Frustrated by Music Theory? Try these FIVE things.
Music Theory has built a reputation for being a very confusing subject. Some jokes around the internet even suggest that it is harder than rocket science. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are things that we can do to help make music theory make more sense. And I’ve got five of them for you today.
Number 1. View Music Theory through the Lens of Actual Music
A lot of times we start by looking at a theoretical concept, and then we find examples of that theoretical concept in music to reinforce that. This can be efficient. It would be ridiculous to sit in a theory classroom, have the professor introduce Augmented Sixth Chords, and then point to a mountain of sheet music, and say “alright, class, go find examples!”
But, All music theory starts from a place of “actual music”, and by actual music, I mean music that has been written, and transmitted/performed somehow - not like the disembodied, no-context theoretical examples we see in textbooks. What do I mean that all music theory comes from there?
We’ve basically got two branches of music theory in the west: Practical music theory and Speculative music theory. Practical music theory looks at those pieces that have been written and makes observations about them, you might also hear this called “descriptive music theory”. Speculative, on the other hand, either talks about ideas of what ideal music could be (sometimes called “prescriptive music theory”), or it imagines pushing the boundaries of current techniques. Both of these subcategories, however, still must start from a place of actual music. All new music, and new music theory is impacted to some extent by every single piece of existing music. Only whatever humans back in the day that invented music could truly talk about music in a speculative sense, completely separate from other music, because there wasn’t any.
But, also to remove music from music theory, for many musicians, simply makes music theory too abstract to understand. And that’s reasonable. I’m absolutely terrible at math unless it’s applied to a subject. So, applying actual music to theoretical concepts removes that abstraction. Also, having a personal connection will make it much easier to learn. This is true for any subject.
Number 2. Integration into Instrument Learning
Many of your instrument teachers may already do this. Or, maybe your choir/band/orchestra director did this. Either way, learning music theory as a part of learning an instrument can add another element of personal connection, and practical application to music theory. And whether or not you realize it, there is a lot of music theory hidden within the skills you need to learn an instrument and play repertoire. Things like, scale patterns, and chord spellings; chord voicing and what is your role in that chord. All of that is music theory. So is performance practice. Knowing that you ornament the melodic line in a Baroque piece - that’s music theory. Knowing how to improvise a jazz solo - that requires music theory. You’re using music theory all of the time in your life as a musician - whether you realize it or not - so if you’re looking to understand music theory, recognizing how you’re already using music theory can be very helpful.
Number 3. Learning Why / Getting Clear Explanations
This may not be the case for every person, but it’s extremely helpful for me in just about every situation in life to understand why. This can easily be accomplished by first asking the question: why? Why are parallel 5ths considered bad? Why does spelling matter? Why do chords function the way they do? Is that always the case?
Asking that question will lead you on a journey to discover why. Maybe you have a teacher, or another musician who can simply answer those questions. But, maybe you have to dig a little deeper on your own. Let me tell you, the stuff you find along the way can be just as useful as when you find the answer to your original question.
Another helpful thing is to learn the ‘why’ of music theory as a whole. What is Music theory is good question. But also ask: Why is music theory? Perhaps most practically to most musicians, music theory gives us a nomenclature so that we can communicate with one another efficiently about music.
And finally, find the answer to the question: Why does music theory matter to me, personally? Answering all of these why question can be great leaps forward in you understanding music theory.
Number 4. Memorize the Basics, and Then Look For Relationships
One of the more common complaints I hear about music theory is how much there is to memorize. And sure, it can be a lot of things to memorize that are thrown at you all at once. But. Within music theory, there is always a way to figure out what you’re looking for. There’s a method for figuring out what key you’re in, there’s a method for figuring out chord function in every key. Everything that you need to memorize also has a method for figuring it out. It’s not like the periodic table in chemistry. There’s no way to figure out that Oxygen is the 8th element, unless you’ve got a periodic table in front of you, or unless you open the hood of an oxygen atom and count the number of protons. Point is, music theory is better than chemistry. Over time, with exposure and practice, you’ll naturally start to memorize these things. And it will make things a lot quicker.
Once you’ve got that down, shift your focus from memorization to looking for relationships. See, once we move past the basics, music theory isn’t about memorization anymore, it’s about analysis. So, ask ‘how does x relate to y?’ I mention this in the Score Study Field Guide, [You can get the Score Study Field Guide Here] but some basic relationships are ‘x is like y’ (such as, this melody in m. 56 is similar to this melody in m.73, it just has a different rhythm), or, ‘x is not like y’ (the harmony in the A section is diatonic, but the harmony in the B section is chromatic), or maybe ‘x is y’ (this melody from before reappears at the end).
I’d venture out to say that relationships is the essence of music theory - how does one thing relate to another? So, shift your focus from ‘music theory is an analytical model to memorize’ to ‘music theory is a collection of analytical models to employ’.
Number 5. Practice.
Just like every other skill in life, practice is the key to getting better at music theory.
For basic concepts like chord spelling, and scales, you can find a number of online resources that are very helpful. I think most of them are free.
For more advanced topics, analyzing actual music is really the best way to practice. Find a piece that uses the concept you’re wanting to learn, and study how composers have used it. This is one of the main reasons I created the Score Study Field Guide. You can get that for free by clicking the link in the description.
And finally, listen to a lot of music. This goes back to applying theory to actual music, but just listening to a lot of different music is part of practicing music theory. Remember, music theory is just as much about what you hear as what you see.
Music Theory doesn’t have to be confusing. If you’ve tried to learn music theory, but it has left you frustrated - I want to help you. I’ve got a new course out now called “Understanding Music Theory” designed to help you overcome 5 of the biggest obstacles in music theory, and help you develop a strategy to help you reach music theory fluency. Click below to learn more about the course and enroll!