there's a name for this (parallel tonality or something?, its multiple scales that both gravitate back to the same tonal center), with one borrowed chord from blues and one spicy WTF chord from I-don't-know-where. As is common with Kurt, the guitar is playing power chords while the vocal melody spells out more complex chords. Taking the vocal melody into account (all pitches sound one whole step lower than written, D Standard tuning, all mistakes should be attributed to years of smoking pot), I have the main chord progression as: E5 G#5 C#5 A7 C5 B5 Dmaj9 and the chorus section as A5 Cmaj9 A5 Csusb2 It contains chords primarily from E major and E minor, one chord from E blues, and one chord from smoking pot. As is common in Kurt's music, there are power chords that are deliberately ambiguous whether they're major or minor. That's what the I/i and V/v mean below. You could solo or compose over those chords as if they were major or minor and add extensions at will. I would analyze that as I/i--iii--vi--IV7--VI--V/v--Spicy9 I/i, iii (from E major), vi (from E major), IV7 (from E blues), VI (from E minor), V/v, and Dmaj9 I would notate as "spicy" as its not from major, minor, or blues. The chorus section I would analyze as IV/iv--VI--IV/iv--vi IV/iv, VI (from E minor), IV/iv, vi (from E major), which is fucking awesome. You can really see Kurt's habit of borrowing chords from parallel major and minor keys and minor/major ambiguity in this section. I'd like to see a really proficient jazz soloist solo over this section in particular. So what we have is a simple I/i--iii--vi--IV7--VI--V/v--Spicy9 chord progression, LMFAO And the chorus is IV/iv--VI--IV/iv--vi, emphatically LMFAO

[@swissarmyknight4306]

Nuclear take: You can know music theory intellectually or by ear. Either way, you know it. Kurt probably didn't know what those symbols above mean, but his ear knew those chords.

[@jonathon862]

Kurt’s ear was so sophisticated. Borrowing parallel minor chords with no idea what he was doing.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

@@jonathon862 He just sang a Maj9 chord over a power chord; he could have been a sax player. He probably spent a lot of time in a room with a guitar and music playing, just figuring stuff out by ear. It took me years of music theory to finally understand why I like Nirvana. You start to understand what is going on in his music with theory once you understand modulation and borrowed chords. He was a huge Beatles fan and those musical ideas are very present in their later records.

[@lowandodor1150]

In the time you typed all that, someone like Kurt got high, wrote 3 songs, got more drugs, rehearsed the song and recorded it and he never even cared about any of it. And by someone like Kurt i mean 90% of the musicians i have known, played with and/or loved. But still, it is and always has been impressive to me, how you can remember all those chord names and symbols. ˘J˘

[@tristanomusic]

​@@lowandodor1150 and that show why he thought music theory is a waste of time

[@jackhaugh]

So I’m 51, was born in ‘73, started playing guitar when I was 17 and was really into Led Zeppelin and Metallica. I graduate HS in 91. I’m 18 and in college that fall, and Nevermind drops. I was completely blown away. The video gets played every 15 minutes on MTV, or so it seemed… I’m in my dorm room one day, exactly 3 days after Nevermind drops, and I hear some one in the dorm playing SLTS downstairs from me on a really loud electric guitar. I get up and go running at a full sprint through every floor of the dorm until I find the person playing it, and start pounding on the door as hard as I can. Mind you, I’m on the football team and am pounding on it so hard the upper corner of the door is bending into the guys room. He eventually answers. I basically force this guy to show me how to play the song, and ask him how he figured out how to play the song so quickly. He said he’s a guitar performance major, is in a band, it’s not a hard song, and that his band is playing at one of the bars that evening downtown and asked if I’d like to see them play. I told him I was 18 and wouldn’t be able to get in where they’re playing, and he goes how’d you like to be our roadie then. So being the strapping young lad that I am I become their roadie in exchange for guitar lessons. So this guy and I become pretty good friends. He’s actually a huge Dead Head, and Jerry is his favorite guitar player. He starts teaching me theory, how to use modes, how to actually jam with people instead of just playing a song the way it’s written, so on and so forth. I’m really glad he turned me on to jammy stuff like The Dead and The Allman Brothers, otherwise I think I would have just focused on learning songs note for note with tabs, and never really learning anything about music itself.

[@hugoboufflers4875]

Thanks you so much for sharing this part of your musical journey, such an amazingly cool story to read :)!

[@apenas_jonas]

very interesting story friend

[@postrock12]

That’s cool. Most of my friends while growing up were musicians but they weren’t ever patient enough to teach sadly. But I also had other art forms that I loved & did. & i’d make music videos. That’s cool about the Dead,I love them & im a huge Phish fan but I had to take a break 😅but the shows are always fun & epic. Phish covering Zeppelin is so epic. Good times bad times

[@mrbleachey]

I kept expecting this to be like “and that guitar player was Billy Corgan” or something

[@theballadeer2017]

If Kurt did learn Music Theory, Nirvana wouldn't sound like Nirvana...

[@gitarcikaii]

wrong, Nirvana sounded like Nirvana because of his punk rock influence, its in no context of music theory

[@theballadeer2017]

@@gitarcikaii What I was trying to say is if he learned Music Theory, it'll ruin his creativity instead. He made up a lot of chord progressions that didn't even make sense if you analyze it musically. Thus, if he learned MT, he wouldn't even dare to do those things.

