What Everyone Gets WRONG About Music Theory

A nuanced discussion about music theory and the role it plays in heavy metal guitar playing.

My Gear:
String: S.I.T. Power Wound 9-42, 9-46, and 10-46

Plugins:
Neural DSP SLO-100
Neural DSP Archetype: Petrucci
BIAS FX II

Guitars:
2024 Lado Earth - handbuilt by master luthier Joe Lado
Ibanez Destroyer DT300
Ibanez Destroyer DT50
Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat
Charvel Model 1
Fender Janick Gers Inspired Stratocaster
Lado II Superstrat
Lado Canadian Classic
Clarke Customs Tomahawk

[kevinmcguinness]

Love to see Criss Oliva getting a shout out ❤. One of my favourite metal players for thirty years. Taken from us far too soon R.I.P.

[johannestetzelivonrosador]

I always like to compare music theory to the grammar of a language. Even if a native speaker doesn't "know" the rules of the language in the academic sense, he still has a working understanding of them. Same with music theory. Of course guys like Marty Friedman or Dimebag Darrel understand how scales, modes and harmony work even if they haven't studied it in an academic sense

[cbr]

this is a fantastic take on this discussion. you explain this stuff in a very tangible, approachable way while keeping the information valid.

[sea_of_madness]

Nico, Thank you very much for this analysis, it’s always nice to hear about modes and guitar theory, absolutely love your content mate, I’m a guitarist and these things help me improve everyday, thank you very much my friend.

[ReZhorw]

The ignorance of some people is painstaking to deal with. But it does generate great videos like this one!

[adamalt]

Great video as always Nico!
As a linguist, I believe the same is true for creative writing and technical knowledge of language.
The best authors and writers don't have to know what a past participle or head phrase adjunct is. They have a natural 'feel' for language. As humans, we have a built-in faculty for music, language and most of the arts. Some are more in touch with this than others naturally. Some are better at getting in touch with it than others.
On the other hand, if someone has an intricate knowledge of syntax and semantics, it doesn't mean they'll be a successful writer. If anything, if they wrote a novel from a rules-based approach instead of using their in-built faculty for art, 'over-thinking it' would only ever take away from the creative flow (i.e. the transcription of feelings or events in the real world into words/ music/ pictures etc.) (...in 95% of the cases!)
But, if they want to explain to others the gears behind what they're doing (or the science/ theory), we use the accepted nomenclature (mostly Italian words and phrases in music) and the underlining maths to explain harmonics etc. to convey the science behind the art.
Loved this video as always. Hope you had an excellent weekend Nico

[shubhampoudel]

Great Great 🫡 man keep on Going and make us more clear 😍
Thanks 🙏

[JimsMusicJourney]

I am 53 and started playing at 10. For the first few years it was just a toy to make sounds and trying to imitate the sounds I heard around me. I did not know it at the time but of course I was learning the fretboard and learning the instrument. I was learning where the sounds came from on the fretboard. In my teens I took basic lessons. After a few years of being frustrated with bad teachers who did not teach me theory, I decided to go to the library and learn it myself. For years I was playing in bands and applying the basics I learned from horrible teachers. But when I truly started learning theory, I realized why the riffs I was writing fit together nicely. I realized my riffs had a tonic and how the chords I chose just sound correct because they resolved eventually back to the tonic. So now when I wrote new music it was a much quicker process. I knew the road map. Before when I would put riffs together, I realized my old music had key changes. Without knowing it I was applying chords or notes from a parallel key such as C major and C minor or changing a key with a secondary dominant. Now when I wrote music, I knew how to change keys, so it sounded like it flowed better without having to constantly try something new to make it sound correct. It is a much quicker process. Before I learned theory, I would get into a writing rut and had problems with new ideas. Now that I understand theory I have an endless number of resources to pull from to be creative. So, it's possible to know some theory without even knowing that you know it. But this comes with years of experience to be able to pull from it.

[greendayray]

Hey Nico, just wanted to say thank you for the Iron Maiden song breakdowns. They really helped me get a better grasp on what’s going on during some of those solos. Even if I can’t replicate them perfectly it definitely helped me improve from what I was playing before. So thanks again!

[PaulWilde]

It's like when Yngwie said "I have never practiced in my life. I just spend a lot of time making my playing look and sound perfect." 😅😅😅

[howardblumenkopf]

I do find it interesting that people assume "self-taught" mean you don't know any theory. Like you said you, can find it all online. Even in the 80s there were books. Kirk Hammett talked about buying a ton of books so he could learn to compose harmonies without needing to asking Cliff every time.

[priestfan]

Queen are a band that exemplify music theory knowledge. They have songs that sit well in every genre. In the metal world, flat 5s and Em pentatonic rule supreme. It's a shame because bands like Judas Priest always did all the cool metal stuff but were still very musical.

[joethebar]

I would also say that Losfer Words riff is in A mixolydian and not A Dorian. Yes it has the notes of Dorian but it has the feel and architecture of a classic rock mixolydian passage. Whenever you combine elements of blues (b3, b7), the rules get very grey. The biggest difference is a minor mode vs a major one; LW sounds major thus the mixolydian

[MA-lnrz]

Thank you for this video. I feel like I needed to hear this. ❤

[danieltanguay]

Hi, love your content and great player you are. My favorite rock metal quitarist of all time Randy Rhoads and he has great music theory knowledge and teaching ability. He did so mutch in that short period of time.

[alexandremonfroy]

👍👍 I love Licks of the beast, it's always very Nico you are such an awesome musician...so much knowledge too.🤟🤠👍

[darrenc]

I think the best guitar players have come to the top of the pile through years of playing live and jamming with other musicians. When they say they are self-taught, they are in the way they haven't had lessons. But the good self-taught guys are naturally able to play the guitar and find the melody they need. But soloing really good solos, you have to understand the chords and key relationships at very least.

[Churro_Flaminguez]

Great video, but it looks like the original title or thumbnail were changed. I figured this might happen... 😅

[christophermeglino]

I’m someone who used to constantly wonder what the big deal about theory was and I thought that every popular musician and composer just “wrote was in their head, and didn’t know what (theory-wise) they were actually writing, we’re just using theory to explain it”. I’m an oboist and almost two months into my undergrad at a conservatory, taking theory, and I can assure everyone I was wrong. Every great composer of all time obviously used an insane knowledge of theory to write, and especially artists like Billy Joel use theory to specifically get certain musical and emotional ideas across to the listener, by knowing what chords will work best, etc. Overall, i thought knowing theory would make me hear music in a worse way, because I thought the magic would be gone and that I would think everything now sounds boring and calculated. That didn’t happen. Knowing theory just makes everything way more awesome for me now. I’ll find myself listening to any song and being like “wait a second I didn’t realize how cool that was that he wrote that, and that that key change is there”. Not to mention the massive boost it’s given my playing, just in the ability to better comprehend music. But it absolutely is true that you can know zero academic theory, like I did for a long time, and still be a great musician by just feeling it. Even though you might not be able to put your musical ideas into definition in words, they’re still there!

[stevenpurtee]

George Lynch said in an interview with Dave Navarro that he "couldn't play a G major scale if you put a gun to his head", and the went on to pontificate how he loves the sound of the flat 6. I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no way that he could NOT play a major scale.