Music Theory and Learning the Guitar

So, another potentially important part of learning a new instrument is music theory.

I'll have to be honest with you:

• I took some music classes in high school
• I didn't have a great experience with the teacher
• It didn't go so well for me, and I had trouble understanding all the concepts

That kind of turned me off of it. When I was in college, I took a summer class to give theory another shot. For some reason, it just never really locked in.

Although I'd say I've picked up little bits and bobs over the years and being around musicians, I don't think you should worry too much if music theory confuses you. I'm an example of that.

Understanding the Guitar

You know, we have these six strings on the guitar. I mentioned that music theory isn't really how I approach my relationship with the guitar, but I do know that there are:

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G

With the sharps and the flats, you have 12 tones you can make.

The 12 Tones

So this top string is E, and there's no half step between an E and an F. The sequence goes like this:

• E
• F
• F sharp
• G
• G sharp
• A
• A sharp
• B
• C
• C sharp
• D
• D sharp
• E

These 12 tones will be dancing together all over the neck of the guitar in many different ways. That's the miracle of music and why certain notes just sound good together. There's a reason for that, but I don't really know what the reason is.

If you don't know either, that's okay. Sometimes, playing as long as you have these basics is more about what sounds and feels good to you.

Things I Wish I'd Known

That being said, there are some things about the guitar that I wish I'd known earlier on. I think they would have helped me to learn in a little bit less confusing way.

I started out by:

• Taking some courses
• Not practicing
• Not following up

The way I really learned was to go and buy a chord book. Then, I would also get a songbook, like Sarah McLachlan's catalog, that had the chords at the top of the piano notes.

I practiced the chords I knew by:

• Buying a chord book
• Looking it up online (although this was at a time when you had to buy the book before the Internet)

Learning this way was definitely part of my journey!