[@alans98989]

​@@theballadeer2017 There is nothing in music that doesn't make sense if you analyze it musically. Theory is a tool for understanding music, it's not a set of rules.

[@ReklessStandard]

Exactly. And nirvana was a band of their own and one of the most popular. Same with foo fighters, dave cant read music for shit and look where they are.

[@Madakalim]

Grunge music in general was a bunch of bands that each created an identity as opposed to a unique style. If you were Soundgarden or Nirvana people had a notion of what theyd be in for. It was not vituosity. I listen to The Clash and realize they were like Police or The Cars (pre grunge) and then Incubus and Sublime were more like (post grunge) The mid 80s and 90s had some great boundries reached but Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains never tried to claim "jazz" as a stylistic influence. ROCK ON MAN!

[@TheSupart91]

John Mayer also "you dont need to know all and everything"...... *went to Berkleee school of music*

[@ayamTondoBoy]

He didn't like it and didn't finish.

[@TheSupart91]

@@ayamTondoBoy still went thoo not like it was one class and out

[@TheSupart91]

@@ayamTondoBoy 2 semesters

[@jakelikeslowcars]

thats how he knows. If he didn't know pretty much everything about music theory, how would he know what parts of it he doesnt use?

[@nicozwirner]

John Mayer certainly doesnt know everything about Music theory, his composing and soloing is pretty simple theory wise, its not like hes a jazz guy

[@Meatball996]

People who say that music theory is limiting or stops creativity really don't understand the point of music theory. Music theory isn't a set of guidlines or rules, it's a description. Admittedly, basic music theory is taught as if they were rules, you see lots of people teaching you to only use the 7 chords of major for a songwriting excercise for instance. But once you delve further into music theory you realise it's just suggestions. There's no difference between learning theory and someone showing you a cool set of chords they found except one lets you expand upon your knowledge and be more analytical.

[@scubasteve2189]

Underrated comment. 👍🏻 I used to tell my students this all the time. First you learn the “rules” so then you know why it’s so cool when you break them! 😂

[@foljs5858]

"People who say that music theory is limiting or stops creativity really don't understand the point of music theory. Music theory isn't a set of guidlines or rules, it's a description." unless it's someone else describing what you did later in music theory terms, it's also a set of guidelines and rules that people feel they have to follow if they've learned them. And even when they decide to break those rules, they do so less brazenly and innovatively than someone who just experiments and plays what sounds good to him...

[@Meatball996]

@@foljs5858 You say that as if most experimental music isn't driven by people who know music theory and are delving into unexplored areas. Most notably the amount of people delving into microrhythms as of late. Furthermore, most people who don't know theory, with exceptions like Kurt Cobain and Hendrix and the beatles, just make music that sounds very safe. Take for example Blur. Some of their songs have fancy chords but most of their songs stick to very basic bland chords and the only reason they have those spicy chords to behin with is because the guitarist wanted to break free of britpop. If he'd known theory, he would've easily known how to break the conventions of britpop and make something unique rather than having to waste time figuring stuff out and not being able to build upon the knowledge he'd gained in that time. Meanwhile if you look at 90% of the best Jazz artists or classical artists, they know theory and a great deal, more so than they'd ever use outside of academia. However they still are able to put heart and soul into their works. It's because most of these people are great instrumentalists and anyone whose a good musician has good intuition on their instrument. Theory doesn't stop your intuition in fact learning how certain intervals and scale shapes sound actually improves your intuition and understanding of your instrument. Not to mention most people who try not to learn music theory do end up learning theory anyway, just unconventionally. Whether or not you learn theory, you'll learn how certain chords sound with eachother, what notes sound good over what chords. But you'll just be learning less over a longer period of time.

[@foljs5858]

@@Meatball996 "You say that as if most experimental music isn't driven by people who know music theory and are delving into unexplored areas" Only the worst kind > Meanwhile if you look at 90% of the best Jazz artists or classical artists, they know theory and a great deal, more so than they'd ever use outside of academia. However they still are able to put heart and soul into their works. Only barely

[@WhoBlah21]

There’s two reasons people say music theory is limiting. One is because they had a terrible instructor/professor who stifled their playing and interest. Another is because they don’t listen to enough music to be curious as to why certain songs sound a particular way. If you can make and play music with knowing a lot of theory it’s all good, don’t fix what ain’t broke.

[@pkrdy3]

Some people are born with a brain that naturally understands music, and they can do a lot without knowing anything about music theory. Most people are not born that way. Learn your scales, folks!

[@letitbe3625]

Lol😅😅😅scales😅😅😅

[@pietart3596]

I'd use Hendrix for that example instead. Cobain was surely great, yet a guitarist gets really better following the former

[@HAMMERHEAD-g3h]

This is a really good comment because you are exactly correct. We are not all the same and some people have an amazing ear for music. I happen to think I'm one of those people. I've been playing the guitar for about 30 years and at least in the rock and roll genre, I can play anything I want and I can improvise along to anything. Having said that, I always had such a good ear for music. There are people that have a better ear than me but I can come up with music in my head and then sit down with a guitar and make it happen. When I was younger, people used to be amazed by how quickly I could learn by ear but I didn't find it that difficult. The harder thing for me was building the dexterity in my hands to be able to play what I wanted to play and what I was hearing. The strange thing was, I never really wanted to be a rockstar being a band. I just love the music so much I wanted to be able to play along with the music that I enjoyed. People over the years have asked me to teach them how to play the guitar but it's always frustrating me because I didn't understand why they couldn't pick up things as quickly as I could. I remember when I was in high school, I played Greensleeves finger style that I transposed the night before without even hearing the song.

