MUSIC THEORY vs 'JUST FEEL IT': How Should You Write Music?

Many musicians seem to believe that you should write music 'by feel' and not think about theory, and many think the opposite; but who is right?

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[richardhunt]

Everyone has feelings about music and many people can imagine their own music, but that doesn’t mean they can play it. A bit of theory knowledge just helps you understand what you are doing so you don’t waste time fumbling around on the fretboard trying to find the sounds you want to play. It’s nothing to be afraid of. Music theory is your friend.

It’s like switching on the light in a dark room. It doesn’t tell you what to do, but it helps you to do what you want.

[darrylem]

Totally agreed! Thank you for this!
Without theory we ll just be smelling the food and not enjoying it's taste. I tried the only feelings approach for many years and this restricted my musical expression. I took a 1 year course in music theory and now I'm able to do a 1000 times more to enhance my playing and satisfy my listeners ears. Borrowed chord is an essential tool to give versatility to our music and wout theory this is just not possible... Just one eg and just my humble opinion. 🙏

[scottkidwellmusic]

When I started playing guitar many (many) years ago, I thought the only people that needed to know theory were jazz players. All I needed was three chords and the truth.
Now, here I am a few decades later trying to wrap my head around some basic and intermediate theory. I've played long enough that its a lot of connecting the dots, but sometimes the learning curve is steeper.
I appreciate your YouTube videos, and I've learned a lot from you and many others.

[tomorama]

nice. i always teach that theory is just the explanation of the sounds we already know and love. makes it easier to eliminate guess work and communicate with other musicians quickly

[innersense]

What you said is quite right.
Balancing is the right way.
Thanks.

[smrai]

OK, I play, I write, I noodle, I love theory too. It's why I love your courses. And each lesson gives me new ideas. Thanks.

[jansestak]

Great take on that old battle. Thank you!

[markusszelbracikowski]

After starting to learn a little bit of theory my mind was blown, but I can also say that I only GOT theory after playing for many years without it, then I was able to better connect the things together. Trying to learn theory first was a nightmare, so I ditched it for many many years, until I was ready. It was incredible to see that I simply already knew a LOT of theory without ever realizing just by playing and making mistakes.

[RJSPARX]

It's a good point made about how people, for example like those emphasizing "feel" or other excuses not to learn music theory tending to play the same type of music. The same type of "criticisms" I see from those people I see on videos like Tim Henson of Polyphia or Jason Richardson who both notoriously play fast complicated solos and passages. "Yea, it's fast, but there's no FEEL."

What's that person's definition of "FEEL?" Is it embellishments on interesting chords or original sounds? No? Or is it bends on the same notes in the same pentatonic scale? Usually.

So really what is "FEEL" if it all seems to lead down the same path? It sounds like prejudice based on personal taste. I mean how can someone definitively say what someone is feeling just be watching them play? 🤔 nothing wrong with taste, but trying to find something wrong with music that doesn't line up with personal interests seems very non constructive.

If only it were easier to convince people to keep their ears open for other styles. If they consistently look for their personal taste in all styles of music, they're going to find many types of music boring or confusing and come up with blanket comments like "there's no FEEL."

[thomaswalker]

This is the best way to learn and play music but most people don't understand the mix of both theory and practice. Great 👍👍

[robcerasuolo]

Thank you, good sir, for this video. To my mind, as much as I love getting into the weeds of theory, it still has to be useful for me to be able to use it (hold that thought). That's why I refer to "practical music theory." I insist that this level should be learned, if only to understand what has been done already, and be able to use it to do more stuff and add to (or try to add to) the Great Canon. 90% to 99% of all pop music can be created and recreated with a certain "practical" level of music theory. Back to the thought that I said to hold: it's not just a judgment call; it's a matter of RESULTS, and how to get them. Your explanation is one that I can use to help further make this case, and maybe one day make my own videos on "Practical Music Theory." So, once again, thank you for your sharp insights!

😆👍

[RandyBakkelund]

I feel like writing good music without knowing theory is "Happy Accidents" or trial and error or just jamming some people call it. With theory it seems like it is MUCH FASTER for me to write better music because I know how to label anything that I played. Theory is awesome, I can see though how it can be overkill. Practicing guitar more than studying it is one thing I can be guilty of not doing.

