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!