[@rubyduby2656]

Never heard Greensleeves? That's like that time when Meghan Markle said she never knew who Prince Harry was. Everybody knows Harry and Greensleeves. You would have heard it on an ice cream truck, phone line and on an elevator.

[@HAMMERHEAD-g3h]

@@rubyduby2656 I may have misspoke. I had heard the song Greensleeves before but I didn't have any reference at the house. I just used the melody from memory the transcribe it on guitar. And the reason I did green sleeves is because we were studying the Renaissance era in high school and I had to do a project in front of class. I've always been able to do that for some reason. If I hear a melody once, I can usually sit down with the guitar and play it. My wife jokingly says that I have perfect pitch because I think it gets on her nerves that I can do that and she can't but it's not something I learned I just was born with it.

[@bradlaidmanpoplearningserv3347]

The same thing happened between Noel Gallagher and Aimee Mann. Aimee graduated from Berklee - she kept asking Noel how he came up with his complex chord progressions and odd chords. He was like leave me alone I have no idea what you're talking about. He's said the same thing recently he isn't a guitar expert he's a songwriter.

[@Stykzman100]

I know quite a bit of music theory, but I gotta be honest, I only think you need to know as much theory as you personally believe you need to know. Kurt may or may not be good in a jam, but you know what? Kurt wasn't a musician, he was a songwriter, it's not the same thing. His ability to be in a jam session isn't important because that's not what he was trying to do, he was trying to write songs, that's a different skill and that requires little to no theory at all. Personally, I have met equal amounts of musicians who both know a shit ton about theory and those who don't, and both have been just as likely to be shit in a jam. I've been in jams where I've known the most of anyone in the room and they all could play circles around me - That's just my experience and could be a comment on how shit my playing is, but it also made me change the way I think about this kind of thing. People who talk on this dichotomy always irk me on both sides because I don't feel like either side of the argument really understands what the other person is saying.

[@hihello-sx1sx]

I do think that a big reason he said this is to maintain this image of an un-practiced genius. But at the same time, what he says has an element of truth - creativity is inherently experimental, it’s largely just a process of throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Tampering with the creative process by introducing preconceived ideas like music theory can inhibit this process and thus lead to ideas which lack spontaneity and originality. I think this is why the best artists often report the experience of feeling insecure about their creative process. You’re not supposed to know what you’re doing, there is no ‘method’ to good art. This is not to say that theory has no purpose, it can be immensely useful as an analytical tool after pieces have been constructed to understand why the piece’s parts go together in the way that they do. But as a creative aid, it inevitably leads to a product which feels contrived in nature.

[@sherwintavarez8539]

Kurt, Beatles, EVH and Jimi Hendrix did not know music theory, they HEARD music theory

[@TheAgentAssassin]

EVH was a trained classical pianist as a child and won many contests. I think EVH had a grip on theory, not in the traditional sense but he did understand the writing music thing. Lots of his songs are written in the style of piano.

[@chriskitchen4772]

Yes, hearing it though songs they played by artists they admired and then through what they created.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

What you're saying is to some degree true, but not entirely true. They knew theory by ear, sure, but the Beatles were taught a lot of theory by George Martin. Knowing it by ear and knowing it by theory is just two different languages communicating the same thing.

[@Meatball996]

Kurt shouldn't be on here imo. Beatles EVH and Jimi weren't actively against learning theory like Kurt was, they embraced learning these things when they had the chance and sometimes even used their limited understanding to aid with songs

[@SlimeyGuitarStrings]

@@TheAgentAssassin Lot of his solos sound like a clarinet solo, strange considering his dad was a clarinet player.

[@scottakam]

Knowledge of music theory is definitely helpful. I don't think it stifles creativity but if you're not careful, it can lead you down the same road over and over. There is value in just playing randomly around the fretboard in the hopes of finding something original.

[@cal.anonymous7970]

Almost 60 yrs old, picked up guitar at 9, then learned harmonica by ear in about 4 yrs, now I am picking up where I left off in guitar, & the 12 keys I had in harps, has taught me boatloads of theory that is making my guitar come alive 😅😅

[@user-yk4gd1fl4z]

yeah, but its the long way bro. Walking home round the block twice, you still get there, but why??

[@TheJpep2424]

He also claimed he hated fame while pursuing game. He claimed music was too commercial while making commercial music.

[@realasadoughnut]

That comment is a little off base, when he was writing most of Nevermind in his bedroom it was the furthest thing away from what was commercial at the time...commercial music was the the hair metal , shredding bullshit all over MTV, he wrote music that was the exact opposite and had no guitar "solos" . It was so good that everyone loved it, and it was a commercial success practically overnight. It became commercial. He hated that, and eventually killed himself. But I have no idea what "he claimed he hated fame while pursuing game " means.

[@joermnyc]

Best Kurt Cobain troll: he put a DOD Grunge pedal on his board, not plugged in at all. When a reporter asked him about how he gets his sound, Kurt pointed at the Grunge and said, “I use that”. Well Kurt made DOD Grunge sales skyrocket that week… 😂

[@ShreddingFinn]

When you can drop less than a handful of albums your whole life and still be an absolute top staple in music history then you can say whatever you want

[@travismiles5885]

A lot of untalented people sell a lot of records. The music industry is full of them. Major sales do not equal artistic greatness, it equals good turd polishing also known as marketing.