[siband]

Like the "...solution of the wave equation..." part 😀
What helped me a lot in understanding both guitar and theory was realizing that the guitar IS music theory
(encrypted in its strings, frets and standard tuning which encode symmetries found in theory)
and allows things to be understood more easily than on the piano from which it usually all starts using white keys.

P.S. in your exoticmetal (Instructions.pdf) should Hungarian minor have 7 instead of b7 in its formula?

[misterknightowlandco]

Theory for a guitarist is akin to a painter knowing how to mix colors to get other colors. Can you buy every color individually? Yeah but it costs more, takes up space, and you don’t learn the “why”. If you only want to use 4 colors all you need to do is how to get those 4 colors. If you only paint in b&w you don’t need colors at all. If you’re in an AC/DC cover band and that’s your end goal, you don’t need to know jazz chords. If you want to play prog metal… you might want to learn more than g d and a. As a kid all I wanted to learn was g d and a. Now I can’t stand it lol and I’m learning all suave cool chords.

[kage-fm]

i am wondering if all of this debate stems from a terminology problem: “theory” sounds like it is sort of removed from practice, and is some sort of purely academic exercise. (it also suggests a system of rules, which confuses people - eg “am i allowed to play this note in this key?”)

“music patterns” on the other hand communicates both immediate practical utility, and a space for academic exploration; and does this without communicating that certain other things are illegal.

no one would think that eg learning new drum patterns would turn you into a feelingless robot, and i suspect that people would feel the same way about learning new harmonic or melodic patterns (where by “patterns” i mean eg perfect cadences, dominant substations and the like)

[RattlesnakeJakey]

Love the video. I tend more towards feeling than theory but I find both helpful for different things. I don't think it's accurate to say one can't do x or y without theory because you absolutely can, you can create sounds that are very complex from a theoretical point of view without ever engaging with that perspective. That said, you can expand that idea, understand what you're doing and what might work best to build off of that if you have a decent grasp of the theory. If you make a song by feeling it you can build on it and expand your instincts with the help of theoretical concepts.

[macalienx]

I always played instruments without any knwolege of music theory. I work with what i have to create music. Now it will only depend of your goals and struggles. I do sometimes feel that theory could help to solve problems faster...

Is completly wrong to say you need to understand theory in order to make música and is also wrong say that music theory is useless.

[lukehewko]

The only thing I'll say is that there are certain pioneers of musical styles who I think did benefit from knowing zero theory. Chuck Schuldiner of Death wrote incredibly weird, chromatic, odd timing, yet somehow listenable music and I do have to wonder if he learned theory first if that would PERHAPS stifle his enormous creativity. I equate theory to tracking the foods you eat by counting calories. It's great, it's incredibly useful, however once you learn it, you can't unlearn it. It's a great thing to learn don't get me wrong, but you'll forever see the fretboard or keyboard or whatever differently.

[dane]

Whenever I meet someone who claims you don't need music theory at all to express your feelings, I ask them: "Why do you need the musical instrument then"?

[Gnophkehs]

If I can conceptualize something musical, it doesn't matter to me whether I can make my fingers wiggle the right way on this or that instrument. I have MIDI and Csound and multitrack recording and pitch and time correction and I can write and record things the way I intend them to sound. Being able to physically play something on an instrument is nice but not strictly necessary. Understanding an instrument, with its own quirks and limitations, and the various techniques that might be employed to stretch what can be done in it, or what really CAN'T be done on it in real life, can be inspiring -- but to dismissively invalidate such an understanding by saying something like "if you can't play it, you haven't really learned it" is gatekeeping nonsense. You might not enjoy some/most/all of the various kinds of music I write, but I do, and to say I don't "really" understand it when I very thoroughly do is ludicrous.

Furthermore, a lot of my enjoyment stems from the structures in theory. As one example, I appreciate the thirds and sixths in 19 equal divisions of the octave, and the subminor and supermajor options unavailable in the standard 12-tone system. I see that beauty like a sculpture or painting, but in an abstract mathematical structure.

You mention hammers, and I say I have explored the field of hammer technology, pored over the writings of the masters who have designed, forged, and employed hammers of all kinds, and found that I favor a 17.5" titanium hammer with a straight claw and a magnetic face. It may not be right for everyone or every job, but it's what suits my needs best -- and I have enjoyed the journey to discover that just as much as the result itself.

Theory is fun for its own sake!