Aaron J. Rabushka wrote:

>Much of the underlying structure of popular and commercial music is a
>subset of what is available to classical composers.  Aspiring pop stars
>who say "I don't use theory" are often alleging that their work comes from
>"pure inspiration" whereas "that other stuff" is just a bunch of academic
>exercises and hence not worth anyone's time.  The work of these people can
>often be explained with a very small slice of the theory that they claim
>not to use.

This is one of the biggest ironies of the pop music culture.  There are
those that choose to be musically illiterate for the same reason.  Dr.
Forney one of my professors in music included a very astute observation
in one of her published works on music.  It was in the lines that not
understanding the rules of football will not help someone enjoy the game
more.  Intentionally being ignorant of music is in the same lines.  I've
taken it one step further and say that not knowing the rules of football
would not make someone a better player, it limits them to dictated and
repetitive action.  Personally, I prefer to rely on my musical intellect
than luck.

Lawrence Wu