[@randomcharacter6501]

​@@travismiles5885"A lot of untalented people sell a lot of records" except Kurt wasn't untalented, just musically uneducated. Yea maybe untalented people sell a lot of records but untalented people don't change the industry, lead a genre, or have people talking about something they said almost 40 years later. Tbh if I were a trained musician I'd stay away from negativity towards Nirvana because they all sound like haters. The jealous kind of hater at that.

[@travismiles5885]

@@randomcharacter6501 Meh, let the fluffers think what they want. To quote Dennis Leary on Jim Morrison "I'm drunk, I'm nobody. I'm drunk, I'm famous. I'm drunk, I'm dead." Change drunk to junkie and you have Cobain. They were both put on pedestals for having the common decency to die before people realized what kind of people they really were. John Lennon beat his first wife and people still worship him because "He changed the world blah blah blah..."

[@travismiles5885]

@@randomcharacter6501 Meh, think what ya want. To quote Dennis Leary on Jim Morrison "I'm drunk, I'm nobody. I'm drunk. I'm famous. I'm drunk, I'm dead." Change drunk to junkie and you have Cobain. The pedestals they've been put upon are a joke.

[@randomcharacter6501]

​​@@travismiles5885Not understanding what how someone chose to live their life has to do with their talent... Dennis Leary is great at quips, Jim Morrison was an innovative singer. What one says about the other doesn't negate my point. Honestly it proves it because here we are 60+ years later analyzing the "nobody". I get that you don't like them as people but that doesn't diminish their talent or accomplishments. It only, just like any other opinon, says more about you than them.

[@LivingWater-bs1hh]

Kurdt Cobain wrote some of the best music in the 20th century. He did not need music theory filtered thru lesser musicians. He worked on his skill the way he saw fit.

[@dvjvbv]

it's like science. Music is fact, Theory explains the facts. Learning music theory teaches you how music works and gives you a common vocabulary that can be used with others who understand music theory. Kurt figured out some stuff about music - he had his own theory, but his knowledge is an island in his own language. He'd have a hard time working and communicating with other musicians. They'd have to find some common language. It would be a simple one. On the other hand, a trained musician could play right along with him, improvise, create...

[@bravo4adventure988]

That 12 string jam was cool

[@rickc2102]

My favorite of all his guitars, such a beast.

[@chasingexcellence2246]

The first song that I learned to play was smells like teen spirit in 1994 or 95. To be honest, if it wasn’t for Nirvana, I possibly would have never started. It’s an easy song and you can learn it quickly to play with the radio. The 14 year old me thought it was cool enough after that to keep going for 30 years. So, there is that, but I know a little theory. Lol

[@paulmayden7344]

You're right. Kurt was a friend of mine. I jammed with Kurt for hours on end when we were young. From the time he moved to my hometown of Olympia right up to when Nirvana got really big. He was good at what he was good at. And if I was jamming something that felt familiar he could hop right in. But if I went to a style he didn't have much experience with, he was fairly lost. He was good at eventually figuring out how something differed from what he usually did but that was more on his own via trial and error. And it didn't take much of that because he had a good ear. But I could pretty much play to anything he came up with right away even if he was borrowing from different keys and doing way random things. Because I know how music works and I know where things go when they go off the rails. You don't need music theory at all. But it speeds things up to an insane amount and frees creativity because you can do just any random thing and know how it's going to sound and why it's going to sound that way. Theory releases creativity. Not the other way around. Which is why most people that don't use it are only good at one or two things. And they get stuck in what they call 'Ruts' because they don't know instantly what else they can do.

[@XOChristianaNicole]

Great explanation.

[@XOChristianaNicole]

I moved to Sequim, WA, for a time, after surviving the most deadly California wildfire.. My shoe cobbler shared with me that he was at the very first house party, Nirvana ever played.

[@paulmayden7344]

@@XOChristianaNicole What was the shoe cobbler's name? Cuz I was at that party too! Novoselic got SOOO drunk!

[@BIGGYBALLS69]

Cap

[@JeremyAndersonBoise]

⭐️ This comment gets a gold star ⭐️ and one million internet points, not because you knew Kurt, because you had some real insight to add to this discussion as regards music theory and the value thereof. Bravo! 🎉 Encore!

[@rogersmusic]

I can't stop listening to your instrumental at the end - just brilliant!

[@karunak5983]

It sounds like In Bloom..

[@bradyoung1658]

He didn't believe in theory, but also in the unplugged session he asks if he should play a song in the normal key. Is transposing part of music theory...

[@BradColemanisHere]

I'm not a great guitar player, but I think I started this way and so do most folks with a good ear. You hear it, you know what chord or riff would sound great next, or how to create emotional changes, but you don't know their names. It was wild when someone explained it to me. No one ever explained it to him and who knows, maybe if he made it to his 40s he would love learning those things. He definitely great music, and was unique in ways that most people don't get to experience.

[@TalicZealot]

I don't get why jamming is the measure of being a musician when it constitutes very little of the music anybody listens to or plays. Maybe true for jazz, but it doesn't make sense for many genres. It's like saying you can't rap if you can't freestyle rap battle.

[@bmaue3]

Kurt knew “that goes there, this doesn’t, but it sounds good.” That’s the essence of understanding music theory.

[@kissthesky40]

What’s better? Original artistry or letter perfect covers?

