Is it a Necessity??
There are those who know precious little where music theory is concerned, and then there are those who practically live and breathe it. Many musicians have gone on to write really beautiful songs with either a very limited knowledge of music theory or no knowledge of it whatsoever. With that said, even though levels of experience and theoretical knowledge vary from person to person many guitarist/musicians will admit that they somehow figure it out and manage to write songs that can in a whole lot of instances, end up ranking very high on the music charts.
The fact that some people manage to write songs that rank high on the music charts doesn’t mean that the majority of songwriters and/or guitarist will be able “Collect Two Hundred Dollars and Pass GO,” so to speak. The level of understanding and proficiency that is reached in music can be really different from one person to the next depending upon what their particular goals are, but if I were advising anyone, (and I kinda am in my blogs), the one thing I would suggest would be to at least acquire enough musical theory knowledge to where one would understand why some chords work well together and others don’t ... however good they may sound individually.
Theory Essentials
Two things that I believe are missing in many guitar lesson formats is the teaching of arpeggios and chord to scale order where the student learns what succeeding chords occur after a particular chosen chord. For example, the chords in the key of C major are C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, and B diminished. Also missing from some curriculums is how the student/guitarist might use scales to find chords that are contained within them. Just as important as the preceding elements, the learning of intervals also known as scale degrees needs to be incorporated. Just to give you an idea as to how intervals work, a perfect 4th above C is F and a perfect 5th above C is G.
There is yet another piece of the puzzle to consider, and that is note value, which plays quite nicely into the whole concept of music theory because knowing how to count is crucial when playing a musical instrument. This is not only true when playing notated exercises from a book, but also when improvising riffs and solos. Knowing how to count enables you to create different phrasings that may potentially go into your solo. Counting is also required because even the best guitar solos only last for a certain given number of measures within a song or piece of music.
Here is something to get you started on counting:
Guitar Fundamentals : Notation and Counting Whole Notes
When a particular chord progression or riff/phrase is being played with a 1-2-3-4 count it will sound quite different if it is changed to where you would now be playing the same chords and notes as:
1-2 & 3-4,
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 or
1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a 4-e-&-a, or any other combination thereof.
Another important aspect to remember is that when we hear a piece of music we are hearing the chords, which make up the vast majority of the song being played in one scale format or another. Riffs and phrases can and do suggest what scale is being emphasized, and depending on which chord voicings and/or riffs and phrases you choose that will determine what scale they're derived from.
1-2 & 3-4,
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 or
1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a 3-e-&-a 4-e-&-a, or any other combination thereof.
Another important aspect to remember is that when we hear a piece of music we are hearing the chords, which make up the vast majority of the song being played in one scale format or another. Riffs and phrases can and do suggest what scale is being emphasized, and depending on which chord voicings and/or riffs and phrases you choose that will determine what scale they're derived from.
Here is something to get you started on chords:
Guitar Fundamentals : Two Note Chord Drills Part 1
Where Do We Go From Here?
In the future I hope to elaborate more on this, but in conclusion, chords and notes which are ordered in a certain way may suggest that a particular mode scale is being utilized. Depending on this order it may be anything from an Ionian to Lydian, to Dorian or even Phrygian mode scale. All of these I could write pages of explanation on, and of course I will cover them in a later commentary, but for now just remember that a little knowledge and understanding of theory can take you a lot further than you would otherwise be able to go without it.
Bottom Line
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As a Bboy (breakdancer), yes, I think theories, hence knowledge is important.
I started out dancing solely for the sake of keeping fit and learning cool moves.
Then, I learnt the history of Hip Hop, the dance itself and how important it is to be original.
Basically, we don't just drill moves.
We use the basics, create our own movements to form our own original routines.
That's identity right there.
And it all only came to me when I listened to others.
Music, dance or sport, any of them has beauty in it. We got to go deep to understand the nuances so we can execute the subtleties, hence making ourselves whole!
Good post @wgl
I never thought of it from that vantage point before, but that is well said. Thanks for your comment. will follow.
:)
I agree. I think it is like language. You can learn phrases, "how are you?" "where is the bathroom?" "My name is..." But if you don't understand the grammatical structure, you won't be able to create your own phrases in a way that flows. I'm currently learning piano and trying guitar as well. I'm happy to have found your profile, I think it will be very useful for my learning. :)
Wubba labba dub dub! lol @val.halla what you said is so true, in order to master the language we have to grow our vocab and understand when and how to use it.
I totally agree with you on music is a language and in different languages there is slang as well as catchphrases that are used which are sometimes unique to a particular culture, and music has its own version of that. Thanks for your input. will follow
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thanks for sharing keep it up
Cool! Thanks. I hope it will be encouraging to any aspiring musicians out there ;)
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STOPGenuinely interesting read, as a Popular Music Production Student at University, you raised some very good points!
Cool! What University do you study at? I am happy to learn that you found my post interesting. All the best with your studies. Thanks for sharing. will follow.
Thanks for sharing!
May I add as A Producer that theory helps A Musician to really build a song or track. For example if one will not learn theory he can never add strings (as they should be written) to his track.
You make a really good point. I truly believe that the more we learn, the better the music will be that we create. I think that a lot of people underestimate the importance of theory especially as it relates to counting and determining how many times a specific phrase or chord progression should be played before it's time to change the direction of a song for at least a few measures. Thank for your sharing. will follow.
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STOPnice post brother...
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The strange misconception people have is that learning theory will make them stop playing by ear... the truth is, the more theory you know, the stronger your ear gets. Theory is great!
Oh boy, this is indeed a very broad topic to cover. I agree with you that musicians should possess at least the knowledge of fundamentals. It's also crazy how cats end up on the charts without knowing jack shit about the basics. However, in those cases you'd typically have a team of a writer, producer and an artist working together when each specializes in their task. So they got each each other's back to create something big.
I think if an artist wants a lasting career they have to constantly keep learning and honing the skills that they're best in
Genres are also a factor with classical, jazz and fusion players having an immense amount of theory, applying it in improv and composition. This would contrast with popular styles which employ more simple structures and frameworks for crafting songs and solos. Hence you have blues, rock and to a certain degree metal players using or requiring far less theory for those styles. Still, outliers do exist and you have many hybrid players and styles which emerge.
Hello fellow music teacher! Great work @wymondguitarlessons. A well rounded music education is what any developing music needs.
UV and Following and looking forward to more from you.
Cheers,
Bucky
I'll be watching your posts from now on! It never hurts to brush up on some theory!