You Don't Need Music Theory

Or, I mean, you do, but it's complicated.

It's a simple question: How much music theory do you actually need to know? And fortunately, this time it even has a simple answer: Pretty much none. Unless... ok, so it's actually not quite that simple, and it depends on how you define "music theory", "need", and "know". So that's fun. Let's talk about learning!

Huge thanks to our Elephant of the Month Club members:

Susan Jones
Jill Jones
Duck
Howard Levine
Ron Jones
Brian Etheredge
Khristofor Saraga
Len Lanphar
Ken Arnold
Elaine Pratt
William (Bill) Boston
Chris Prentice
Jack Carlson
Christopher Lucas
Andrew Beals
Dov Zazkis
Hendrik Payer
Thomas Morley
Jacob Helwig
Davis Sprague
Alex Knauth
Braum Meakes
Hendrik Stüwe
Dan Bonelli
Kevin Boyce
Allyson
Scott Howarth
Luke
Kelly Christoffersen
Kevin Wilamowski
Symmetry
Donal Botkin
Dhruv Monga
Ken Jones
Obadiah Wright
Kobalent
Stephen Cook
Jesse Anderton
Jason Nebergall
Carlos Rendon
Lyan Porto
David Bartz
Sofia Sangiorgio
Aleksandar Milojković

And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Gabi Ghita, Gene Lushtak, Owen Campbell-Moore, Eugene Bulkin, Logan Jones, Oliver, Anna Work, Adam Neely, Rick Lees, Dave Mayer, Paul Quine, CodenaCrow, Arnas, Caroline Simpson, Michael Alan Dorman, Dmitry Jemerov, Michael McCormick, Blake Boyd, Luke Rihn, Charles Gaskell, Ian Seymour, Trevor Sullivan, Tom Evans, Elliot Jay O'Neill, Favrion The Man, JH, Chris Borland, David Conrad, Lamadesbois, Chris Chapin, Alex Atanasyan, Elliot Burke, Tim S., Elias Simon, Jerry D. Brown, Jake Lizzio, Todd Davidson, Ohad Lutzky, James A. Thornton, Brian Dinger, Peter Leventis, Stefan Strohmaier, Shadow Kat, Adam Wurstmann, Kelsey Freese, Aaron Epstein, Blake White, Chris Connett, Angela Flierman, Richard T. Anderson, Kevin Johnson, Kenneth Kousen, James, h2g2guy, W. Dennis Sorrell, Ryan, Matthew Kallend, Rodrigo "rrc2soft" Roman, Jeremy Zolner, Patrick Callier, Danny, Francois LaPlante, Volker Wegert, Joshua Gleitze, Britt Ratliff, Darzzr, Melvin Martis, Joshua La Macchia, Professor Elliot, Jozef Paffen, Charles Hill, Alexey Fedotov, Alex Keeny, Valentin Lupachev, John Bejarano, Roming 22, Gary Butterfield, Steve Brand, Rene Miklas, Andrew Engel, max thomas, Red Uncle, Peter Brinkmann, Doug Nottingham, Nicholas Wolf, Robert Beach, ZagOnEm, Naomi Ostriker, Alex Mole, Kaisai Morihito, Tuna, Mathew Wolak, T, Lincoln Mendell, Betsy, Tonya Custis, Dave Shapiro, Jacopo Cascioli, Sam Rezek, Matt McKegg, Beth Martyn, Lucas Augusto, Caitlin Olsen, NoticeMK, Evan Satinsky, RaptorCat, CoryC, Rafael Martinez Salas, Walther, Jigglypuffer, leftaroundabout ., Jens Schäfer, Mikely Whiplash, room34, Austin Amberg, Doug Lantz, Graeme Lewis, Jake Sand, Kayla Sparks, Max Glass, Francisco Rodrigues, Elizabeth, Michael Tsuk, Aditya Baradwaj, Matt Ivaliotes, Yuval Filmus, ThoraSTooth, Robert McIntosh, Brandon Legawiec, Brx, Jim Hayes, Evgeni Kunev, Hikaru Katayamma, Juan Madrigal, Alon Kellner, Özgür Kesim, Rob Hardy, Scott Albertine, Mark Henning, Patrick Chieppe, Eric Stark, David Haughn, Gordon Dell, Dave Hooper, Byron DeLaBarre, Matty Crocker, anemamata, Brian Miller, Lee-orr Orbach, Eric Plume, Kevin Pierce, Jon Hancock, רועי סיני, John Carter, Caleb Meyer, Conor Stuart Roe, Jason Peterson, Peggy Youell, Dragix PL, EJ Hambleton, Jos Mulder, Daryl Banttari, J.T. Vandenbree, Gary Evesson, Kottolett, Brian Stephens, Dylan Vidas, David Taylor, Cereus, Carlos Silva, John Castle, Wayne Robinson, Gabriel Totusek, SecretKittehs, Mnemosyne Music, AkselA, Philip Miller, Sam Plotkin, Sean Thompson, David MacDonald, Jeremiah Coleman, Nellie Speirs Baron, Charles R., Josh, Brian Davis, Eric Daugherty, The Gig Farmer, Sam, Hunter Embry, DialMForManning, Wayne Weil, Michael Wehling, darkmage, Jeff Bair, Thomas Morgan, Ludwick Kennedy, James, David Peterson, Bryan C. Mills, Ridley Kemp, Mark James, Bean, Paul, Jeremy Ryan Pierce, Milan Brezovsky, Edmund Horner, Daria Gibbons, TJ FUNCTION, and NinoDoko! Your support helps make 12tone even better!

Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold and Sofia Sangiorgio for proofreading the script to make sure this all makes sense hopefully!

[tone]

Some additional thoughts/corrections:

1) One thing I'm specifically trying to do here is distinguish between music theory the _concept_ and music theory the _institution._ I know it may seem odd to describe enculturation as "learning music theory" because it doesn't align with the values of the institution as represented in academic theory classes, but I view the concept of theory as being much broader and encompassing many more things than get institutional recognition. If that definition doesn't work for you, I understand. I believe the broader point remain, though, even if we disagree on terminology.

2) That thing about musical enculturation is also why you really shouldn't trust theorists who aren't intimately familiar with the music they're theorizing about. It takes time and effort to develop a good intuition for a specific kind of music, and without that you're just throwing random technical terms at the wall to see what sticks. That's not good theorizing.

3) When I talk about how explicit theory knowledge can help you produce music faster, I should note that I'm again talking about music theory the concept, not music theory the institution. This is where that vocabulary thing comes into play: Having a strong explicit musical vocabulary gives you a quick reference list of things to try when you get stuck. That doesn't have to come from a music theory class, but in my experience, prolific artists can usually describe a lot of the thought processes that go into their work.

[NintendoFan]

"It's because you're already really good at it (music theory). You just don't know all the words." summarizes it perfectly in my opinion.

[davidg]

As a trained musician friend occasionally said to me about the music I was writing before I had learned any theory: "You have great ideas, you just don't know how to spell them."

[GigglebunsUV]

I remember going back to old songs I wrote and seeing how all of it made so much sense given the knowledge of theory I know now. Just how often I used the same sorts of devices, harmonies, modes, etc.. It's all the same stuff I still use to this day, but I never knew that I was actually doing the same stuff.

[h.i.mcdunnough]

As a songwriter who has gone 95% of my "career" (lol) without knowing any theory: I can say intentionality is my favorite thing about getting into it. I'm thinking more about where I wanna go rather than finding a cool place I somehow ended up in.

[georgesdelatour]

You’ve missed out a third kind of theory. It’s the kind creative musicians invent for themselves, to inspire the music they haven’t yet written. Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition, Schoenberg’s method of composing with twelve notes, Bartok’s system of axial polarity, Arvo Pärt’s Tintinnabuli and Ornette Coleman’s system of Harmolodics are all examples of conceptual approaches musicians developed before they fully applied them to their own music. No doubt all these theories grew out of a set of instinctive musical preferences each musician already had. But by analysing their preferences, they were able to extend things to the point where they could enrich their music and even surprise themselves.

For instance, the first two of Messiaen’s modes (the whole-tone and diminished scales) had been in general use long before Messiaen began composing. He analysed their structural features, looked for additional scales with the same qualities, and found five new ones he could compose with. To do this, I’m guessing he had to step back from just jamming or “feeling it”, and apply a degree of conceptual abstraction (and yes, I know Messiaen was a precocious improvisor, but he was also a brilliant theorist and teacher too).

I’m not saying every musician needs to invent their own personal musical language the way Messiaen did. But developing this ability to abstract things and project them forward still might be useful for you, especially if you’re trying to free yourself from option-of-the-moment cliches.

[pereztube]

Unless youre literally just playing random notes on your instrument without intent, youre using music theory of some sort when you make music. It might not be the theory thats taught in music schools but its a theory of music nonetheless.

[nzubechukwu]

I started making music on my computer before I knew what a chord was.

[chaotik]

"a bit of a meme in music circles"

*draws loss*

[Producelikeapro]

Fantastic video! So relatable to everyone who has made music. You teach in such a unique and humble way! Hooked on your channel!

[AlystrZelland]

"You're probably not thinking "I'm going to go put that in a rock song""

That's exactly what I was thinking lolol it's the reason I watch this channel

[dio]

I think it really comes down to the difference between understanding and articulation. Being able to make or do a thing is different from being able to describe how and why you did it, which is mostly important when you want to do said thing frequently or in collaboration with other people.

[annoynymouse]

06:41 OMG... I really admire your "cultured" knowledge reflected on your drawings, and still you never cease to amaze me... Twig from Hilda? just wow!

[myless.]

There's a part of music that's very intuitive, especially melody writing. So while I do think Music Theory can be very useful, and musicians should understand the basics, I do you can write great music without it

[MychaelJones]

My college music professor would say "you need to know the rules in order to break them." I've always thought that perfectly summed up the reason for learning theory.

[LeducsOwnMusicShop]

As a guitar teacher, I completely agree and have been telling my students a very similar thing.
I always think of theory as basically a way of labelling as many of the different techniques and sounds that I play or hear. Without those labels, I may personally have a much harder time memorizing a piece of music or especially writing it down in a way I can return to later or show to others.
So while it certainly isn’t necessary, I do find it very important in how I listen to, play, write, or teach music.

[yarlodek]

I just learned it because I thought it was cool. Don’t care if I “have to” or not.

[RoninCatholic]

Notably, music was being made for millennia before any formal theory on it was written down.

[paulkyle]

That Jake Lizzio shoutout made my day
This guy totally deserves it

[GistOfItMedia]

"it's a lot easier to develop an intuition than an explanation"

Did you just perfectly diagonose the problem with education as the first world currently knows it???