[@tt-du6vc]

Originality by far. Nobody cares about carbon copies of someone else.

[@pietart3596]

​@@tt-du6vctell that to Marcin

[@AOK127]

The in bloom part at the end hits hard🔥🥬🍃👽😶‍🌫️

[@MeganTheLibra]

Kurt Cobain was a musical genius. He was far beyond music theory.

[@rustyshackleford9557]

It might be good to define what folks regard as " music theory" . Professional full time musicians often speak a language that some refer to as " music theory" It really is simply terminology. We use numbers to identify chords. It simply makes performance and rehearsal easier. We can hold up 2 fingers and the guy across the room or stage knows a minor II chord is coming up etc. We can chart a song numerically and that way if a singer needs the song in a different key we dont have to re-write the chart. It is a HUGE time saver. If anyone cares to learn these basics, they can post a comment and in a very short few lines I will teach them. I'm an old road dog. 40+ years of gigging/touring/sessions. I am happy to help. It is way, way more simple than one might expect.

[@c4binF3v3r]

He knew the basic chord names at the very least. They are drawn in his journals. He probably knew the pentatonic scale as well. And frankly, you don't need anything else.

[@demention7966]

The part where Tyler discusses kurt jamming with others hit so hard😂😂 bc thats me lol!! It’s really hard to jam when u don’t know music, but I’m fortunate that I can keep my head above the water with my ear. I respect music theory it makes things easier in it own aspects. Tyler hit a strong point with that

[@theonlyredspecial]

I actually think he was meaning in a way sometimes great songs and music can be created without being a technical wizard. I mean no offense to the raft of KZbin guitar gymnasts (for instance) but quite often I find listening to them longer than 5 minutes very tiring.

[@tt-du6vc]

Yeah. They fuckin suck.

[@Rowanexen]

I'm trying to not let theory bind me all too much, but it's still INCREDIBLY important to know to be a musician that's able to collaborate with others, as well as a baseline to start with!

[@james-sf5yc]

It's funny to me, I'm 52 and when Nirvana broke huge, I had been playing for about 5 yrs practicing like crazy dreaming of sounding like a cross between Metallica and Steve Vai. Trying to learn lead and was starting to see some progress. Then this Kurt Cobain guy came along and everything I was practicing became lame. I hated Nirvana for yrs and yrs for insulting my "musical sensibilities" I'm over it now after some therapy. Lol

[@michealhunt6607]

Gee, its almost as if you can write good songs without needing it to be 10 minutes long with 3 minute guitar solos And, i like Metallica too but they're completley different genres of rock. Kurt was far more into the punk rock frame of mind, its far more noticable in his very early stuff Like comparing oranges and lemons. Sure, they're both citrus fruits but they're both completley different when it comes to look and taste

[@james-sf5yc]

@@michealhunt6607 Well, I wasn't comparing them. Just pointing out that at the time (late 80s early 90s) guitar solos and epic songs were popular. Nirvana changed that and suddenly what I was doing wasn't cool in popular music anymore. But thanks for explaining the difference between punk and metal. 52 yrs on this earth and I never noticed. 😒

[@younkinjames8571]

You're 2 years ahead of me but I never went to therapy. 😆 🤣 😂 I just despise this shit music and anything that came after...

[@younkinjames8571]

​@@michealhunt6607"good" songs? I think you mean "popular"...

[@james-sf5yc]

@@younkinjames8571 I take solace in the fact that I was right back then and still am today. Good guitar and musicianship is alive and well today thx to KZbin and social media. Where is "grunge" and "alternative" or any rock genre today? But good musicians will ALWAYS be sought after in some format. I used to say punk and grunge is easy, just be real angry and real lazy.

[@apeheadboink]

bro put "dead wrong" like come on bro too soon

[@B31L]

lol

[@apeheadboink]

@@B31L holy crap ur most viewed video i love that clip, ty for the dankness

[@B31L]

@@apeheadboink yes

[@kitano0]

It's only been a generation ago...

[@danhguitardemos]

@@kitano0 The 30th anniversary of Kurt's death was a few days ago. I have a feeling the title was an intentional reference.

[@nine9whitepony526]

I've always found music theory fascinating. I also love Math. I used to love solving complex math equations in school. It was like the ultimate brain teaser puzzle. Music theory is the same way for me. Even to this day, I will think deeply about some music theory and make what I consider to be brilliant discoveries and it just feels like such a rush. So even if you choose not to apply it, it's still fun to discover and solve.

[@PcBguitarLibrary]

I never made musical progress for decades until I learned theory. Also it's all about learning a language that communicates an idea. I guess a person can become a writer or poet without learning how to read and write, but that person needs a superhuman memory.

[@FuzzyForties]

I completely agree with Kurt. I think he was meaning that creativity is more important than technique. For some people, studding the rules stop the flow of creativity and blocks their expressiveness. Music theory is a convention to put boundaries to the infinity of music and sound. You can dedicate your time to study or to creation following your instinct. Just chose the path that what suits you better. I have been dedicated to creativity all my life, and that happens in all creative fields. Enjoy creating folks! that's the more important of all ❤‍🔥

[@chumleychumchizer9035]

I learned all the fancy terminology for painting in Art College. I've never used any of it.

[@Future_Doggo]

The way I personally see it is, music theory is like a map. It tells you the best route to get to where you want to be, but there's still sone stuff you gotta figure out on your own. And, sometimes it's better to take a different, more scenic route. You don't have to relentlessly study every little bit of music theory, but there's still alot of stuff you should really learn as a musician.

