If your ears have already been opened then you don't need the theory. Just compose instinctively and bam you're on it.

When the comment came to Lennon that he was using aeolian cadences he said he didn't know what that meant. It sounded like exotic birds. You don't need to know what to call it.

Same thing happened to Van Halen in music school. The teacher said what he played was wrong. He asked the class what they thought. They all liked it. Defense rests it's case.

Although it's nice to know what everything is called and how it has been traditionally used, your ears CANgive you all the education you need.

Just realize people still need one to be able to express themselves effectively.

i got a B on a Harmony Assignment (4-part horn) because i ended on a an unresolved chord. when i asked why, the teacher said, "We haven't taught you that yet." i was transcribing F.Z. and Don Ellis charts and was told in Ear Training that "You can't swing in anything but 4/4 and 3/4." i left after 2 semesters, formed an original band that also did covers of Zappa, Beefheart, Tubes, and BeBop Delux. never got return engagements. been employed as a chef since. read the quote with my signature...

Sounds good! I guess your "classically trained friend" reacts against combining a pentatonic style bass line that suggests a major scale with a minor third being empathised by the melody as if the piece should be of a minor key. That is rarely heard in classical music but common in jazz rock fusion music.

Nothing wrong with this melody...a little bit of sustained sensation with this melody but my ears are used to it. Go ahead man, that's great.