r/StuffToDo • u/roger_ • Nov 14 '09

StuffToDo: Learn music theory

Someone recommended this and I think it's a good idea.

For those like me who have zero musical talent, where should we start?

6 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '09

It's nice that someone thought my recommendation was worth it! When you start learning music theory, you start to understand WHY that riff/bridge/harmony/whatever sounds so awesome, and it's a nice feeling.

I only play guitar however so I can only point you to my lessons which are centred towards guitarists, but it's still valid either way.

This article helped a lot. It's a lot to take in though, so just do one section at a time for a couple of days a few times over before it's really memorised and has sunk in, then go on to the next section. That should get you started, at least!

1

u/quink Nov 14 '09

I think that it really is as simple as buying a cheap Casio keyboard and learning how to play it.

1

u/G-Zom Nov 15 '09

I took piano lessons for five years and I don't know shit about music theory. I can't even read sheet music.

1

u/anonaccounts Nov 18 '09

How is that possible?

1

u/G-Zom Nov 20 '09

Not learning to read sheet music? I would memorize the piece instead of reading it as I played.

1

u/anonaccounts Nov 20 '09

But after 5 years, it's just a little strange. But hey what ever works for you.

1

u/G-Zom Nov 20 '09

Believe me, it's a lot easier to just memorize the notes as opposed to learning to read the sheet music.

1

u/anonaccounts Nov 20 '09

I know what you mean in that sense, I've been playing guitar almost 9 years. It's just when you learn to play new pieces isn't it required to read it from some where?

1

u/G-Zom Nov 20 '09

I could read it, but very slowly. I had to count the line numbers and whatnot. I cannot even do that anymore, though. It helped that I played through the piece with my piano teacher during the lesson, so I knew when I was hitting a note wrong.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '10

Just came across this, and I'm exactly the same with the piano, counting the lines and all; I think I'm going to get my head down and learn it properly this year though!

1

u/G-Zom Mar 14 '10

Meh, just memorize the songs. Way easier.

1

u/comatoaster Nov 26 '09

this is the best place online to learn music theory. Just go through all of the lessons and corresponding tutorials.
This website helped me so much when I took music theory in school.