Comment by bluGill

> The student seeking to build their understanding asks: why is the order of sharps FCGDAEB? Why is the mode with a sharp 4th note the Lydian mode?

> Music theory responds: Because fuck you, that's why.

Those are questions that music theory will eventually answer. However knowing the answer to them is not very useful for anything music and so ends up being uninteresting even though when you ask it seems interesting. I can derive the order of sharps - or at least I think I can (I know my circle of fifths) - but realistically the isn't useful for anything and so I won't bother.

Which is to say music education is mostly focused on making good music, and generally keeps building on that. Theory should be learned as it is useful, and I think works best when every point you learn results in the lightbulb "so that is why I do X all the time"