Dear Gramps,
I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of books, or anything with good information, that could help me learn music theory. I know basics since I am in band and choir, but I joined sort of late so I had to take crash courses and my knowledge tends to have wide gaps.
Also since I’m writing in, do you play any musical instruments? Maybe sing other than just the hymns at church?
Michael, from Oak Park, California

Dear Michael
As I’m sure that you know, you don’t learn music by reading about it, you learn music by practicing it. You could learn the history of great composers, the theory of composition, the construction of pianos and the physics of sound, and you couldn’t play a note. But if you got any elementary instruction book and practiced two or three hours a day, you would soon become a good player.
Music theory is another matter, and I’m not equipped to answer that question. However, I would be quick to recommend a fascinating book as a background to your theory of music, called The Secret Power of Music, by David Tame, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 1984. But I would recommend that you go to the music department of any university and ask any of the professors there, and you would probably learn more than you would want to know.
In terms of my musical experience, I played trombone in the high school pep and concert bands. In my first year of college I sung in an a Capella choir, played trombone in the concert band, the pep band, and in a 13-piece dance band that had the contract for the University dances, and played for high school junior proms from around the country. My grades that year were Concert Band- A, Pep Band- A, a Capella choir- A. Math- D, English-D, Chemistry- E, Spanish- F.
When in the Army Air Force in Alaska, I was assigned to the Aleutian Islands for a year, so I bought a violin and a set of instruction books, found an empty Quonset hut to use as a studio, and sawed away on that thing for a year–complete disaster. Later on I picked up a quena (whistle-like flute) and a pan flute, and drove everybody crazy for several years. Later on I bought a used piano, traded that for an electronic organ. After that wore out, I traded it for a second organ, and then eventually traded that for a Yamaha digital piano, which I really love! I bought a few instruction books and practiced faithfully for two hours a day until I got so involved with this Ask Gramps stuff that I hardly touch it anymore. I’ve never had a music lesson in my life.
Gramps