[@gitarcikaii]

Kurt Cobain legit learned piano when he was little and people saying he didnt learn music theory is bullshits, he practiced everyday, had a guitar lesson, and theres out there believing kurt personally didnt learn nor utilised music theory?

[@uncopino]

i don’t think so. i think he knew basic theory and he used that knowledge to write outside of it. so i think what he means when he says “it gets in the way” is “the more you know, the harder it gets to sit there and violate all the rules until you find something that sounds good even though it should be wrong”

[@letitbe3625]

Lol😅

[@HAMMERHEAD-g3h]

Knowing how to play the piano does not mean you know music theory. When I took piano, I would watch the students that went up to the grand piano to play and I would copy what they did on the keyboard and that's how I would do my tests. I always had a pretty good ear and could remember how things were supposed to sound. I know very little to no music theory.

[@omega-nf5ku]

How do you know? Did kurt tell u that? U talk like you knew him lmao

[@gitarcikaii]

@@omega-nf5ku theres literally tons of videos telling about kurt's past, youre just ignorant and lazy to watch em

[@hairspray_qween]

there is actually a 7" with two songs thats not Nirvana where Kurt played guitar on, if you search The Go Team - Scratch It Out/Bikini Twilight you will find it

[@dapcook]

Teenage angst as paid off, now I'm bored and old.

[@P-J-W-777]

Then you have guys like SRV who was self taught and knew his guitar better than most know themselves and he added guitar theory to it later it just made him that much better. He wasn’t tied to theory so he could/did and was willing to do things that most guitarists wouldn’t dare or even think of yet he could still apply theory when needed. The man was simply the best and I could only imagine how much better he would have become if he were still alive.

[@HarlanHarvey76]

Kurt hated everything. Including himself

[@luiscovers7167]

And he wanted to die

[@HarlanHarvey76]

@@luiscovers7167 I think he showed everyone that

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@HarlanHarvey76 lol

[@MidnightMark12]

Feelings mutual. What a waste of flesh.

[@HarlanHarvey76]

@@MidnightMark12 wow...I understand disliking someone but those are strong words. Did he do something to you? Maybe your a GnR fan? Nah, even Axl doesn't speak that poorly of the man...

[@MikeHappy-yb1br]

My brother was self taught, he could hear a song on the radio and play it in his way on guitar and it would sound the same or sound better , he learned to read music and write his own but it was just a hobby he said he would hate it if he had to do it all the time which was weird because he loved to play for people. So I can understand where Kurt was coming from . I wish I could play guitar like that my brother told me I'm to much a literal thinker to understand the way his brain works.

[@Canadianwheelchairguitar]

The music I come up with is 75% theory & 25% "does that sound cool?"

[@markusszelbracikowski956]

Music comes before theory imo. Theory can help you to be a precise performer or to be the most versatile composer as possible. I do love theory nowadays after many years of just using my ear and gut. Not knowing theory before never stopped me from creating music though, and that's the coolest thing in the world.

[@MedalionDS9]

Kurt came from punk rock... a style of music at the time built on 3 chords and the truth... his actual compositions indicated there was more going on apparently according to people like Rick Beato, but he didn't 'learn' that, it just came naturally through playing and by ear... most people are not Kurt though and will need some kind of training but Kurt was hardly the first person to think like that especially for Gen X'ers in music.

[@albenmurcia4716]

He did learn it he just learn ut by ear instead of learning the words. Theory is just how we describe what we can do. He did know theory though

[@BamaGuitar]

My entire channel which sells nothing, and rejects solicitations is about helping people find Guitar Worthy Resources and I do that as a 63 year old retired fart that wants MY grandkids to learn what I only WISH I would have been exposed to in high school AS a guitarist that DID play in a Gospel Rock group that cut an album in a 1977 recording studio with basic theory and THEN life got in the way. NOW retired I am soaking in everything I can and LOVING it. I enjoy immensely your channel and that you are very educated, not a snob about it, and willing to share and offer at a fair price an opportunity for those that WANT more! KUDOS! I watched a short today where someone asked Slash how to play an opening and YEP he referred to the notes. Imagine that!

[@bau3ring4]

the guy who didn't know theory made nevermind. the guy who does know theory made nashville noises. do what you will with that information

[@TheCalm25]

It's important to note that Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of "punk" music and considered himself a "punk" guy. So, not just the "too cool for school thing," but he's also staying true to what he strives for.

[@ArttuAunola]

”Kurt Cobain was DEAD… wrong about music theory”

[@Mephilis78]

Too soon?

[@chrisvanallsburg]

Tyler, you're pure gold, sir. You're less than half my age and you have taught me so much. Thank you.

[@whoisadr891]

Kurt knew a few power chords and wrote powerful, timeless music. Something you’ll never accomplish

[@nympholepticmonkey352]

Amen

[@chiefline7084]

That’s what we are all thinking

[@jameshayes2788]

Don’t think it matters. if you enjoy playing guitar then does it matter what you call yourself. tell me I’m not a musician tell me I am a musician I don’t care I will still play guitar for my self and ppl who enjoy it don’t get hung up on this sort of thing just play and keep it real have fun. Every one is different the most important thing in music is having a good ear that’s really all you need to have fun

[@sand_swan]

The fact that he even knew what an "arpeggio" or the "Dorian mode" even was, kinda undercuts his whole sentiment.

