Do I need to learn music theory?

T

Tomix

New member
I've researched this a bit, and flicked through a few books regarding music theory but i'm just not sure what relevance it has, I don't know how learning about chords etc has any relevance to producing music online. My question has two parts and i'd really appreciate any replies.

1. Is it necessary and important enough to fully learn? (I'll be learning it throughout the summer).

2. What book is the best for me? I've seen some which are based upon music producers but I don't know if they're the best ones to go for.


I am making electronic music with multiple genres such as house, deep house, chill wave etc.
 
get yourself the Dance Music manual by Rick Snoman and maybe Music theory for computer musicians

I've been reading music theory and applying it to my music making ventures (which are far more wide ranging than just dance music) for more than 38 years - I have a degree in composition which I took in 87.

the thing with working out what you need to now comes back to what you are trying to achieve - but there are several posts and threads here at fp that cover the bare minimum of what you need to know in order to apply music theory to your writing successfully

essentially you need to understand

rhythm which is durations ~ sounds and silences
pitch which makes scales and chords
dynamics ~ loud and soft and changes from one to the other
articulations ~ how to play a sound on a specific instrument, including accents, shorter notes, stressed notes and combinations of these and some dynamics markings like fp (loud immediately followed by soft - most useful in wind writing, both wood- and brass- wind)
melody which combines pitch and rhythm and dynamics and articulations
harmony which is applied to melodies or from which melodies may be derived - harmony is a sequence or progression of chords
 
Also to add, atleast for me knowing minor and major scales help me build upon chords and also helps with improvising when working out a melody. Of course, this is foundation stuff, but very powerful when you practice over and over, as it leads to a whole manner of things like, mj/mn 7th & 9th chords, inversions etc etc.
 
R1CH said:
Also to add, atleast for me knowing minor and major scales help me build upon chords and also helps with improvising when working out a melody. Of course, this is foundation stuff, but very powerful when you practice over and over, as it leads to a whole manner of things like, mj/mn 7th & 9th chords, inversions etc etc.
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Yup. You can get ALOT of mileage out of knowing the basics+using your ears.
 
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"Music Theory" is a misnomer. It implies that making music is something like a theoretical science. Bottom line is you can read every work of music theory ever written but you'll still have no idea what C Major feels like to hear, which is what music is.

Music theory is mostly terminological, descriptive and organisational. You spend a lot of time learning 'rules' just to hear about someone who is a genius for ignoring them all. Music theory is just way of communicating ideas about music without having to play the music. A way of giving instructions to an orchestra, or writing journal articles about different patterns in music. I have yet to see any evidence that music theory really contributes anything to music as an art, except that learning a lot of music theory and practicing a lot are correlated, so music theory and musical skill are correlated. Maybe it helps organise your mind. No-ones proven it.

The thing about music is that if it sounds right... it's right. It's not like building a bridge, where you need a theoretical model to back you up.

Music theory might expand your horizons. Most people now compose in major or minor modes, then they might read about 'exotic' key signatures. Except that those keys are only exotic because basic music theory taught them major and minor modes first. Would they have landed on major modes if they were just given a keyboard? Doubt it.
 
I took a dozen or so bass guitar lessons a year or so back.
ive always had an acoustic guitar in the house since I was a kid but am what I'd describe as a 'strummer' as opposed to a 'player'.
The bass lessons were great and within a few weeks my beats improved some in terms of composition.
Pick an instrument you can use in your own stuff and go for a few lessons - see how it goes. The financial outlay on lessons is minimal and instruments can thankfully alway be found cheap in used condition.
 
No. I guarantee you 90% of hot producers right now know nothing more than major and minor chord progressions.
 
Yes and no. Not even close.


For instance guile's theme has Cm7, Abmaj7,Gm7, Fm7, Ebmaj7 scattered in that entire song and they all separated into parts on the staff grid for example.


All treble clef for some reason, maybe cuz it's a leadsheet lol.


Why that matters? that's pure reference and even if not used to learn the song itself, it's a very good reference to [memorize how the notes sound because it's associated with a very recognizable piece of music that is incredibly impossible to forget]


And this means an easier time improvising randomly because not only is it easier to just hit notes, but it becomes simpler to just on the fly do a random little melody just because.


And basically guile's theme uses like 4-6 scales the entire song. almost all of the scales used is a minor scale/key except 1 each beat. Then there's repetitions sometimes and a breakdown that ends the repetitions for some reason during that little riff thing that happens. Come to think of it blanka's theme shares some similarities in that regard but way off topic of initial post.

Said before, said again. Not necessary, but necessary if you want an easier time in general for even the simplest things.
 
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Drtro said:
No. I guarantee you 90% of hot producers right now know nothing more than major and minor chord progressions.
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I don't know how you can guarantee something like that - as most, whilst they may talk it down, actually know a lot of the inside workings of making music work - ever considered that there may be deliberate misinformation out there to limit the ability of new folks making the grade?

lots of professions (law, medicine, surgical specialties, university teaching/research) have deliberately high bars (examinations and training) to getting into the profession to keep the numbers down and the dollars up; music production in the pop fields (anything not likely to be performed on traditional instruments by an orchestra or other chamber ensemble; i.e. rock, metal, hip-hop/rap, reggae, edm, country, etc all qualify as pop) is no different in that respect except the bars are not even disclosed to those wanting to join the profession, you have to work it out for yourself.
 
Cyko said:
No, it's not necessary, but it can make life much easier.
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I agree with this, and many of the other posts.

Up until around 3 years ago I played purely by ear. It took a long time, but my music still sounded good. I have now learned basic music theory, and it has made the process a little easier for me. Scales and chords are a Godsend.

So, no, you do not need to know music theory...but it would help.
 
You need music theory one way or the other.

The way I do it is I have a basic understanding and then use cheat sheets for scales I'm not fully familiar with as to the chords and notes in the scale.

So either learn music theory or cheat at it, but you need to use it.
 
Not necessarily, though its good to know how notes go together and how to arrange music in terms or bars and BPM.
Listen to other EDM music and try to imitate them
 
^Actually J agree and I'll clarify.

For years I did things by ear with a few chord shapes memorized. I did well enough, main thing lacking was production skill.

Last few years I've been studying music theory and more in depth on production: beats mixing and communicating with artists. Really hit my stride past six months and start releasing stuff in the works this summer.

I'm not saying you need music theory, but my beginner knowledge on it allows me to approach music with more complexity more easily.
 
I think yes, you need to. I started studying more theory, so I can finally get the melodies I came up with in my head and nail them without the try and error approach. Still lots to study, though.
 
Music theory is everything, beatmaking is a fragment.
Music theory is not necessary, but it makes everything music related simpler to grasp.
Music theory makes the beatmaking process quicker.

Music theory is not something to throw under the rug since beatmaking/sound design is a part of it.
 
Hey guys, I just begin to really learn music theory and YES it is important! :D It suck but the result is BIG!
I've been doing some little beat lol I can't even tell it was music. But I bought a book with chords, melody, motive... learning and I improve a lot.
I have a lot of work to do but I am looking forward to learn more in my music theory book.
But of course it is important to balance with theory and practice.
 
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