I personally believe that one should
know the rules before they break them. Obviously it is not good to
be overly analytical but it wouldn't be an entirely bad thing to
look at music from an analytical perspective. In order to look at
things from an analytical perspective, you need information to
analyze. That's where music theory comes into play. So what I am
about to present is not only a case for learning music theory but
also what basic components of music theory you should, at a minimum,
possess knowledge of.
It is important when you are playing along with a band that you have
some idea as to what key you are playing in; especially if you are
working on original material. You may be able to learn cover
material from listening to a CD but it is also easier to pick up any
song whether cover or original if you know music theory. Even more
so if you know your way around the different keys.
There really isn't much of an excuse for not taking the time to
obtain some knowledge in music theory. There are free sources of
information all over the Internet. Probably the most basic, yet
essential, information would be knowledge of the keys, chords and
scales.
You should be familiar with the 12 major keys and their relative
minors. Having an adequate understanding of the different keys will
allow you to be able to transpose a song from one key into another.
There are a number of times where I've transposed a song from one
key to another simply because it was a better key for me to sing in.
You may find that to be the case with a number of singers.
You should have an adequate chord vocabulary. There are also a few
scales that every guitarist should be familiar with, like the major
or diatonic scale as well as the harmonic minor scale and the
pentatonic scale in both the major and minor modes.
If you don't want to spend the money on lessons or books, you should
run an internet search for the information you want to obtain. I
would first suggest you run a search for guitar chords listed by
key. Check out a few sites to see which one offers the easiest
approach for learning.
After you begin to learn the guitar chords by key, you should start
learning scales. You should also run an internet search for guitar
scales listed by key. You may be even more specific than that. For
example: you can enter D harmonic minor and you will get a great
number of results.
So, in conclusion, I hope that I have not only convinced you that
learning music theory would be a valuable asset to your musicianship
but that I have also set you off in the right direction towards
doing so.
About the Author:
Bob Craypoe is a musician, writer cartoonist, 3D artist, webmaster and
entrepreneur who resides in Northern New Jersey. He is the creator
of Guitar4Blind.com (a site that teaches the visually impaired how
to play guitar), Punksters.net (punk rock comic strip) and other
websites. His instrumental CD
To Infinity
is currently available on Amazon.com and his music site is
www.craypoe.com/bob All of his websites may be accessed from
www.craypoe.com. |
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