[@bradbaker4679]

He knows the terms….doesn’t mean he actually understands it

[@oliverefremov6633]

I love how you made everyone stand on their toes with this one. Just love it.

[@darthstarone3532]

To me he thought relying on music theory was wrong was going way to be too technical is wrong you sound like a robot😂

[@darthstarone3532]

@@jdhh1801 explain Jimi Hendrix

[@maxwellblakely7952]

He was alright.

[@TheAgentAssassin]

Guthrie Govan is the perfect example. Great player but he sounds always restricted in his playing. Completely balls out noodley but somehow still sounds like an 8th grade music teacher song writing wise.

[@KenFernbach]

Very well explained bro! You know how to get the point across. 🎸🙏

[@Realbdjb]

I agree with him. It's like language learning, you don't really need to study grammar because vocabulary is enough to understand conversations. Grammar comes naturally.

[@facelessstrings]

I feel him tho I'm a beginner guitarist and big fan of Kurt Cobain but also big fan of Zeppelin so I'm trying to find a way to mesh that grunge + blues psychedelic heavy rock kinda a vibe. Most stuff I come up w I just come up w on my own but I sure enjoy having a blues structure to follow !

[@jeremyirving6482]

What Victor Wooten said bro... Theory is a tool use it if you need it

[@rickc2102]

Sometimes you hand carve, sometimes a jig comes in real handy.

[@Atlas65]

Yes in the trunk of your car. So he also said, you only use that tool box when something is wrong. Not every time you go out and drive

[@mattdelany6799]

Originality is everything. You are a great cover musician. Tory is an original artist. Tory’s loose cover of black hole sun at 05:45 is pure genius, and that’s what makes her great, and you very good,

[@ianmansfield1112]

Which one of you two wrote songs that will be remembered for all time? End of debate.

[@Johnnysmithy24]

Drop both of them into a free jam, which one will look like a toddler with a guitar?

[@ianmansfield1112]

@@Johnnysmithy24 Depends if you want to create Music, or just fretwank and show off. The day our lad here draws crowds like KC did I'll stfu... till then you ought do the same

[@Johnnysmithy24]

@@ianmansfield1112 Improvising isn’t fretwanking. Letting the music guide you, freely flowing in the moment, is the closest you’ll get to true musical expression. It’s something much more special than playing the same song and same notes a million times

[@Wooda-qu8wj]

One of them wasted their life with drugs and is now dead.

[@marty1619]

Empty words wallflower

[@yksityinenoma7821]

I remember that on nineties that ”music theory kills creativity” was a very popular phrase. I havent heard it for a long time.

[@CadenC73]

There could have been better word choices for the title 😂. Good video tho. Great perspective. I mean at one point music theory didn’t exist, chords didn’t exist, notes didn’t exist, just strings and a necks. Theory gives us universal lines to exist within so that we can move harmoniously when things become raw. It’s more of a fall back if need be, as you said, a suggestion.

[@BlankPictures-1]

Did not see that until now. Ouch.

[@MidnightMark12]

Try to tell chemistry that it does not exist when you go FA in the lab.

[@TheQuantumzone]

Intelligent and the end is the hook. ❤ Also my opinion as a half and half kinda guy. The magic happens halfway between no rules and well...rules... you can bend and even break some rules... BUT the ear likes certain patterns tones and textures, Sometimes it likes surprises... but not all the time...

[@NoBSMusicReviews]

I really disagree. I have definitely heard musicians who got worse when they got into what I called the Berklee box. Their creativity became so dominated by conceptual ideas of theory that they lost their originality sometimes, sometimes they lost a kind of primal power. Sometimes they just got self indulgent, totally lost in theory, and forgetting soul. I’m not saying this is true for everybody, but I have definitely seen detrimental effects in some people. So many people have come out of Berklee who sound the same to me. There are others, who went to that school, who don’t affect me that way. But there are many of them who seem to all have come to inhabit the same prison.

[@JeremyAndersonBoise]

Those people were never actually creative, then. Full stop.

[@NoBSMusicReviews]

Not always. You can have creativity trained out of you, or at least stunted severely. As the twig is bent, so grow the tree.

[@ivanjurjevic2862]

Maybe you thought they" lost originality "because they finaly could explain why they play something and you probably hate hearing any reason behind why someone plays anything if it doesnt sound artsy fartsy..perhaps its just your perception coming down from your false ideas and conclusions streaming down from complexes you earned by just being lazy to learn and defending it..just accept people get better at music but that doesent predict musical industry succses

[@NoBSMusicReviews]

First of all, you do not know me at all, so it is quite impressive that you think you know so much. I think you are cursed with major insecurity and are covering it up by trashing me even though you know nothing about me. And you should never have to explain your music. If anyone has to explain the theory behind their music, then they are not true musicians.

[@NoBSMusicReviews]

P.S. arrogance is not a virtue. Knowing that there are many things you don’t know is. Humility is. Humanity is. Empathy is. But you hide behind the keyboard trashing other people. I pity you.

[@Ben.Sanders]

I think music theory is useful for composing and in all levels of guitaring keep the content up Tyler 🎉

[@fkcamry88]

To be fair, your original music sucks and Kurt is a legend.

