Quote:
Originally Posted by tonyo
...As I explained to my wife, when I meet with people who know theory, they have a conversation that I cannot understand or engage in. And I'm loving music so much I want to be able to engage in such a conversation (both musically and verbally)
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One of the things a lot of folks don't realize about 'music theory' is that it's just a language for understanding and describing music, meaning what you hear. From very simple one or two note passages to complex chord structures & progressions to symphonies - they can all be described in terms of music theory.
One really important, foundational (and not the simplest) theory idea we all learned in the 1st grade or so is the do-re-mi major scale. Most people can reproduce it vocally and instrumental beginners can often pick it out very early on their instruments. The sound is music, knowing how to make it and what to call it is theory. Substitue 1,2,3 for do-re-mi and you've got one of the big keys to the kingdom!
Most folks who've been playing for a bit have already acquired a chunk of knowledge in terms of sounds they know - chords, chord changes, minor vs major, 7th; note length, harmony (e.g. vocal or other), etc. That's the music part. The theory is just knowing what all that stuff is called and why.