guitar theory
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Q. What does guitar music theory that my electric guitar teacher is teaching me? I do not understand. Do bands such as Metallica, or Guns and Roses actually know what they are playing or do they just think "Oh this sounds good so I will play it." I do not understand the whole relationship between music theory and actual song creating?
Answer
The more you study and practice, the more you will understand how theory relates to making music.
Music is a language. It is possible to learn a language without knowing how to read or write, but it is much easier to understand if you know the basic rules of grammar and spelling. Likewise, by learning more about the "grammar" of music you can better understand how to effectively create music with it.
Kirk Hammet studied with Joe Satriani and you can bet that he knows a lot about music theory, and it shows in their music. You can hear a distinct difference in their music from before and after he studied with Joe. GnR is a bit more basic in their music but you can bet that they do know, and apply the principals of music theory to their music also.
Simply put, music theory helps to explain the relationships between chords and how they move from one to another. It helps define how scales are used and how harmony is constructed. It helps to explain why certain things sound good and other things do not. It gives us a set of guidelines to assist us in the creation of music.
You mention the fact that some bands simply play what "sounds good to them" In a way you are making the case for music theory right there! Why does that sound good? It is because they are playing something that is familiar and makes some kind of sense. You can bet that what they are playing actually follows some basic music theory principals. They just may not be aware of it.
Remember that there are only 7 letter names in our musical language, (A B C D E F G) and the sharps and flats of those. This gives us only 12 notes altogether. This means that everything has pretty much been done before in the hundreds of years of western civilization music.
Music theory helps us to discover these patterns within music that make sense and sound familiar. In a sense, you already know a lot about music theory because you have heard so much music all of your life. Certain patterns and ideas are already easily recognizable to you. The problem is that, even though you can recognize it, you cannot really explain why that is. Nor can you explain what it is about it that you like or dislike. Music theory gives us the tools to truly understand why things sound the way they do. It helps us to define what we have heard all our lives.
One of the things that I tell a lot of my students is, "you gotta know the rules to know how to break them!" Music theory is not just a bunch of hard fast rules. It is more of a set of explanations and flexible rules to allow us to "communicate" more effectively with this complex and wonderful language known as music.
Try to absorb what your teacher is trying to show you and ask a lot of questions about it. There is a lot of stuff to remember and it does take time. The more you understand, the more you will appreciate how music theory can help you in your playing.
If you have any specific questions about any concepts of theory, and your teacher is not able to fully explain it to your satisfaction, feel free to contact me through answers.
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