The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory, Second Edition

music theory. When you write down a series of notes, you’re using music the-

ory. When you play a chord, you’re using music theory. When you sing a har-

mony line, you’re using music theory.

Even those musicians who don’t have any formal training use music theory.

When they put their hands on the piano, they might not know that they’re

playing a major ninth chord with the fourth in the bass; they doknow that those

notes fit together well, even if they can’t tell you the strict chord construction.

Now, if they did have formal training, they could go beyond just playing the

notes to sharing those notes with others. Instead of pointing at their fingers and

saying “play this,” they could actually write their notes and chords down on

paper, in a format universally understood by musicians the world over. After all,

it’s a lot easier to tell someone to play a CM9/F chord than it is to say “put your

first finger here, and your second finger here,” and so on.

The knowledge of how different notes work together also helps you expand on

the simple melodies you’re currently playing. When you know theory, you

know how to accompany a melody with chords and how to voice those chords

so that they sound good to your ears. You also can learn how to turn that simple

melody into a full-blown arrangement for groups of voices and instruments, and

how to create your own melodies and compositions.

Without a knowledge of basic music theory, you won’t be able to fully express

your musical ideas; nor will you be able to share those ideas with others.

Music Theory Is Useful

Of course, it isn’t just professional musicians who need to know theory. Even if

you’re just doing it for your own personal enjoyment, a knowledge of theory

will help you better appreciate the music you play or sing.

Here’s a good example: Let’s say you’re helping out at your daughter’s school

and someone, knowing that you’re a musician, asks you to work up an arrange-

ment of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for the upcoming school pageant. There

are two girls and one boy in the class who sing pretty well, and another boy

who knows how to play trumpet. You’ll accompany them on guitar.

This doesn’t sound like a tall order, but it’s one that requires a lot of theory to

complete. First of all, you need to know how to read and write music—which

includes the knowledge of clefs and keys and time signatures. Then you need to

know about chords and chord progressions, and how to create harmonies and

counterpoint. You also need to know how to arrange music for different voices

and instruments, and even how to transpose music from one key to another.

(That’s because the trumpet reads music in a different key from everybody else.)

You see the problem. If you don’t know your theory, you won’t be able to com-

plete this rather simple assignment. It’s as simple as that.

When you know the theory behind the music, playing and singing gets a lot more

interesting. With a little grounding in theory, it’s easier to understand why some

melodies are more appealing than others, and why certain chord progressions

work better with certain melodies. You’ll see how harmony works, which will

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