What Are The Benefits Of Learning Music Theory?

Music theory can be best expressed as the language of music. It makes your understanding of music structure more solid; it gives you a different concept of how you hear and play music. Music theory takes the similitude of any other language, you must know how to speak and write it fluently before you can be considered a ‘master’ of that language. The knowledge of music theory will not only make you an outstanding musician, but will enable you read, write and understand music perfectly.

Learning Music Theory Increases Your Ability To Understand Music

Studying music theory is a rudimentary component of music anatomy. It’s not as difficult, boring and archaic as most musicians think it to be, its actually fun to learn because it makes you more aware of your instrument and general understanding of music. It’s an asset you must strive to acquire as a musician. Unlike what most people believe, music theory will enhance your creativity rather than impede it or slow it down. Although there are many rules to learn in music theory, these rules are only there to broaden your knowledge.

Learning Music Theory Helps You Know How To Transcribe Music 

When you have a good knowledge of elementary music theory, it becomes real easy to compose and transcribe musical pieces. Music theory helps you add up the link between sounds and written notes; it helps you work both ways which is, taking notes from sheet music and making it a real-life sound, and taking a real-life sound and turning it into sheet music. If you’re an aspiring songwriter or singer, knowing how to transcribe music is paramount.

Music Theory Helps You Develop A Comprehensive View Of Music

Learning music theory helps you understand that every department of music is interconnected/fused together. Music is one body with many branches, learning its theory will help you realize that every different aspect of music is equally as important as your own area of specialization, it just gives you a holistic unbiased view of music and whatever knowledge of music theory you have, it can be applied to every area no matter what you play – guitar, drums, violin, piano etc.

It Can Help You Improvise More Freely

Learning music theory gives you a knack when it comes to improvisation; it just automatically lets you know what would work and what would not, it fits the puzzles together in your head. Many musicians have a particular complaint about improvisation – “I always don’t know what to do”. Knowing music theory takes you away from that ‘circle of friends’, it eliminates the confusion that comes with improvisation and gives you an ‘on-the-spot’ top-notch performance.

Music Theory Helps You Play More Accurately

The common error of missing notes, skipping beats and timing is reduced to a minimum by learning music theory. You can play anywhere and with any band without having to rehearse or practice with them prior to the performance. Music theory would help you know the exact and accurate way a music composer intended a particular piece of music to sound or be played just by looking at it. Music theory simply put here, makes you an ‘impromptu pro’!

Music Theory Helps You Sight Read

Studying music theory helps you build and develop your skill of merging tones and written notes with just one look. It’s true that your sight reading skill sharpens when you constantly practice it, but learning music theory will help to further advance this skill, it speeds up the process of learning for you, compared to someone who just learned how to sight read by playing music alone. It will help you understand sight reading by knowing chord arrangements and knowing what the next piece on the note is going to sound like.

Music theory is broad and interesting to learn, it’s not as limited as people think it is. It makes your performance ever new, exciting and inventive, it increases the speed of your musical creativity, deepens your senses and ears for notes, broadens your knowledge of musical pieces and other composers and puts your listening skills far above the reach of the ‘average’ musician. Start learning music theory today, it’s not too late.