So You Want to Learn Music Theory....

 

Many people I meet tell me they would like to learn about music theory. I often quip that it's not "theory," it's fact. But theory is what people refer to as the "system" upon which our music is built. (Of course I include theory with my piano students, so I am showing them what I believe is the best way to learn.) 

They ask if they should get a book or go to the internet. The answer is no and no. A textbook is going to be quite dry. More importantly, unless you can apply what you read, it won't be much use. And the best way by far to apply what you learn about theory is to play it on the piano. When I was at Manhattan School of Music, all the non-piano majors were required to take a few semesters of piano because basic piano skills are necessary to learn theory, among other things.

If you want to learn the basics of theory, I recommend the following. It all involves basic piano skills, so if you don't have those yet, you will need to do that first.

Phase I

1. Familiarize yourself with all the major and minor keys. Our music (I am speaking of the Western World) is almost all based on "keys." To be in a given key means to be based on that scale. Therefore, you will need to get familiar with all the major and minor scales. Almost all the music you play will be based on these two types of scale. However, I do not recommend spending hours and hours on this. Even if you play a G# minor scale a hundred times, it doesn't mean you will suddenly find it easy to play a piece in G# minor. Please see my previous post on scales and do them as I suggest, which is in moderation, and not worrying about specific fingering. It does not necessitate that you read music.

2. Learn all the major and minor chords (triads). However, you must do it in a way which really shows you the "system," not just purchase a chord chart that shows you them written out. Again, please see my much earlier post on chords to learn the very specific way I teach them. My method does not require that you read music yet.

3. Get a copy of the Circle of Fifths and begin to memorize it. Keep a copy at your piano so you always have it to refer to. You can even post it on your fridge or somewhere you'll see it all the time. The Circle of Fifths is not just for learning the key signatures of all 12 major and minor keys; it is a picture of how our musical system is organized. The interval of a fifth plays a huge role in our music. When you are playing a piece of music, even a fairly simple one, you will start to notice that music likes to move by fifths. Not always, of course, but a lot. In the course of playing simple music, whether by ear or by reading, you will learn the importance of the I, IV and V chords. These are all related by fifths.

Phase II

1. Learn the other two types of triads, diminished and augmented, and all five kinds of 7th chords. Again, it is important to do this in the right way; otherwise you may never really know them well. See my earlier post.

2. In Phase I you played all the scales. But playing the E-flat minor scale doesn't mean you'll find it easy right away to play a piece in E-flat minor. Reading in a key with 6 flats may be daunting for quite a while. But what you can do to start preparing yourself is to improvise in every key. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just a melody and a few chords that would occur commonly in that key. If you can improvise in a key it means you can "think" in that key. It isn't actually thinking, of course, it's more like speaking. If you learn to speak French, at first you will always translate in your mind from English to French. But if you become fluent in French, you may find you actually start to think in French. So it is with music; you can become "fluent" in all the keys.

You will notice that neither Phase I or Phase II involves reading music. Yes, you can learn all the basics without reading actual music notation. When you learn to read music, it will help drive home some of what you have learned, but it's technically not necessary.

Voila! If you can do all of the above you have probably about 80% of what you need to know about music theory. And hopefully you applied what you learned along the way. The other 20% would involve learning about musical forms, other more complex chords, possibly the other scales that people now refer to as "modes," and a few other items. 

Can Musicality be Taught?

 

We often refer to someone who plays (or sings) very well as "talented." If they play in a way which emotionally affects the listener, which moves them, perhaps, the player or singer may be said to be "musical." What does that actually mean?

A pianist, for example, could be quite accomplished and have impressive technique. But if their playing doesn't affect people emotionally, it might be said that the pianist isn't as "musical" as one would hope. Conversely, someone might not have a big technique, and play mostly simpler pieces, but could still play them in a way which the listeners find moving.

To be "musical" means to have a high degree of sensitivity to, and awareness of, the subtleties and "inner workings" of music. They hear nuances that the average person does not. These nuances affect the person playing very deeply, and, as such, they can also project those nuances so the listener can be made aware of them as well.

We've probably all heard someone who plays without musicality. It just sounds rote, even robotic, and uninteresting. The person is playing "the notes" but doesn not seem to go any deeper than that. Unfortunately, many teachers are happy if their students can just play the notes and rhythm, and don't encourage the student to reach deeper. They might just say that student just isn't "talented" that way.

We often assume that one is just born with that intangible quality of musicality, or not. I agree that people seem to be "born" with differing levels of musical sensitivity, but nevertheless, regardless of how much you have to start out, I believe you can improve in your musicality.

Over the years I have taught hundreds of beginners. While there are a small number who play with a lot of feeling right away, I have found that most do not. They are so absorbed in learning the many skills and the advanced coordination needed to play the piano that the musicality just doesn't happen. Many even believe that it is a good idea to just learn "the notes" first and put "the feeling" in later. Some so-called experts will tell you this is what you need to do. However, I disagree with that. If you don't start right away incorporating musical expression in your playing, you may never actually do it.

I find that the key to getting students to play musically is to make it more physical. That seems like a contradiction, doesn't it? The word emotion has the word motion in it. When you hear beautiful music, you may find you want to move your body to it, even in subtle ways. You probably don't want to sit as stock-still as a soldier! So when you play music, you also need to move. That doesn't mean you have to wave your arms wildly around. You will see some pianists do a lot of movements, which in fact, may not add to the musicality, but have just become a habit for that pianist. But likewise you never see a great pianist who just sits rigidly. I find that as soon as I can get my student to get their torso involved, their playing will be better. There is a feeling of wanting to "lean in" to the music.

For some students, I ask them to imagine how they would dance to the piece they are playing. For others, a visual image may be helpful. (I do not do a lot with visual imagery, because most music is intended to be just "what it is" and not a representation of something visual.) I ask them to imagine they are "speaking" to someone they love through the music. Whatever works, the student usually needs to be reminded to fully engage with the music emotionally. This needs to become the norm for them, not the exception. The more they engage, the more the music will effect them, which in turn will make them more engaged, and so on, in a self-perpetuating cycle. Like anything else, you must actually DO IT, if you want to play more musically. You can't be saving it for some time in the future.

I can't tell you how to respond emotionally to a given piece of music. That is up to you. As a teacher, I can help you develop the tools -- that is, the technique -- to say what you want to say with your music. But you must have something to say. You must bring the whole of your life's experience -- your joys and sorrows, triumphs and heartbreaks -- into your playing.