How do should I go about learning music theory?
How do should I go about learning music theory?
Wyatt Baker
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David Robinson
You shouldnt.
Ryan Rodriguez
Why do people ask questions like this?
You’re on a discussion board on the internet asking for information. Are you aware the internet, other parts of the internet, are sources for endless free information?
Here, I’ll break it down for you
How to go about learning music theory:
>step 1: go to the search engine of your choice (google, yahoo, duckduckgo, searx, etc.)
>step 2: locate the search bar (often centered in the middle of the screen or in the top left)
>step 3: type in something to the effect of “learn music theory,” “music theory resources,” “understand music theory,” “music theory class free,” “what is music theory,” “how does music theory work,” etc.
>step 4: scroll through the lists of resources given, click on a few and look through them, see if you can find one you like
>step 5: learn music theory
Daniel Perez
However you want to.
Lucas Evans
nice one dude, I guess you can't ask any questions ever then because you can just do 50 hours of research to learn about it instead
Aaron Reed
>typing this out
Josiah Moore
My music theory course worked through The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. Also get Tenuto app to practice aural skills.
Wyatt Nelson
Bad advice. Nobody NEEDS theory to write pop tunes, of course, but the idea that learning theory turns you into a “soulless” Jacob Collier clone is just cope for retards who are too lazy or incompetent to grasp the concepts. Anybody who learns theory can CHOOSE to disregard it and write simple music based off intuition alone, and that’s fine, but if you aspire to ever write anything more ambitious than songs based on your little guitar or keyboard riffs, then you will need to know how music actually works.
A good example would be Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead. Thom has a very limited knowledge of theory and has been stuck making the same repetitive glitchy pop music for almost 20 years now with diminishing returns. Jonny, on the other hand has a strong background in theory and has made several high quality film scores and classical pieces that far outshine anything Thom or Radiohead as a band has written during that time.
Owen Sanchez
Step 1: decide what instrument you want to learn on
Step two: begin learning the basics of theory, time signatures, rhythm, octaves, scales, key signatures, modes, how to build chords, chord extensions, diatonic versus chromatic movement, tension and release, intervals, circle of fifths, and chord progressions, learn these things by setting an hour of your day to watch videos on the topic from YouTube channels like: Ben Levin And his music theory from the ground up series, Rick Beato and his music theory playlist(bonus points if you’re learning guitar and choose this one) musicwithnopain, music theory for producers series on YouTube, you suck at music theory by underbelly (AKA you suck at producing) and Adam Neely can have some helpful videos on this as well. And there’s much more than that and you can seek more past that by it’s a good foundation I’d say. Get a notebook and jot down notes from each video and what you learned from it. Make use of what you learn when practicing. Download a metronome app, and Tenuto if you can. It a 3.99 app that has a lot of music practice tests and games that help you memorize shit like key signatures and scales. Scales/modes are very important and serve as the basis for improv. Chords/chord progressions are usually the skeleton holding it all together. But yeah there’s also free games and resources on the net you can google like music theory.net if you’re a cheapo
Step three: try to learn to read sheet music and put to paper the system which allows you to convey your newfound music theory knowledge.
Step four: now you can think about applying your music theory to songwriting or jamming. Now that you know the rules you may bend and break them
Oh yeah and make sure to listen to a lot of different music too
Parker Ortiz
You can learn all the music theory you'd ever find useful in about 6 weeks time.
Samuel Flores
this is great advice. is op all ready playing any instrument (even DAW)?
would also like to add that following along to classical music videos on youtube with sheet music is fairly interesting
youtube.com
Logan Sanchez
would also ask OP if there is any music in particular user would like to know more about.
Nicholas Russell
It depends what music you're interested in. If you're interested in classical I would recommend species counterpoint since that's the basis of western harmony.
Justin Miller
if you want to be a music chad dont learn theory and learn everything by ear
Nicholas Johnson
>typing this shit out when you could have just googled the sentiment
Ryan Bennett
>one google search
>50 hours of research
Oliver Murphy
learning theory helps you learn by ear though
Josiah Gomez
is baby gwen poster back?
Chase Myers
im pretty useless when it comes to reading sheet music but I can play along to practically any music you throw at me (barring atonal classical - but im working on it). theory is essential to playing by ear. btw a lot of creative people will downplay theory to appear more mystical, kurt was a huge fag for this and his guitar techs would tell him they did stupid shit to his gear so he would think it was punk when they just set it up the proper way. whether you know power chord on first fret = F your still using theory and understanding not just what an F is, but why, helps you understand what might come next and how to subvert expectations.
Julian Harris
Just learn Am, G. F, and C on the guitar and call yourself a musishen
Dylan Ward
>Linguistic professors are the best writers!
Noah Powell
no, but most writers analyse other writers and know grammar and how to spell words
Jackson Bailey
if you know nothing, 100% start with rhythms. understand different note lengths and what they look like. practice clapping exercises and work on counting. once you know the basics (whole/half/quater/eight/sixteenth/triplet notes/rests). make sure you know time signatures and (optionally) tempo markings.
once you've got that down, learn major scales and the formula/tricks you can use to figure out what the sharps and flats are (BEADGFC). then learn relative minor scales/circle of fifths. dont bother with modes at this stage.
now you're ready to move on to intervals. understand what major/minor/perfect/diminished/augmented intervals are and how they sound so you can recognize them. learn interval inversions which are pretty easy.
now you get to triads. learn what a triad is and how to recognize different qualities (minor/major/augmented/diminished). this is really just an extension of intervals.
THE COOL STUFF BEGINS: take a look at modes, triad inversions, 7th chords, and harmonization. if you want to train your ears with pitch/interval training, feel free. this is where you should ideally begin to find things that interest you and pique your curiosity.
explore and experiment, try things out and look at things other musicians have tried out.
Dylan Perry
Read, faggot
Cringe
Dominic Green
it's a theory
meant to explain concepts, not to be used as rules
Thomas Nguyen
Look at melodies, that's way more important than harmony.
Alexander King
I think harmony is easier to grasp for people in the beginning. And it's kind of hard to start with a good melody and then harmonize it when you don't really know either of those things
But I agree. Melody is where the magic is happening. Harmony is just the dressing. Too many people ignore melody
Chase Clark
I put too much effort into harmony and making good chord progressions that they always came out bland because I couldn’t even write a basic melody. Melody is soul.
Xavier Williams
If you have good chord progressions you can make melody based on that. Use the notes that are in the current chord, or use ones that will be in the next chord just before you switch over. Or use notes that are a half step above a note that is in your chord , followed by one that is.
Or just use pentatonic scale.
Jacob Rivera
This is way too limiting. My experience with this is you will write the same melodies again and again and they will be heavily stilted, waiting for the next chord change before you can make that melodic change you're anticipating. You completely lose spontaneity
You can get some mileage out of but there's a huge ceiling above you
Logan Hall
never, and i mean NEVER even consider using theory to write melodies. that is the fastest way to stifle your creative impulses and spirit of experimentation. disregard theory frequently in favor of what you want to hear, or rather what creates the desired musical effect. embrace dissonance and deconstruction.
Lincoln Howard
Yes, just play random notes that are completely out of key.
Gr8 plan
James Anderson
if it sounds how you want it to sound do it. never make music for other people, never aspire to please wide audiences. if you have an idea you want to execute and it requires playing out of key, do it. learn the rules in order to break them.
in fact, modes can be used to great effect by switching your melody up, which can add dimension to your harmonies.
Luke Cook
But deciding to play out of key is still "using theory".
I used to hate this shit when I was playing guitar and trying to write. People just say "play what sounds good" which just leads of making random noises for hours to find anything.