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It's easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had a good ear, so I realized that printed music was just about reminding you what to play.

I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards - Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin.

I write music that sounds complex but isn't. I frankly never think in terms of theory.

Playing music is not really susceptible to theory much. Circumstances affect it so much.

I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.

See my father knew a lot about music, he played the piano and he would do theory and stuff like that, but I didn't learn anything from him, but I played that for him and he liked it a lot.

It's really only all about music. It's not like a big rocket scientist kind of philosophy or anything.

You must surrender whatever preconceptions you have about music if you're really interested in it.

Well, let me, first of all, say, that as a microtonal composer, I've never been much of a theorist.

What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory.