In this opening lesson of this course, I want to explain what music theory is, when it's worth learning, and multiple ways it's beneficial as a guitarist. Whether you play with others or just by yourself, theory can help you learn faster and get more joy out of the music you make.
Stated simply, music theory is the language we use to talk about music.
It’s the grammar, the terminology, the set of rules and labels that help us describe what we’re hearing. It gives names to musical ideas, patterns, relationships — and makes it easier to understand and communicate what’s going on.
It’s not about replacing the music itself. It’s just a tool that helps you describe the music you’re already making and hearing.
An important thing to understand about music theory: it’s head knowledge that informs your playing. It’s not something you physically practice like a scale shape or a strumming pattern.
That’s why I’m separating it out into its own course. It complements your other learning — like chord fluency, fingerstyle, or lead guitar techniques — but it lives in a slightly different lane. It helps you understand what you’re doing and why it works.
You can absolutely learn guitar and create beautiful music without knowing a thing about theory. But here’s the thing — someone else could hear what you’re playing and say, “That’s a major pentatonic lick,” or “You’re playing a I–IV–V in the key of D.”
They’d be using theory to describe what you’re doing — even if you didn’t know the terms yourself.
Theory doesn’t make the music. The music exists on its own. But learning some theory helps you understand and name the things you already know through playing.
When you’re brand new to guitar, I wouldn’t stress about going out of your way to learn additional music theory concepts. Stick to the fundamentals and you’ll have plenty to keep you busy. In fact, many of the basic topics you’ll be learning (chord shapes, note names, etc) are a pre-cursor to various theory concepts.
As you continue to play and learn more — chords, strumming, basic riffs, etc — you’ll start running into the same patterns & concepts over and over. And when you learn the name for something you’ve noticed in the music you play? A light goes off.
Here’s an example of the sort of thing you might recognize as you progress with guitar, that music theory will later give a formal name to.
Say you’re new to guitar and have messed with a dozen songs or so. At first, all the chords you learned were brand new… but after a while you notice certain combinations of chords are used over and over. For example, G-C-D or D-G-A or A-D-E.
You might suspect each of these chord combinations has something in common, but you’ve never been able to wrap your head around how they’re connected.
And then one day, you learn about the I, IV, V chords in each key (one-four-five) — and a light goes off. You realize that all those aforemtnioned chords are examples of the I, IV, V chords in different keys. Suddenly, a bunch of songs you already know fall into place under a single concept.
Theory gives you a mental model to organize your experience. That’s powerful.
Theory helps you think more clearly about the music you play. It gives you names and shortcuts so you don’t have to re-learn the same idea over and over.
And it helps you talk with others. If someone says, “Play the G major pentatonic scale,” you’ll know what they mean. If you say, “This progression is a I–vi–IV–V,” a fellow musician who understands that bit of music theory will follow instantly.
Even if you mostly play by yourself, understanding the basics of theory will likely help you get more out of the lessons you follow — as you’ll be privvy to terms and concepts that teachers or authors are using.
Once you know even a bit of theory, you’ll start recognizing different theory concepts within songs you’ve known for years.
You might recognize a familiar chord progression, a scale being used to create a certain a riff, or a time signature you never noticed before. It can very much deepen your appreciation of the music, whether it’s familiar songs or something you’re hearing for the first time.
If you’re ever noodling with some familiar chords, or improvising with a scale, or putting together a song — music theory gives you a reliable toolbox to use whenever you’re looking for ideas. Instead of guessing what might sound good, you’ll be able to make informed choices based on the context of what you’re playing.
Theory isn’t just for guitar. It transfers to piano, ukulele, mandolin, bass, or any other instrument you might ecnounter. For example, once you understand interval pattern that the major scale is built with — you could likely work it out on an unfamiliar instrument, and begin playing some familiar melodies.
In this course, I’ll go concept by concept, layer by layer. You can start at the beginning, or skip around to what’s most relevant to you. Print-friendly diagrams and guides will help too, giving you visuals to support the mental models.
Let’s get into the first few theory concepts and start building your understanding. See you in the next video!
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