Music Theory Options

[AyanG]

Hi Ben,
I have been playing for a while now and whenever I see virtuosos like Joe Satriani,Steve Vai,Paul Gilbert.....they are masters of music theories.They seem to play and improvise with their wide knowledge of scales,chords and what not.I would like to know how important is knowing and learning the music theory and what is the best resource to look down upon.Thanks.

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

Hi AyanG! Good question!

There isn't an only truth about this. There are amazing guitarists who played really well and that composed amazing tunes who don't know too much about music theory, and on the other side there are lots of them who studied theory and used it cleverly to develop their playing and composing skills.

Depending on the style that you want to play, music theory is more or less fundamental, and the basic things you need to know can be different. Based on the names that you shared there, you like advanced rock playing. About, two very good examples are Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. They are rockers, but they also know a lot about music theory. On the other side, we have Jimi Hendrix, who has been the biggest influence for everybody who plays electric guitar, and who never studied music theory, he just used his ear.

From my point of view, as everything in life, it's good to find a balance that fits with our taste and personality. We are music lovers, so knowing the language, and a bit about how to connect and use music sounds is something beautiful. There are a few basic things that I recommend learning to everybody, and then, it's up to each student to go deeper. This concepts are:

Theory:
- Intervals
- Major Scale (how it is build)
- Relative Scales (Major and minor relation)
- Triads, chords and arpeggios
- Harmonized major scale
- Harmonized minor scale

On guitar:
- Pentatonic scales (5 positions)
- Major and minor scale (5 positions)
- Chords (major, minor, maj7th, min7th, dominant and dim)


These are some of the basics that will let you understand and analyze the music that you want to play. Some extra stuff that is important based on the guitarists that you named there are:

Three notes per string scales
Harmonic minor scale
Diminished arpeggios
Phrygian, Lydian and Mixolydian modes


Finally Ear training is the most important thing. Our ear is the connection between the instrument and our mind... All those amazing guitarist have a well trained ear and can learn solos and songs by ear.


You can use our theory board to read about this topics, our searcher to find lessons and off course write me anytime you need links or suggestions on what to learn.

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[Ben Higgins]

As Gabriel said, you can find a good balance of knowing enough theory to help you and then using a lot of instinct and feel to do the rest.

I do think it is essential to understand why scales relate to chord progressions because once you know that, you will always be able to use that in your composing and improvising.

For example, if you took an Iron Maiden style chord progression of Em, C, D you would most likely use the E Minor Scale, or E Aeolian mode because those chords all share common notes that are found within that scale.

If you have a group of chords take the time to figure out what notes are in them and then try a scale over the top and see if the notes fit or if any are not found within the scale.

A good hint is to look at the first chord in a progression. Depending on how the riff is put together, it is usually the dominant tonality of the progression. So that will give you the first clue.. is it an E, A, D, G etc? Is it minor or major? Is it neither? Maybe it's power chords with only root+5th. Use the chords to help you figure out what scale works over them. Sometimes you'll have to shift to another scale if a chord contains notes that aren't found in the scale.

You can read up about theory but the fun is in all the trial and error work that you put into it

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[AyanG]

Thanks a lot to both of you for the guidance!!!

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[Gabriel Leopardi]

I didn't notice that the original post was at Ben's board! Sorry Ben for commenting before you!

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[Ben Higgins]

I didn't notice that the original post was at Ben's board! Sorry Ben for commenting before you!

Don't apologise, it's all cool - knowledge is to be shared! Plus I was late at seeing it

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This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Jul 19 2015, 04:31 PM

[Gabriel Leopardi]

Don't apologise, it's all cool - knowledge is to be shared! Plus I was late at seeing it

Definitely!

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