Dave Wirth
Sometimes I shout myself a little hoarse with this whole music theory thing. I really, really, don't think it is appropriate to assume that every single person out there in the world needs to know music theory in order to simply play a chord. I have said it time and time again, and I will continue to for as long as I am involved with music education: Anyone can learn to play the guitar without knowing a shred of music theory.
In a previous post, I stated that about 80% of the people I teach just do not want to learn music theory. The other people do, which of course I happily oblige. The mistake that many guitar teachers make, either in person or online, is that every person must learn music theory to play guitar.
Yuck.
I am basing my rather sharp opinions on the way I learned guitar. I will share: I had no instructors (or online lessons either!). All I had were friends who played and showed me a thing or two, and Van Halen. I wanted lessons. I wanted to learn. I didn't really get the chance until college. By that point, I knew music theory was something I needed to know. After all, it was fun. "Oh- that's why that chord progression sounds cool. Sweet." I heard it, and then I seeked the music theory to back it up. To this day, that is my approach to teaching guitar.
When learning music, it's my opinion that it's better to experience it without complication. The ear needs to hear the music. The body needs to feel rhythm. The fingers need to feel the strings. The muscle memory has to develop. Music just has to be there. Music theory is nice to know if one is curious about it. If someone doesn't want to be taught music theory however, and if they are forced to, then music theory will build a wall right in the middle of the creative spirit. Not fun.
If you absolutely crave learning music theory, it's good to learn it. Do it! But if you don't crave it, simply allow yourself to experience playing music to it's fullest. There is plenty of time later for learning more technical aspects, and it does nobody any good to feel guilty about not knowing music theory until that point.
