Rhetoric+Essay

__The Benefits of Knowing Music Theory as a Musician __ For centuries there have been a common language for musicians no matter what style they played or what instrument they played, it was a universal language between all musicians and helped them develop a way to communicate ideas and compose music for other musicians to play. This universal language is music theory. Currently, modern musicians are debating the concept of actually learning music theory and whether knowing it is worse than not knowing it. Music theory is a necessary element for any aspiring musician within any different musical style; it is so important, that there should not be any sort of debate whether or not to learn it, but that you will learn it. It is an unavoidable part of music and as a musician, music theory provides a language for all musicians to communicate. It’s like being able to talk, but not being able to read. No one would ever want that to happen to them because it’s limiting and makes the element of English weaker, the same with music. Music theory is important because it helps a musician write his or her own musical compositions, explains the reasons behind details in music, and it completely expands playing skill beyond levels anyone would ever imagine; music theory makes a musician’s life much easier than it has to be. One of the most important elements in music is musical composition. Musical composition is the main part of music that allows the musician to express him or herself and connect with listeners through sound.By creating original compositions, musicians are able to express emotion through writing and to let other people feel the emotions they had when they were writing it, whether it be sad, happy, or in-between. One of the main purposes of music is to convey emotions to the listener, that’s what makes it an art. Knowing music theory is important in this aspect because when a musician knows music theory he or she understands different scales, chords, or arpeggios that produce different sounds and it helps he/she narrow it down tremendously to find that specific desired sound. This helps save a lot of wasted time one would have to use to find their specific desired sound without a knowledge of music theory. Another way that music theory is important to a musician in composing is the knowledge of what is technically correct and technically wrong. A musician can add whatever kind of chord or note he/she wants to any material he/she are writing no matter the key, but if a musician wants the music to sound “technically correct” and stay in key he/she needs to know the theory behind that key and know the notes in the key. This applies to chords and intervals as well. Just picking any random group of notes and putting them together usually ends up sounding quite bad because there is no theory being to it. Once understood, musicians can feel free to go outside the boundaries of the key and know how to get it to still sound good and resolve back within the key. Jayne McDowell-Smith says, “Knowing how to compose is nothing more than taking a small fragment, possibly created while just noodling on your instrument, then using your knowledge of music theory to work out what you could do with it.” (McDowell-Smith, “Importance of Music Theory for Music Learning”). Music composition is simply nothing more than applying music theory to a simple idea that a musician has found, and by applying music theory to this simple idea or melody, a musician can extremely push that idea forward and expand it into a masterpiece. So really, without music theory, there is no musical composition. Knowing music theory also helps musicians analyze what they are playing or listening to. For example, in band class when we play chorales the band teacher, Mr. Riley, then has us analyze the key signatures to see what the certain composer did and how they did it, and to see how they pulled it off with it sounding alright. Analyzing musical compositions helps musicians understand in their brain why the music sounds the way it does, and without music theory this could not happen at all. Mike Philipov says,“After you learn some music theory, whenever you come across a certain piece of music that you like, you will be able to understand on a mental level (using music theory) what is happening in the music to make it sound so good, and if you wish, you can adapt this new knowledge to your own playing and writing.” (Philippov, “Should You Learn Music Theory”). Joe also brings up another true point and states,“Outside of interacting with other musicians, music theory helps the individual make more sense of sounds deemed worthy of repeating. When you hear or play something that catches your ear, and you’d like to use it again somewhere, music theory reveals methods for harnessing it. Suppose you compose a fantastic blues turnaround. Wouldn’t it be nice to control the fantastic elements of that turnaround, manipulating the lick to work at any point in any blues progression, perhaps applying it to other rock or jazz tunes? Figuring this out, however you do it, is music theory.” (Joe, “Why Learn Music Theory?”). Knowing music theory makes it possible to analyze music and lets musicians go into even more depth when analyzing music. Besides just seeing what chords the composer used they could see why this chord works there but not there, etc. Music theory opens a whole new world to musicians and it helps them understand what they are playing and what is going on around them, which unfortunately most musicians don’t understand today. As important as music theory is, in a way it limits musicians