Useful Music Theory For Guitarists

Most guitar players are usually adverse in learning music theory. I've got to be honest with you guys as well. When I first started playing the guitar, the sight of music notes on staves instantly turned me off and I basically started learning guitar by visually looking at how other guitarists play the guitar.

It was only at a latter stage that I started to take proper lessons and was "force" to learn basic music theory during my class.

Although learning music theory was not easy at first, I soon discovered that my knowledge of music theory had helped me in leaps and bounds when playing in a band. Basically, music theory could help you determine what notes/chords would go along in a particular key.

Also, transposing a song in different keys is a norm for people playing in bands to play songs in the correct key of the vocalist. With music theory, song transposition could take place almost instantly and thus saved precious time in practising on the jam studio.

Randall Williams gives a quick and no-fuss explanation of basic music theory for guitar players in this lesson. You can quickly learn to apply music theory in a useful and practical context when playing the guitar.

The need for music theory to make you a complete guitarist cannot be neglected. Imagine yourself as a painting artist. If you do not know which colours to mix to attain another colour, your would be doing trial and error testing blindly. Likewise, when you try to improvise on the guitar without a good foundation of music theory, you would be blindly playing notes to match the background music harmony.

How do you think the music would sound like if you were doing this?

Having a good knowledge of guitar theory also helps you excel in other areas of guitar playing such as music transposition. This is a very useful skill if you are playing in a live band covering for different vocalist. Should the need arise when there is a song dedication or when the vocalist requests to sing in a different key, you would not be left scratching your head when confronted with a piece of sheet music.

Music theory is also particulary useful when you are trying to compose a piece of music. You would be much more adept at fitting a harmony over a melody or vice versa because you have the knowledge of knowing what works and what doesn't.

All in all, I hope you understand the importance of music theory for a guitarist. For a comprehensive guitar education, you should check out Jamplay below...