One of the most important considerations when buying a painting for someone else is the content or theme of the painting. If the relative you are thinking of buying a picture for has a home that has modern furnishings a painting of the old west would probably be out of place. The opposite is true as well; a Picasso would look dreadfully out of place in a home furnished in early American or country decor.

Of course you have to think about the size of the painting too, if the person has an average size home with eight foot ceilings a six foot tall painting is just not going to work. You should know where the painting would be placed before you buy so you can choose one that will fit the wall properly.

Sometimes religious themes can work well when buying for relatives. In contrast to buying for a friend when you may not know their religious background you will in all likelihood be very familiar with the religious preference of a relative.

Another very smart idea is to buy paintings from artists whose works the relative already has. It is pretty much a guarantee that if they like an artist enough to have his paintings hanging on their wall, they would welcome another.

If you know that the person likes a particular area or vacation spot that can make for good subject matter to look for in a painting. If their favorite vacation was in a small town in Italy, a painting of a quaint little cafe would go nicely. If you know that they have a penchant for the Caribbean and their home would receive such a painting in good taste you could buy a seascape of a Caribbean beach or island.

Some people really like the paintings by the Old Masters like the Dutch artist, Rembrandt or the romantic styles of Monet. While buying an original is quite likely cost prohibitive, you can find reproductions that are very well done and will be loved by the person you are giving them to.

The study of music theory entails the analysis and building of chords, how to develop a melody, scales, rhythm, and ear training. Nowadays, in this world with people that want quick results and fast fixes, students just don’t want to spend the time studying music theory.People find music theory dull and too abstract. They believe that as long as they practice sufficiently their ear will become trained and they’ll be able to write music and pick up on songs; and if they can’t they can at least read music. Music theory may be boring to some people, but understanding why chords sound like they do, understanding why certain intervals create certain sounds and feels, is valuable beyond words to the piano player.

All music schools and music departments furnish a number of theory classes for students, as well as ear training. Perfect pitch is a rare gift for most musicians, but even those individuals who have perfect pitch still have to study theory so that it helps them with relative pitch and learn how melodies and harmony are constructed in works of music. Also, even if you can identify and read notes easily doesn’t mean that you can compose great works of music or that you can easily understand a great piece of music.

Imagine listening to someone reading out loud using no expression or emotion, with a lot of hesitation. Still, they are able to read and speak the words. The problem is that they do not sound good because there is no understanding of the words they are articulating.

So even if a person reads without expression they may understand what the words mean, but they still do not grasp the true meaning of the words. If they really understood what they were
reading, the reading would be more impressive. This holds true for musicians: if they can read the notes, they would be much better musicians by infusing the notes with expression.
No matter if you have perfect pitch and are naturally gifted with dexterity, the confidence you will gain from knowing why certain notes should fit together will affect other people who hear them. Most music students are required to study music theory as it is a basic fundatmental skill they must learn. They must learn why music sounds the way it does and how it is put together.