When people hear the word “theory”, they automatically assume its like something you would learn in a class at school. Its true that music is taught this way sometimes, but that’s not the whole story! This part of the website will teach you music theory for guitar- explained by a guitarist (me) in a way that can be understood and applied to the guitar.
So, to start with what is “music theory”?
Just because something is “theory”, doesn’t mean it has to be boring and taught by aging professors with grey hair and glasses! The “theory” of something is just the explanation of how and why it works, right? Imagine you had a see-saw, you sit on one end, and your friend sits on the other. Now, if you jump up, pulling the see-saw with you, your friend will go downwards. When your friend gets to the ground they’ll jump up and you’ll come down.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the situation! What I’ve just described is the “practical” side of things. I could also describe it to you as “see-saw theory”. For example:
the see-saw is balanced over a point directly in the middle of both of you. When you jump up, you’re taking your weight off of the end you’re sitting on. This causes your end to rise, and the other to fall across the pivot point (i.e. the stand in the middle). When your weight is re-applied, and their weight is removed (they jump up), the reverse happens and you come down.
If you’ve ever used a see-saw before, you would already know all of this. In fact, you’re probably perfectly capable of describing the “see-saw theory” in your own words, and you probably could have done as a kid as well. Did knowing how a see-saw works mean you enjoyed it any less? No? Actually, you might have enjoyed it even more (because you knew better how to control it and use it).
Well, guess what? The same thing applies to music theory!
No, I’m not talking about physics and weights this time, but sounds instead. Music theory is what we use to describe how music works, just like with the see-saw example, and just as with the see-saw, knowing how it works will not spoil how much you enjoy it. Music theory does not destroy your creativity anymore than understanding how the see-saw works destroys a child’s ability to ride it!
With music theory, we’re more concerned with things like “Which chords go together, and why?”, or “Which scales go with which chords?“. If you think about it, the only alternative would be: these are noises, you can make them with a guitar or a bass. Go.
If that was how music worked, this would be a very small website indeed!
How does music theory for guitar help you? Well, just the same way that knowing how to construct a sentence or form words helps you to talk to people. Otherwise you’re kinda stuck with random grunts. Sure, every now and then you may grunt something intelligible, just like if you didn’t understand any music theory you can still compose good music!
You don’t have to understand everything about music theory, either. Just enough to do what you do, or just as much as you’re interested in using. For example, you wouldn’t learn Greek if you had no Greek friends or relatives, and you had no interest in the language. What would be the point? Just stick to English (or whichever is your first language). Same goes for music theory, there’s no need to learn the modes of the melodic minor if you don’t like the sound of the scale and don’t play jazz. Just at least learn the pentatonic scale, and maybe the major scale.
So, my advice is: don’t be afraid of “music theory”. It can only help you out!
Here’s another little gem of theory information that you can use to spice up your songwriting or composing skills. What is it? Borrowed chords. So, what are “borrowed chords”? Well, these chords are not borrowed in the sense that they have to be given back! Rather, borrowed chords in music … Continue reading
So, what is a 7th chord, and how does it function? The basic idea is that you’re adding a note to a chord that is 7 letters above the root note. OK…but how does it function? Well, when I say “function”, I really mean “how it works within a scale … Continue reading
Here is the third instalment in our series on intervals, and this time we’re going to examine the third. Firstly, what is a third? If you read the last article in this series, about “the fifth“, you’ll probably already expect this to be a multi-part definition. You see, every interval … Continue reading
What Do I means by “Fifth”? Well, for start it’s an interval- so we can guess that it’s a certain distance between notes…but just how far? Here is my definition of a 5th: A Perfect Fifth is an interval of 7 semitones and five letters Now, that definition- although it’s … Continue reading
Do you know the music symbol for repeat? This is- sadly- something I see done wrong- or at least underused- in many online tabs (not that it makes a difference to the accuracy of the tab…). I mean, why write 10 pages of music when you can use repeats and … Continue reading
