Hey kim&jessie,
Did anyone actually read your question? Everyone seems to be talking about whether to learn music theory or not
but to me your question seems much more about what music theory teaches us.
Here's my top 3, coming from someone who does this for a living:
1. Correct, it teaches us what sounds good and what doesn't. But much more important, it can tell us HOW something
is gonna sound. Understanding music theory will allow you to write what you have in your head. So if you want your melody
to sound warm and pretty, you might use thirds in the melody (something I will cover in my Hook/Melody Master Files which
come out this Wednesday).
2. For me, this is the most important thing about music theory: It shows you what you don't know. There's so much to learn
and each new technique you learn has the potential to be used in a song in a new, unique way. Sometimes it's breaking the rules
that makes something sound unique, but more often it's an unusual combination that does the trick.
3. It gives everything you do a name. Knowing what everything is called in your song helps in communication with others.
Sounds minor but is actually a big deal (key word: notation). Makes asking questions on forums easier, too
And yes, you can learn music theory online. I recommend a good book though.
If you have a little time, you could also wait a little bit until I release my new QuickFix video course on how to read & write music,
which is a quick introduction to music theory - and it will be just $7. If you're interested, you can enter your email
here and I will
send you an email once it's ready (which should be soon!).
Is Music theory a valuable thing to learn? If you only want to do what you're doing right now, no. If you want to explore, learn what
makes music tick and evolve quicker, it's worth giving it a go. By the way, you could also check out my book
The Addiction Formula
which covers a widely unknown technique used in 97% of all hit songs - and you don't have to know music theory to understand and
implement it into your songs.
Best,
Friedemann