> But I've noticed that the people who tend to have the biggest problem with music theory are engineers. My problem with music theory is that in the presentati

> But I've noticed that the people who tend to have the biggest problem with music theory are engineers. My problem with music theory is that in the presentation there is no clear separation of what can be derived from first principles (so, similar to physics theory), and what is based on observations of what people seem to like (so, similar to literary and film theories). Granted, both physics theory and literary theory are called theories. But they are very different approaches. And then music theory is a mix of both. Some parts can be explained physics-like from psychoacoustic fundamentals, and other parts are like anthropological observations: This is what people seem to like. And the way it's presented, you don't know which is which.