I have been a software developer for 35 years (started learning in 1985, I've accomplished several pretty successful things in this time), and it's also taken me over three decades to become a good musician (which I've only allowed myself to call my self very, very recently - I play piano and sing, a little bit of guitar and drums too). Programming and music are very different beasts, both very tough, both very worthwhile. I just wanted to post because the documenta above has a lot of great information (on a quick browse) and I'm sure it's filled with good intentions, but it's a very poor way to learn music. If you're a mathematician or physicist or software engineer trying to learn how to play the guitar, be it by ear or in any other way, it's not going to cut it. It's great if you read it and learn the information, but only the last 6 pages or so really talk about actually playing, and they are not going to teach you.
If you want to learn to write and play music, don't delve into the math except as a side project. Learn to play a few simple songs that you like, using 3-4 simple chords (there are a ton of tutorials for that), and then spend 1,000 hours playing around on the vicinity of that musical environment. There is no shortcut, it is not about learning patterns, music is a different language, and learning music is about awakening your musical self.
Learning to accompany yourself while you sing a few songs needs no understanding of the mathematical foundations at all (and they don't really help), it's mostly about learning a few basic patterns (3-4 chord finger positions) and then being good at performing (mostly tied to self-confidence). Learning to play common songs doesn't take much more. Learning to improvise and to write your own songs requires 1,000+ hours of the type of "playing/dancing/exploring" I was mentioning above. You'll learn the theory on the 10% of those 1,000 hours that you are resting and browsing the internet.
If you want to learn to write and play music, don't delve into the math except as a side project. Learn to play a few simple songs that you like, using 3-4 simple chords (there are a ton of tutorials for that), and then spend 1,000 hours playing around on the vicinity of that musical environment. There is no shortcut, it is not about learning patterns, music is a different language, and learning music is about awakening your musical self.
Learning to accompany yourself while you sing a few songs needs no understanding of the mathematical foundations at all (and they don't really help), it's mostly about learning a few basic patterns (3-4 chord finger positions) and then being good at performing (mostly tied to self-confidence). Learning to play common songs doesn't take much more. Learning to improvise and to write your own songs requires 1,000+ hours of the type of "playing/dancing/exploring" I was mentioning above. You'll learn the theory on the 10% of those 1,000 hours that you are resting and browsing the internet.