For me it’s time signatures in music. I grew up playing instruments, played in several orchestras, etc. But no matter how many times someone tries to explain time signatures to me, it makes no sense. I don’t understand why people place such importance on it. To me, notes have a pitch and a duration, maybe some dynamics. That’s it. I don’t understand why people try to needlessly complicate it. It doesn’t give you anything.
My wife will hear a song and go “Oh neat, it’s in 5/8.” And I’m like “How tf do you know that, and why does it matter?”
Music et al. I can recognise talent, I can recognise good music, bad music, and music I dislike.
But for the love of von Neumann, I can’t make heads or tails of musical theory, let alone translate it to an instrument. I even suck at Guitar Hero.
I can relate, I’m an avid listener to music. I’ve tried playing guitar and piano but I cannot manifest it somehow.
Music theory ditto. I usually love nerdy mathy content but somehow music theory finds no place to, well… resonate in my brain.
Try trackers, in particular Renoise (it’s free to use as a demo, without exporting, though there are workarounds for that). At the first glance, it’s a spreadsheet where you place samples playing notes. In practice, it works great for people like me who can barely tell what different notes sound like, much less feel intervals and stuff. You just put your samples such that you get the rhythm you want, and don’t forget to twiddle the effects because they make a big difference. Of course, this works best for dancey electronic music.
Do you find music not amusing, or just can’t “sync up” with others’ peoples opinions of it?
No, it’s not that. Consuming music, having an opinion about it isn’t the issue.
It’s when it comes to MAKING it is when I throw in the towel.