Hi,
Im a beginner accoustic player thats slowly improving. Id appreciate some advice on what beginner & intermediate level of music theory i should be focusing on. Thereās so much and itās easy to be sidtracked by it all.
Cheers
Bruce
Iād suggest starting with Justinās Practical Music Theory Course on the website. The first 2 grades are free(18 lessons) and like all Justinās lessons they are easy to understand and apply to your guitar playing.
Follow the lessons in order and donāt get side tracked.
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I think this really depends on what interests you. If theory actually fascinates you, or if you want to be able to converse articulately with people who play instruments other than guitar, or you want to understand the fundamentals from which all other knowledge is derived, or you want to be able to answer innocent questions such as - I donāt know - why do frets get smaller towards one end of the guitar but not the other, then you probably need to look elsewhere, such as books on theory or maybe some instrument-independent course on YouTube. Justinās course is mainly guitar lore.
Youāve obviously havenāt looked at Justinās PMT course. Music theory is music theory and Justinās course if not Guitar Lore. Itās music theory.
The course covers chord construction, scales, mode and everything else that music theory teaches musicians that play any musical instrument.
He just happens to teach it using a guitar and a piano.
And why the frets get closer together as you go up the neck has nothing to do with music theory.
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What you consider obvious is not my concern and I am not interested in arguing with you about any of these points. Iāve offered one view and youāve offered another. Accept it.
Iām sure Justinās course is as good as any but Iām going to offer my opinion on learning music theory which Iām sure will be widely disagreed with!
My take was to largely avoid it for the first couple of years. I took the view that there was no point in me putting my limited spare time into learning theory that I didnāt have the playing skills to do anything with. And the question of how much spare time you have is important. Will time spent learning theory come out of your practice time?
Itās not that I learned no theory at all. I can find notes on the fretboard, Iām familiar with the major scale and how other scales are derived from it but scales arenāt yet part of my playing time so I understand scales without having them committed to memory right now.
Like I say I do expect a lot of pushback against this view. Itās just my opinion and what has worked for me. This year I anticipate having more free time so will look to absorb some theory, Iāve not rejected its value entire, just a question of when was the right time for me
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I pretty much agree, Matthew.
During Blim, I had access to the theory course but only had a quick look through then forgot about it.
Justinās guitar lessons are littered with theory and so Iāve picked up a fair amount along the way.
I had a very basic understanding before I started with guitar and I think learning it on a need to know basis is the best way for me.
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I took the pmt from justinās site and did three years in school, learning theory, once a week, for 3 hours.
Both have helped me A LOT! I canāt stress enough how beneficial it is to have an understanding of music theory, even when you are just starting out.
Where to start is another thing, but i can only say: the basics.
Whatās a stave? Whatās a bar? Whatās a note? Where do these notes go on the stave? What are time signatures? etc, etcā¦
Later, youāll notice that, for instance, when someone says, āoh hey, this song is in E majorā, youāll automatically be able to identify the notes, chords and qualities of the chords you can play in that key.
A very, very usefull skill to have, amongst others.
I took a quick look around and found musicca.
Might be a good starting point, in combo with justinās pmt.
Interesting topic 
I am in the beginning of the intermediate stage after roughly 4 years in guitar-land. I am not really fond of learning theory and did not jet do the PMT course. But after all those guitar lessons, clubs, random YT videos, etc. you do pick some theoretical stuff as well in that time.
But after all that time I also understand that I will eventually have to really dig into that!
Still - my time for practice is very limited and I still like to use it more for actual guitar playing then for theory studying.
And lately I am thinking more and more about the new music theory appā¦ This way I could use free time when I am not at home with my guitar, to do a little theory and improve my guitar path progressā¦
Hi Bostjan And Bruce ,
There is certainly a lot to learn from Justinās (hands on) theory learning course without guitar, but the great thing about this theory course compared to everything I have heard and the few that I have seen myself is that you really learn the theory with your guitar in your hands ā¦ 
you play the guitar and learn the theory at the same time and learning theory in this way accelerates the ability to play the guitar ā¦ Justin calls this the only āshort cutā that is really good for you ā¦
The hour I heard this from Justin that this was a āshort cutā (fortunately at the beginning of my guitar trip) I signed up ā¦ But it is very nice if the barree chords go a bit smoothly, I was able to do that quickly, so that makes a big difference. 
Greetings and have fun learning and playing at the same time 
Ps:I have never had or seen piano theory or played it for more than 12 days till i get a guitar in my hand ā¦but after about half way through this guitar course I could let see my wife when she first startedā¦so much to my own surpriseā¦I was able to show all the chords I knew on the guitar on the piano and the standard major and minor scales 
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Thatās been my experience with Justinās music theory course so far.
I have to also agree with both Jack and Stitch. I have been using Justinās music theory course (I paid the lifetime course too, I think that it is that good). For me as a beginner the most beneficial thing for me was learning the notes on the neck first, which I believe is theory in guitar form. Knowing notes, A-G and repeating them, how sharps and flats go in between each notes (minus BC and EF which go together) has been really helpful in making sense of what I am doing.
Take what I am about to type as a grain of salt, but I donāt believe it is AS important to focus on in the very beginning, I would say like year - year and a half, just learning how to make basic chords shapes and change between them is way more valuable way to spend your time, but once you start knowing how to play a considerable amount, the next step would be theory. Especially soloing. Some never learn theory and can play amazing, but for me I have found it helpful to connect what I am doing (I also have a logical mind and how I learn the best)
To sum up learn notes on the neck, what notes are and how they work in western music, then learning keys and what notes go in those keys after that to start. This was most helpful for me, but not everyone is the same, so donāt take this as gospel by any means.
I agree with āstitchā and donāt understand the need to become so aggressive or controversial - if you donāt want to learn music theory then donāt. But donāt call it something it isnāt (Guitar lore?) Learning about chords and how they are built is knowledge that transfers to other instruments as well, because it is about how the Western system of music āworksā. I strongly believe (and experienced) that understanding how the system applies to your guitar will greatly benefit your playing. Justinās course is very well structured and it accompanies the course lessons. As it is called PRACTICAL music theory, everything covered is applied to the guitar right away and played, so I feel there is no real reason to choose between one or the other, do both at your pace and enjoy the insights.
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