A theory has only the alternative of being right or wrong. A model has a third possibility: it may be right, but irrelevant.
“I used to live in Ethiopia as a child, and I lived there when Haile Selassie was the emperor.”
“I can think and play stuff in classical music that possibly violinists who didn't have access to other types of music could never do. It means I'm more flexible within classical music, to be a servant to the composer.”