Revised+Essay

__The Benefits of Knowing Music Theory as a Musician __

For centuries music theory has been a common language for musicians. No matter what style or instrument they play, it remains a universal language between all musicians and a way to communicate ideas and compose music for other musicians to play. Currently, modern musicians are debating 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 musical style. Not knowing it is like being able to talk, but not being able to read. It’s crippling and puts a musician at a disadvantage. Music theory is important because it helps a musician write his or her own musical compositions, explains the reasons behind details in music, and expands playing skill levels drastically. 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 himself or herself and connect with listeners through sound. If this is done effectively, listeners will experience the emotions felt by the composer when they were writing it. 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, etc. that produce different sounds. It helps the musician narrow down the selection to find that desired sound tremendously. This helps save a lot of time that would have been wasted trying to find a desired sound if one didn't know 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 is 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 (like what notes are in the key). Just picking any random group of notes and putting them together usually ends up sounding quite bad because there is no theoretical analysis behind it. 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 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, has us analyze the key signatures to see what the composer did and how they did it. 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. As important as music theory is, 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 shouldn’t be rules. 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 and make sure that it’s correct.

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 in other forms, so why should he learn it?

These points are all very good, but with an understanding of music theory music actually becomes easier and more free than it would without music theory. With the knowledge that music theory provides 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 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 a band move forward. 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 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.

Knowing music Theory helps musicians make on-spot changes. For example, when a song needs to be transposed into another key, knowing music theory will help a musician to transposing it correctly. 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 over certain chords or keys, so their solo will sound good and won’t be random notes they guessed 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.

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. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. . <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. McDowell-Smith, Jayne. "Important Of Music Theory For Music learning." Article Dashboard. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. < www.articledashboard.com/Article/Importance-of-music-theory-for-music-learning/1522797>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. Philippov, Mike. " Music Theory, The Benefits ." Online Guitar Lessons â€“ Music Career Mentoring â€“ Guitar Teaching Business Coaching Web. 14 Dec. 2011. <http://www.tomhess.net/Articles/ShouldYouLearnMusicTheory.aspx>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">4. "Why Learn Music Theory." Deft Digits Guitar Lessons Web. 27 Oct. 2011. <deftdigits.com/2011/08/22/why-learn-music-theory/ >.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">MLA formatting by BibMe.org.