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A lot of music players like to see themselves as a lone artist. They may sit on an artist piano bench and roll off solos on their own, and so they don’t see a reason for learning how to read music or learning the theory. The time will come, however, when a player will want to play music with others, and start playing on a duet piano bench. When this happens, both players will want a common language with which to communicate, and it’s here that having at least some knowledge in music theory and reading music can have a huge advantage.

It’s often thought that if one were to learn music theory, it might be like being told the “correct” way to think of music, and that any kind of freedom the player wanted to have would be gone. This is not the case, of course, as music theory only opens up a set of options to thinking about the way music can be experienced, it’s not a set of rules. The usefulness in studying music theory is that it connects us to the long history of music, and displays to us what previous musicians have found out to be true when it comes to making and creating tunes. We’re free to disregard all their notions and ideas if we want, but the act of studying and experiencing them is something that can greatly increase the quality of our playing.

Consider that the style of playing that is most often thought of as the “freest”, jazz music, in fact requires an extensive knowledge of music theory to be practiced well. When the celebrated trumpeter Miles Davis was first starting out in clubs, he was constantly told by jazz veterans to “Learn those chords man, learn those chords”.

So, let us take a look at some basic music theory. First off, we have the chromatic scale. This is all the notes that can possibly be played on the piano, and the same notes are the only notes playable on a well-tuned guitar. The word “chromatic” means color, and you can notice when each of these tones are sounded that they give off a distinct color, or mood, when they are sounded. What also influences this mood is the sequence in which these tones are played. If you hit a middle C then an E, this makes a much different mood than if you were to hit a C and then an F sharp.

Try playing all the white notes on a keyboard, starting from C and playing the next six notes, when you get to the B, your ear will be wanting to hear the C that’s next in line. If you do hit it, you’ll notice a release of tension. Western songwriting has always been about using this tension in order to create emotion.

Hopefully this short essay has made it clear that music theory can be a key to unlocking deeper meanings in music, and shouldn’t be thought of as a dry, stale way of thinking that’s only thought of as useful by University professors. Studying music theory can make your playing more intense, exciting and engaging.

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