@Kolbe,
I don't know any musical terminology and i've never been able to learn an instrument. In fact, when I tried learning guitar every time I tuned it the notes turned out flat according to a musically-inclined friend. Perhaps I am tone-deaf. I had a music-creating program on the computer which I have misplaced and I made some cool tunes on that thing (probably since I am better with computers than musical instruments).
Music, like economics and politics, seems to be something only certain people understand well. It beats me how people like Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler can be so skilled at the guitar.