Will learning music theory hinder my ability to improvise?

Is saw this question on Yahoo questions and thought it was interesting.

My answer to this is, “no.”

But I’ve seen a number of people who are concerned that learning about music theory and music in general with hamper their creativity. I’ve always thought this was odd because I’ve never experienced this myself.

For those who don’t know, I studied classical composition and film scoring in college and have learned quite a lot of music theory and it’s never hindered my creativity.

It’s actually only done the opposite. It’s enhanced my creativity by exposing me to new and interesting musical ideas that I probably wouldn’t have been exposed to before.

Music theory is just a way of analyzing and naming and discussing musical ideas or musical patterns that are common within one genre.

I suggest people learn music theory because it can help with understanding and expanding your musical interests and knowledge. If you don’t think that’s interesting then it’s not for you. That’s fine too.

ISJ