B Dorian mode backing track

[Ramo]

Every time you fret a chord on a guitar you are putting theory into practice, whether you realize it or not.

The chord “shapes” are based on the intervals required to create the chord. You are placing your fingers on a location on the fretboard so as to create those intervals between the notes which comprise the chord. This was developed over centuries.

That’s how I started to take a serious interest in theory way back in the early ‘80s. I was learning guitar (on my own, at the time) and was hard at work memorizing chord shapes. At some point, it dawned on me that there had to be a reason I was contorting my hand into all these weird forms!

Well, I had already been playing flute for a couple of years and had taken just a very small amount of piano. So, I could already read music. I just got to thinking: being a musical instrument, all the frets on the fretboard must represent notes, so I began teaching myself the notes on the fretboard. Then, I borrowed a theory book and set about understanding why all the chord shapes mattered. Once I learned that there is a definite pattern to what forms chords and music, it was like the world opened up! I didn’t have to waste time memorizing “shapes”! Now, that I learned how chords are made, the guitar suddenly became so much more enjoyable to discover. I began experimenting with chords in different voicings all over the neck, because now I knew how they are made and why they sound the way they do.

Keep in mind, all this was done on my own. Nobody was forcing me to do any of this.

This is why I tend to bristle when folks scoff at learning theory. To some it is a burdensome leash. To me, it was like opening a door and letting the light in.

I hear ya man, its not that I dont wont I just cant wrap my head around it. I tried, I went to music college to learn it, every time lesson on theory would start my brain goes ….
I wish I knew as it would make things lot easier. When Im soloing I dont know most of the notes I play I just keep searching till I fond right notes.
As of recently I started to look up online what chords I can use and what I can play over it.
so bit by bit Im learning I guess…

oh by the way I dropped out from collage could not take that much talking about theory ahahahahha

 

[smitty_p]

It is not a weakness to use a tool. I look at theory, my instruments, my knowledge, my ears as tools that I use to do something I love, make music. Everyone has a different set of tools they use. I need theory in my tool chest.

Kerry, if I misunderstood where you were going, I do apologize.

 

[smitty_p]

I hear ya man, its not that I dont wont I just cant wrap my head around it. I tried, I went to music college to learn it, every time lesson on theory would start my brain goes ….
I wish I knew as it would make things lot easier. When Im soloing I dont know most of the notes I play I just keep searching till I fond right notes.
As of recently I started to look up online what chords I can use and what I can play over it.
so bit by bit Im learning I guess…

oh by the way I dropped out from collage could not take that much talking about theory ahahahahha

To be very honest, I am not a super theory monster, in spite of how I may sound here. I don’t know WAY more than I do know! But, I really do enjoy learning it.

My recommendation would be not to frustrate yourself. I always stress the individuality of music. Your musical experience has to be meaningful to you. The value of music is not in how much you know, how famous you are, or how much money you make. The value is in how much you enjoy it and what you’re doing. Sometimes, enjoying it means you learn more, sometimes it means you practice more, sometimes it means you listen more.

 

[Inspector #20]

To be very honest, I am not a super theory monster, in spite of how I may sound here. I don’t know WAY more than I do know! But, I really do enjoy learning it.

My recommendation would be not to frustrate yourself. I always stress the individuality of music. Your musical experience has to be meaningful to you. The value of music is not in how much you know, how famous you are, or how much money you make. The value is in how much you enjoy it and what you’re doing. Sometimes, enjoying it means you learn more, sometimes it means you practice more, sometimes it means you listen more.

Any education is a good thing. I tend to have a absorption rate more like granite and less like a sponge. I am also hugely impatient. That's a problem too.

 

[smitty_p]

I envy that ability. I don’t have the ear to do that. It is a gift. For me without knowing some theory I’d be lost.

I don’t think there is any mystery to it. Robert has told us many times how he does what he does:

Practice, practice, practice, and practice some more.

If I were a music teacher he would be my favorite student due to his sheer commitment level alone!

He’s posted at early hours of the morning describing his practice routine. He literally practices for hours at a time and plays every single day.

As much as I value having a theoretical understanding and as much as I enjoy learning the academics behind music, I will be the first to insist that theory is no substitute for practice.

This is why ear-training and constant practice hit a music student within the first couple of semesters in college. Skill, which only comes from practice, is combined with the academic. For example, they are actually graded on certain listening evaluations, not only by answering questions on a test. It is not either/or, it is both/and.

Don’t sell yourself short! Very few people are actually, technically tone deaf. I dare say that if your schedule and life circumstances allowed you to devote the same amount of raw effort into practicing and playing which Robert does, you’d probably be able to do similarly. I’m not suggesting he isn’t musically talented. But, by his own accounting he’s made very clear how he has gotten there: a lot of hard, consistent work.