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  #16  
Old 10-14-2019, 12:25 PM
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Pura Vida Pura Vida is offline
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I would say "no," but I would also find it hard to believe that you know nothing about music, if you're playing guitar. If you're talking music theory, that's definitely not a requirement. Some of the greatest guitarists learned by playing, not in a classroom. That being said, an understanding of music theory can be extremely helpful (and almost necessary), especially depending on the type of music.
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  #17  
Old 10-14-2019, 04:13 PM
sloar sloar is offline
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I would say "no," but I would also find it hard to believe that you know nothing about music, if you're playing guitar. If you're talking music theory, that's definitely not a requirement. Some of the greatest guitarists learned by playing, not in a classroom. That being said, an understanding of music theory can be extremely helpful (and almost necessary), especially depending on the type of music.

It may be hard to believe, but other than open chords I know zero about music. My wife was a drummer in high school band and she tried teaching me how to count the beat. I was lost. I just watch youtube videos and copy what they do. I feel like my progress has come along pretty good, but I think I practice more than the average newbie. I keep my Martin JR. in my office at work and I have 24 hour shifts to practice.
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  #18  
Old 10-17-2019, 09:59 PM
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The most important for a musician is to train their ears. This takes practice and time. My main beef with online song tutorials is your ear doesn't get a workout. Back in the day before YouTube and VHS videos, if you wanted to learn a song you had to buy the record and figure it out. You learnt song structure, patterns, pitch, phrasing, rhythms, accents and nuance. The only technology available was the speed selector on the record player. IIRC if you played a 45 record at 33 rpm the pitch dropped by 3 semitones however you could hear the fast passages and If your record player did 16 rpm, then you were laughing. Similarly if you played a 33 rpm record at 45 rpm you could hear the Bass lines more clearly.

You would not be permitted to graduate from any school of music if you couldn't recognize intervals or transcribe what you hear.

The theory stuff is important if you want to learn the 'why' of music. However if you're an improviser or play advance forms of music, then you are expected to know and be able to apply theory in real time. Indeed, I don't know how Jazz musicians can think so quickly.

Learning to read music has never harmed anyone to my knowledge...
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  #19  
Old 10-18-2019, 08:54 AM
merlin666 merlin666 is offline
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And know nothing about music? I’ve been playing for about 18 months and I’m pleased with my progress. My fingerpicking has improved and I find its easier to learn more songs. I do know learning songs has never been easier since YouTube, but am I being held back in my progress from being totally ignorant about not being able to read music, tabs or anything else that applies to playing an instrument? I know my chords, but that’s about it. I’ve been more worried about learning songs than actually learning guitar. If so where should I start my education and how in-depth should I go? I’m never going to be in a band, I will forever be a couch player. Thanks
You don't provide much context about your playing settings. Is this just a solitary exercise, or are you quite comfortable with sitting in with other musicians and skillfully playing along with their songs without practice and knowing these songs beforehand? Music notation and tabs, and musical theory are essential tools of communication to be able to play with others. It is also a lot easier to learn new songs if you understand their building blocks of harmonies and scales.
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Old 10-18-2019, 04:27 PM
sloar sloar is offline
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I’m pretty much alone on this. I live in a small town and none of my friends are musicians. I haven’t had the time or desire to reach out to other groups or players outside of my town.
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  #21  
Old 10-19-2019, 10:54 AM
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…am I being held back in my progress from being totally ignorant about not being able to read music, tabs or anything else that applies to playing an instrument?
Hi sloar

There are plenty of great musicians who have no formal 'music-education', who do not read music notation. But when I play with folks like this, the good ones know a lot about music.

Our four sons learned to speak English just fine before they entered school (at age 5). They were communicating just fine before they learned to read or write.

I'm glad they all learned to read and write. It means we can send them personal notes, and texts and communicate with them in more private ways.

I don't know if your learning to read music would make you a better musician.

I do read scores (notation) and transcribe music. It makes me more versatile, but that doesn't always equate to 'better' musician. It means if the sax player needs some notes, I can jot them out for him, or if the keyboardist needs to understand a chord I can write it on a piece of staff paper as a reminder.

But when it comes to learning or building solo guitar arrangements, I don't use notation or TAB. If anything I use a digital recorder as a memory-device. Notation is just a different form of memory device.





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  #22  
Old 10-20-2019, 01:02 AM
Sax Player Guy Sax Player Guy is offline
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Don't worry too much about it at this point. As you continue on your guitar journey you will naturally become more interested in scales, how chords are built on the notes in a scale, how chords fit into keys, etc.
Add me to the chorus who agree with DukeX on this. No need to cram music theory into your diet until you get curious about it.

Once you do get curious and start learning music theory, though, you will notice that it makes your playing improve much more quickly. The two things really do go hand in had.

That said, as a random example, Robert Schumann was amazed at how little his wife Klara understood about how music works. Yet she was a superstar piano soloist who appeared on concert stages all over Europe. Her lack of knowledge sure didn't seem to hinder her piano chops much (she DID know how to read music, though).

I'm envious, by the way, about how much time you have available to practice. On the other hand, I'm glad that my job doesn't involve running into burning buildings!
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  #23  
Old 10-20-2019, 06:06 AM
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Some of the best players I know learned songs. The rest was picked up by osmosis. It's one of the best and most rewarding ways to learn guitar and music.
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  #24  
Old 10-20-2019, 10:59 PM
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[QUOTE=Sax Player Guy;6190889]Add me to the chorus who agree with DukeX on this. No need to cram music theory into your diet until you get curious about it.

Once you do get curious and start learning music theory, though, you will notice that it makes your playing improve much more quickly. The two things really do go hand in had.


Could not agree more and the value of understanding theory will be much more appreciated. That does not mean the fingers understand 'em. That is a whole different ball game that takes... a lot of time! Try classical tremolo, geeze.
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  #25  
Old 10-21-2019, 11:02 AM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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I have a dear friend who is a self-taught guitarist and songwriter since she was a teen. She writes beautiful melodies and plays all over the fret board. She can never tell you what chord she is playing so it may take her a bit longer to figure things out when she decides to do some lead for me on my songs and we come across an unusual progression. She admits that when she began learning a bit a theory, it really filled in some holes for her.

It really depends on what you want to accomplish.

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  #26  
Old 10-22-2019, 09:31 AM
rwhitney rwhitney is offline
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It's mostly about composing, but Paul McCartney says in this interview that he doesn’t know how it’s done and doesn’t want to. This, he says, allows him to discover new ways of doing things and not be restricted by the rules. I think this can apply to playing as well. I have a bachelors and masters in music theory and composition myself, but I think he makes a good point. https://youtu.be/-gxdrjRqcZQ
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