When I Started Playing guitar my first “lessons” were to play a couple of chords back and, adding a new Chord or two each week. This eventually led to needing a guitar instruction book. I made the journey from Crafton to Downtown where “Buckel Music” was located. While there I inquired about lessons and soon found myself having a fascinating conversation about the effectiveness of Music Theory. As I spoke with Robert Doak he would demonstrate his ability to quickly produce any style of music simply by knowing what musical components it consisted of. From that day on I was making the journey downtown every week. So while all the other guys were studying with one of the local guitar shop guys I was studying music theory and learning how to apply the materials to the guitar. And what a difference these concepts began to make.

I gradually started playing improvised solos over simple chord changes. This led to me creating chord progressions and composing simple tunes. Understanding these concepts allowed me to begin to recognize sounds by giving them a theoretical name which quickly produced the ability to transcribe songs. I found that as the knowledge increased, so did my playing ability. Improvising became easier, and soon enough I was able to participate in almost any musical situation and feel right at home knowing what to do.

Those who have learned to play strictly by ear usually find themselves, after several years, stuck in a stylistic rut. I’ve heard from older students that everything they play sounds the same. When they’re confronted with a chord progression on paper, or that they’ve never heard before they find themselves just listening. Those moments can be easily remedied with even a small amount of theory. The one important aspect is the application and execution of the concepts, to the instrument. It becomes more than just “knowledge”. Achieving this goal takes nothing more than a daily practice routine of scales, chord forms, and rhythms. As these elements are the tools of music, a solid understanding is like a hammer and screwdriver in a carpenters box.