So my journey into the book “Structural Functions of Harmony” by Arnold Schoenberg is still in it’s infancy, as I’ve only conquered a few pages. But it has forced me to obtain a greater understanding of borrowed chords, Basso-Continuo, Figured-Bass and other eclectic music theory stubs. Why is this important? Well, although it is possible to stumble upon some really cool, neat song ideas, the fact is, you’re always going to feel like a blind man in the dark looking for the right notes in your head. With music theory, you can write better songs, and write more efficiently. From my experience, I can certainly tell you that studying music theory is the one aspect nearly all serious musicians tend to ignore. Most musicians tend to go straight for the fun stuff – techniques and soloing without realizing that by learning the math behind the music, they can essentially make all their tasks much easier. Imagine what it would be like to know a recipe will taste great before you’ve purchased any ingredients, or the confidence of knowing a vehicle will run perfectly without even taking it for a test drive. This is essentially what music theory allows you to do – weed the good out from the bad in a simple and effective method.

In short, music theory helps you to understand why notes and rhythms sound good together, and thus allowing you to write more intricate and interesting songs. If you’re a musician, just keep in mind practicing doesn’t alway mean sitting down at the piano for an hour, it can easily mean writing out scales, or studying chord theory. Plus, music theory is practical to nearly all instruments making it much easier for you to become a multi-instrumentalist. Make studying music theory a consistent staple of your practice time, and you’ll find yourself growing musically in ways you never thought possible.

Keep Rockin’