Music is more than just sounds. Music is a unique phenomenon that touches and affects us in ways that nothing else can.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What is the difference between music and noise?
- What is the difference between music and speech?
- What is the difference between music and an alarm clock, or fire truck siren, or an explosion?
- What is the difference between different styles of music (classical, blues, jazz, rock, etc…)?
- What makes music from different cultures distinguishable from each other? (American/Western, Indian, Asian, African, etc…)
- What is it about music that makes us call it music when we hear it, no matter what style it is or where it’s from?
The answer to these questions is: structure.
Music theory is the study of that structure.
You don’t have to know music theory to know what music is when you hear it. You don’t necessarily have to know music theory in order to be able sing or play an instrument. And you don’t need to know very much music theory in order to even read music. We can all sing, or bang a drum, or strum a guitar. And it is possible to learn how to read music without knowing why the notes on the page are arranged the way that they are.
Learning music theory will reveal deeper answers to the questions above. It will also enhance and unlock your abilities to play and understand your instrument, perform music in harmony with others, and even write your own music.
But first, you must learn the ABCs.