to what they want to do. It applies a set of rules to music, which is an art, and in an art there should be no such things as rules, rules only limit the artist and the same with music theory. Without music theory a musician doesn’t have to worry about these rules and just go with what feels and sounds good instead of having to sit down and look over everything written and make sure that it is correct and in key. A way to think of it is that it gives musicians freedom of speech but in musical terms. Many popular musicians, for example, Jimi Hendrix, have no understanding of music theory at all and can produce wonderful music, so why is it necessary to learn? It has been stated music theory is only good for people who want to learn music notation and people in orchestras, etc. Why should, for example, a rock guitarist learn music theory? He doesn’t need it for any kind of music he’ll be playing and can communicate with band mates other forms, so why should he learn it? These points are all very good, and true points, but with an understanding of music theory, music almost becomes easier and more free than it would without music theory because a musician would be comfortable with what he/she is playing and not guessing. Mike Philipov states,“Furthermore, there are some that claim that guitarists such as Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn did not study theory. This may be partly true, but there is no doubt that these players had at least a rudimentary understanding of basic concepts such as the pentatonic scale and they knew their way around the fretboard well (have you ever heard them play out of key?).” (Philippov, “Should You Learn Music Theory”). Whether or not a musician wants to read of sheet music or play in a band, knowing music theory makes everything easier, despite communication efforts, it can help arrange music more quickly, make greater songs, and completely help the band move forward above the rest of the generic popular bands out there today. Music theory is key for musicians all over, despite any beliefs they have been told or believe. The most important aspect of music theory is that it strengthens a musicians’ playing altogether. It allows musicians to collaborate more easily because they understand that universal language, as mentioned before, and makes it a lot less confusing then there would be without any understanding of theory. For example, in my band, Standby, we all know a good deal of music theory and when we are writing or playing through stuff, making changes on the spot or writing material together is so much easier because we can fully talk to each other about it with a common understanding of what we all mean. Music Theory helps musicians make on-spot changes, for example if a song needs to be transposed into another key, with music theory transposing is so much easier, without it there is pretty much going to be no transposing going on at all because there would be no first step to transpose. Transposing is very important and is used a lot during musical practices. Also, when improvising a solo, especially in jazz, a musician will know what arpeggio or scale fits and sounds good over certain chords or keys, so their solo will sound good and won’t be random notes guessed at on the spot.“Your improvising and soloing will improve as well if you understand a lot about how chords are structured.” (Philippov, “Should You Learn Music Theory”). Music theory completely expands a musician’s playing horizons beyond the point of return. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Music theory is an important element in becoming a musician due to the fact that it helps musicians compose more easily, analyze music so much better, and expands a musicians playing horizons dramatically. Music theory is a key element in being a musician and if one really plans on becoming a true musician is a necessary element that can’t be ignored. Jim Ellis, who is a famous musician and composer from Atlanta, Georgia, stated this in an interview, “It is however necessary for talking about music, and framing it in such way that helps you deal with it. Not just that, but now you can talk to other people about it using terms that everyone agrees on. That’s what theory is.” (Ellis, “Artist House Music Interview”). Jim Ellis obviously has strong feelings towards the use of theory and as stated before believes it is a universal language for musicians and in the end not only benefits the communication of the musician but benefits the musician as a whole, it helps, as Ellis said, “frame it out” and help understand it more. In the end, everyone wins. This is why learning music theory is a necessity for any serious musician out there.

Works Cited 1. Ellis, Jim. "The Importance Of Music Theory." Artist House Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/the+importance+of+music+theory+and+ear+training+to+professional+musicians+and+arrangers+part+1 >. 2. McDowell-Smith, Jayne. "Important Of Music Theory For Music learning." Article Dashboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. < www.articledashboard.com/Article/Importance-of-music-theory-for-music-learning/1522797>. 3. Philippov, Mike. " Music Theory, The Benefits ." Online Guitar Lessons â€“ Music Career Mentoring â€“ Guitar Teaching Business Coaching. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.tomhess.net/Articles/ShouldYouLearnMusicTheory.aspx>. 4. "Why Learn Music Theory." Deft Digits Guitar Lessons. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <deftdigits.com/2011/08/22/why-learn-music-theory/ >.

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