Is music theory compulsory for production ?

i__abhi17

New member
Hey I am a begginer and I don't know how to play any instrument nor do I know any music theory and I can't even create melodies in fl studio ...i just don't know what keys tune good with each other ! ?

Looking for some advice and should I go and learn any music theory will it help me for my productions ?
 
It sounds as if the style of music you aim to create would benefit from you learning music theory. In my personal experience it expanded my options musically big time. You can find some of the resources I used at this section of my website: The Coaching Session
 
I suggest that you learn to play the keyboard/piano first and pay attention to scales, modes and arpeggios

6 months time you should be able to create melodies easily that work simply because you know how to play your scales, modes and arpeggios
 
Ha even I was also thinking of that ..

Is a midi keyboard and piano the same thing

pretty much these days

the differences are subtle in some ways and obvious in others

a keyboard may or may not have a good weight (resistance to being pressed down on)

it will most likely be more portable than a piano

a real piano the notes are continually dying away after you play them, a keyboard will unnaturally sustain notes if you hold the keys down (unless the programming is such that the sound(s) mimic the behaviour of a piano)

Most producers probably never studied music theory, but I could be wrong

contrary to popular opinion, I would suggest that the ones who are truly successful have studied some form of music theory even if it is only to have studied how to play piano or another instrument - look at Rick Ross and Scott Storch and Jamie Foxx for example

even someone who has often said I don't know how to read music like Paul McCartney is gilding the lily - he had piano lessons as a child and would have been made to read notation and therefore would have learnt some theory along the way. He was an avid student of the works of Cole Porter and George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, so again would have learnt something of the theory that went into their arrangements and chord progressions and melodic writing. The producer for the Beatles, George Martin, had a music degree in performance on piano.
 
So from where can I learn music theory and how much do I actually need to learn in order to produce house progressive music ..
 
Not a fan of Rick Ross, TBH didn't know he even produced beats lets alone learned an instrument. Should I just stop making beats cause i'm not well versed in music theory
 
Dude at the store produced told me the best way to learn was trail by error and just keep messing up in a sense, figure out with this and that does, just do it don't read in to stuff to much. And judging by the beats he let me listen to this guy was money, solid beats professional sounding
 
Most producers don't need theory because 9 times out of ten they do not use well, instruments.
Don't need to know theory for drumpads, or even drumsets and sampling.


But melodies are a whole other story entirely. Melodies benefit, a LOT from even the basic theory like scales and memorizing chord formulas.


While it is still farfetched to do something specific, it does help in just the general way, when it comes to melodic material.
 
Dude at the store produced told me the best way to learn was trail by error and just keep messing up in a sense, figure out with this and that does, just do it don't read in to stuff to much. And judging by the beats he let me listen to this guy was money, solid beats professional sounding

and for every guy that is successful doing it this way there will be thousands who aren't

if you don't do this systematically then all you will ever do is keeping trying to do what an infinite number of monkeys with access to an infinite number typewriters could eventually do - present you with the script to hamlet without errors i.e. you will be continually stabbing the dark hoping to hit the mark - that is not creativity that is blind chance
 
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Most producers don't need theory because 9 times out of ten they do not use well, instruments.
Don't need to know theory for drumpads, or even drumsets and sampling.


But melodies are a whole other story entirely. Melodies benefit, a LOT from even the basic theory like scales and memorizing chord formulas.


While it is still farfetched to do something specific, it does help in just the general way, when it comes to melodic material.

Launchkey 25 novation haven't cracked it opened, should I learn basic music theory?
 
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