[@sniktawsemaj5951]

Kurt Cobain brought about the end of the guitar god era of rock and roll, which lasted for 30 years, while still making an original and creative contribution to the instrument. I always appreciated the point he made, which was that you don't need to be a grand wizard to pick up an instrument and make awesome music. I think that's one of the most important statements you could possibly make about music. I love this channel, I love music theory, and the discipline of practice, and I am highly appreciative of the valuable material I can find here. But Kurt Cobain never once lost sight of his primary goal of making great songs, and never let himself get bogged down in the idea that he wasn't good enough. That's super important.

[@marty1619]

" Once I knew powerchords, I just started writing songs".... Legend.

[@channtastic]

Kurt go-BANG!

[@krispykrackers8826]

L

[@ylemscalamity]

As a hobbiest guitar player I can say without a doubt learning theory will help. I have played guitar since I was 14 and I just turned 31 today. Just within the last couple years has my skill expanded to where it’s really noticeable. Yes u can learn a bunch of songs and scales and riffs and still play guitar, but when the moment u jam with someone who knows what there doing your going to feel it. I can shred many solos and cool riffs my grandfather can’t even imagine doing but yet he can pick up anywhere and play along to any song.

[@Priccer]

the fact is that you can’t learn to write lyrics and singing and playing in the way Kurt did, and is the same for many geniuses, like Hendrix, who didn’t know theory but they practiced constantly also learning songs they liked, and they are not only guitarists or singers or writers, but all in their own way. But if you want only to be a better guitar player, as most of us simply wants, studying theory is a good way to improve.

[@mattsiegel4516]

The way he wrote lyrics was similar to how he wrote music. Completely abstract and original

[@jona7940]

DEAD wrong indeed

[@Richard-d1y]

I had a music theoried bandmate. Id play a riff and hed say 'you cant play that chord after that chord' and id reply 'but i like it' and that sums it up. You dont need a map to enjoy nature.

[@michaelegan3522]

I feel like that happens with people who only learn a little bit of music theory. They think it's a set of rules and that everything needs to stay in the key center. If they learned more of it they'd realize theory isn't a set of rules. 20th century theory is basically studying a bunch of composers who purposely did everything they could to keep their music from sounding like it was in a key.

[@twillhams9715]

As I get older I find all Kurt’s hits were based off other songs.

[@nacl2858]

as are most songs

[@ivanjurjevic2862]

​​@@nacl2858that proves most of them arent musicians but rather bussiness men .. you dont have to listen to those tho 🤷 but you can succumb to them because "its what most of them do" if you want..lame argument tho

[@obi6822]

That's a ridiculous statement. 95% of rock songs are bases around 5 chord progressions. That does not mean there are only 5 songs. And a lot of Nirvana songs were not based on these chord progressions. A song is not a chord progression or a riff. Take for "Come as you are" and "Living in the 80s" by Kiling Joke. The first half of the riff shares the same note but the songs are totally different.

[@GytisStankevičius-y8o]

Kurt's melody writing was just wow, he had a really great feeling for that.

[@ExpatZ266]

Loved that last riff you did there, loveley.

[@seanjestersloan]

You are 100% correct! Kurt loved to play with the media. I have seen him do this many times to mind bend the interviewer. Classic Cobian 😂

[@tjshultz89]

I had a friend who was an amazing guitarist. He could solo up and down the neck of the guitar with ease and play in any key when jamming along with another player. Funny thing is he never knew what notes he was playing. He just knew what sounded right in that moment and had a great ear for music. I think I was the first person he saw playing cowboy chords because he had never seen those chord shapes before. Everyone learns music differently and it’s a beautiful thing.

[@DanielBobke]

Never was a huge fan of the grunge era - primarily because of this attitude. I recognize the attraction to the songs - it is just the rejection of things just to be the guy that "doesn't care about any of that old school crap". The whole era seemed to revel in being depressed and sad. Unfortunately, Cobain never matured enough to understand his naive viewpoint because he died very young. One of the most prolific musicians of the past 50 years of popular music - Steve Lukather - has repeatedly squashed the notion that understanding theory is a waste of time. Music theory creates a common language for musicians to communicate with each other. As Tyler pointed out - it is not for the listener or fan (unless they have an interest) - it is for musicians to understand how the music is constructed.

[@adityarohanik0]

As the whole movement of Grunge was about the rejection of technical virtuosity and adoption of dire relatibility, I feel what Kurt wanted to convey was that music should come from within and should be relatable & emotive and not some sort of algorithmic formula.

[@ronaldwilson9525]

Cobain was wrong about a lot of things. But is now a martyr to many.

[@GCKelloch]

a martyr for what?

[@maxwellblakely7952]

Vodka fueled suicide.

[@younkinjames8571]

Exactly! You get it... only those that idolize him would question this...

[@Paralius]

I started learning guitar cause I wanted a fun and cool hobby that would challenge me. When I started I didn’t know anything but overtime got pretty decent from playing what I wanted. But overtime you do learn music theory naturally especially if you have jam sessions with friends. You don’t need music theory to have fun and play well. You need music theory to evolve what you know and what you can know

[@hallway_kid_davidh]

yeah he was ‘DEAD’ wrong😜

[@erikvinnie]

Could not agree more with everything in this video. As a music teacher I appreciate you talking about both sides of this discourse, because there’s definitely value to knowing and not knowing theory. Kurt was a troll, but the best troll lol

[@robertsherwood6425]

Guitar nerd struggles to understand punk rock.

[@LD10000]

that 12 string was sick! Thank you. I went to a top art school and got a bachelors of fine art degree, , nothing wrong with learning rules, the student loan part... welll....