October 12, 2012 Practical Music Theory
There’s some debate among musicians and songwriters about the value of learning music theory. At one extreme are those who feel that learning a set of “rules” will only limit their creativity, and at the other end are those who are truly interested in understanding how the parts of a musical piece work together.
Both extremes have some validity to their viewpoints, but they ARE extremes – most people fall somewhere in the middle. They see the value in knowing more than they do, but may be intimidated by the topic or may not see the value in knowing about it.
I believe there is a simple third way that sidesteps the extremes and lays out a strong case for an understanding of theory, with a few provisions. First off, it’s important to understand that music theory is not a set of rules and regulations that must be followed. Music has always come before the theory that explains it…the laws of music theory are more like laws of nature in that they explain the workings of a system that already exists. Those who fear that learning “the rules” are going to limit them creatively aren’t understanding this important point. Theory is a way to explain why certain combinations of notes work together, and a method of identifying and categorizing different sounds. If you enter into the study of theory with this understanding, you won’t be limited by what you learn. For every musical example that seems to break the rules, there’s another explanation that makes perfect sense and follows the basic principles.
On the other side, there’s nothing inherently wrong with studying out of pure curiosity and interest. It’s true that knowledge of theory provides a very useful skill set, but the subject is not always taught with practical application to modern music in mind. My own experience in college is a case in point: I was in my fourth semester of theory class before we reached what to me was the heart of of matter and should have been the starting point. Learning rudiments like scales, key signatures (which subset of notes belong to the major scale of each key), and how to construct chords are very useful pieces of information. But it should be stressed from the very beginning that the concept of “key” refers simply to a sense of a musical “home” - the note or chord that makes a musical idea sound finished.
Musical notes exert a gravitational pull on each other. A single note might be said to be stable or at rest, with no need to move. Add another note and we have left the stable starting point, creating tension that needs to resolve (release). This is the most important idea, because it allows for the use of notes that may not formally belong to the key according to the major scale. The best way to think of this is to simply say that depending on the context, some notes have an inherent need to move and some don’t. Which notes are which depends on the key center, or musical home – the note or chord that finishes the musical thought and resolves the tension.
This is a practical application of theory. All the specific pieces of information do come into play, but without the limits imposed by the narrower approach that is often used. If you don’t know your major scales, you can’t read or write a number chart. If you can’t recognize what a 5 chord sounds like, it becomes more difficult to follow a song by ear and may prevent you from seeing that chord as an option when writing. The question that needs to be asked is, what is practical theory? What information do working musicians and writer/composers use on a regular basis to do what they (we) do?
I could start to answer that question by speaking about impractical theory. I had someone post a comment recently on a guitar lesson video contradicting a statement I had made about how the order the notes of a chord appear in determines what we hear as a melody. This person’s assertion that the one did not determine the other didn’t take the context of the lesson into account, but more importantly it put a concept ahead of the practical application the lesson was about. They weren’t wrong in terms of the bigger theoretical picture, but their point was a distraction and only added confusion to a very simple concept.
To me, the question that needs to be asked is what the function of a given note or chord is. Is it the point of rest, the return home? Does it point the way home? Is it a connector, a way from one place to another? It is a diversion to surprise the ear and add interest? Theory helps us categorize sounds in this manner, and as we begin to think this way and listen for function we can hear and feel it. Consider this the governing principle behind the application of ALL music theory: the question of function.
So, on to the specific pieces of information that I believe are most practical and most often used:
1.Major scales. Knowing the notes of each key give you a foundation, and the option to remain solidly within the key (using only the notes of the scale). This also allows us to hear the function of notes that don’t belong to the key, since we can understand them according to their relationship to the notes that do.
2.Chord construction. If you know how to build a major chord and relate it to a corresponding scale, you can manipulate any of the notes to form other chords. This approach really helps to tie things together clearly.
3.The sound of each note of the scale according to its position in the sequence, and the corresponding chords. Again, this makes learning by ear or following “on the fly” much easier to do.
4.A related idea is the ability to tell major from minor, or a dominant 7th from a diminished. It’s not nearly as hard as you might think, since each note of the scale and each type of chord do have an identifiable sound when you start to listen for it.
If you start with the basic understanding laid out in the beginning of this article and then proceed to fill in the specific pieces of information, I think you’ll find the study of theory very useful and immediately applicable. Remember, it breaks down to three big ideas: that theory is based on principles of acoustics. It names and categorizes sounds, and shows the relationships between them. That’s the core, and all the specifics just fill in the pieces of the puzzle. No limitations, and no diversions into pure abstraction. It’s the middle way and it works…give it a shot.
Reader Comments (1)
Hi Dave,
Great theory information and tips. Now remains the most important aspect, namely motivation :) If we really want to learn and especially to do performance we should have a clearly defined goal and stay motivated until we achieve it!
Best,
Paul