| Lara,
I believe that music theory is very important (everything about music is important). . .but that it all starts with your ear, not your eye.
Start by learning all of your major, minor, diminished, and augmented scales, ascending and descending. It's not hard to do, and scales are the building blocks of music. Al Vizzutti's book will introduce you to patterns within these scales and can be used as good flow studies as well (why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone?). Play them over and over, concentrating on flow and resonance. Listen carefully to the center of your line and if you repeat these enough times mindfully you will suddenly be able to move off the page and play them by memory.
Pay attention in your class, even if you think your teacher is a bore. The material isn't (!) There is some music theory software out there--I know that it's used at Interlochen. Stay tuned and I'll send details.
Best,
EC |