Why Learn Music Theory?
Music Theory: The Basics • 2m 20s
You don’t need music theory to be a successful musician. In fact, a lot of successful people didn’t follow traditional paths to build their legacy.
Jimi Hendrix had no idea what a diminished chord was, Microsoft founder Bill Gates didn’t graduate from college and NFL Hall of Famer Antonio Gates didn’t even play football until his early 20s.
Most of us aren’t those rare kinds of people, though, and we need as many advantages as we can get. Music theory is just that: an advantage.
There are dozens of reasons to learn music theory, and not one good reason to avoid it. The good news is, you’re reading this, so you’ve already headed in the right direction on your musical journey!
Up Next in Music Theory: The Basics
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Note Recognition and Notes of the Neck
Memorizing the notes of the guitar neck is something you’ll pick up with experience or something you can make a point to do early on. You’re going to be better off knowing the notes of the neck by heart, and the good news is there are plenty of different methods to use.
An understanding of half ...
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Introduction to Intervals
An interval is a distance between two notes. There are several different intervals. We measure these intervals by the number of half steps, whole steps, and their position in the scale.
You’ll begin to understand this just like you would when learning to speak a new language, so don’t worry abo...
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The B-C & E-F Rule
This fundamental is a little strange, but it’s actually very simple to memorize. The B-C & E-F rule states that every note in the natural musical alphabet EXCEPT for B & C and E & F have a whole-step between them. This means that B & C and E & F only have a half-step between t...
