Why are you studying theory?

For me I find it quite fascinating how music works, something so mathematical and logical can be so moving and yet allows for so much creativity. And I also want to be able to write my own songs, the more basic principles I know the better my songs should be.

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Hi Justin and Team,
at first, I am grateful that this option of learning exists. First I started it 2009 already but stopped theory because I could play what I wanted based on the videos you published like ā€žWish you were hereā€œ and others and lots of explanation videos, also full of theory :wink:

I bought songbooks from bands I loved and it worked, but some content was not able for me to be understood. I did transscriptions on songs I could not find books on (one I sent to you years ago :wink:
But after while I wanted to move from replay songs to want to play the music that is in my head. Just for myself so far. But I stuck adding the right chords and progressions to the initial sparks I played from my mind. Also a friend showed me some details of theory and I wanted to learn it and digest so it could flow into my fingers.
I also love improvising to songs but it sometimes is hard to find the right flow and notes.
All this is why I decided to pick up again and finish your course, to see where it will take me.
I love the way you do it and it fits perfectly to the way I learn, to my own speed.
Btw. I am 58 now and I think it is never too late to learn guitar. :slight_smile:
Thank you folks, I love you.
Klaus

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Hi,
The reason I want to learn more about music theory is to be able to understand what Iā€™m playing & whyā€¦ rather than just play the scale shapes & chords that I know.
Iā€™ve been picking up guitars for around 20 years and had only started learning theory when I had lessons from a great local teacher. The reason I stoppedā€¦ unfortunately life got in the way of that & until last year I havenā€™t picked up a guitar for around 10 years.
My Big Goalā€¦ Well, I think Iā€™m a bit old (51) to be starting a band now & none of my friends are into guitar so Iā€™d just like to be able to sit down with my Telecaster and improvise The Blues until my fingers bleed.

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Hi people,
For me, I hitted a wall. Almost 5 years ago - ad i turned 50 - I decided that if I ever wanted to learn guitar (30+ years dreaming about it, lots of frustration I never continued at 18 yo) it has to be now or it would be never. Bought gear, some books, but as I learned I did not find any structure in it. Did try 2 other well known websites but while the first one was like preparing for sitting at a campfire between 18yo ppl (no longer my cup of tea) the other was packed with courses and choices, so goodbye structure. It looks like justin can offer this. I have a book about music theory (the yellow ā€˜for dummiesā€™ kind) but they stop at seventh chords and somehow I can not see how to put this in practical use. I just want to be able to play my guitar, by preference a lot of improvisation trying to express how I feel at that moment. I feel this would somehow improve my state of mind, but I lack the knowledge to do this. A other community just gave me the insight that learning 500 chord grips will not do the trick, so, here I amā€¦

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I started learning to play about 10 years ago, but work got in the way, luckily thatā€™s not a problem anymore. In 2020 I started ā€œplayingā€ again, this time with a couple of guys (they are really supportive as I try to play along with them), then realised that I needed to go back to the beginning and found Justin on the internet. Started the music course from the beginning and was immediately hooked. Then I found I wanted to understand music theory. Why? So, itā€™s not just learning by rote, I want to understand how it all fits together, the goal would be to be able to listen to a song and work out how to play it without any other help. Oh, plus to be able to jam well with my new guitar buddies!

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I was around 30 when I started Justinā€™s course and it was the first time in my life that I studied anything music-related seriously. Unfortunately, musical education in Hungarian schools is virtually non-existent unless you go to a music school, and ā€œsingingā€ depressing folk songs for 8 years is not something I would call education.

So when I found out that Justin offers a theory course as well, I jumped at the opportunity. Iā€™ve got no pretensions of reaching the proficiency of musicians who started at the age of 4 or 5 , but Iā€™d like to understand the underlying logic. For me, itā€™s part of my curiosity about music, itā€™s not just sounds and motions to me but also a method of thinking about things. Itā€™s like a language, and you canā€™t learn a language without studying its grammar.

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I grew up with deep appreciation for music but no ability to create it or understanding of theory. I have found immersing myself in those areas now to be thrilling even just for the sake of constantly learning. Iā€™m excited to understand music theory inside and out and see where it takes me with my guitar playing.

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I want to understand what it is Iā€™m playing, and why, rather than blindly following tutorials which tell me what chords to play.

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My day job is a software engineering and Iā€™ve recently realized even completely burnt out from dealing with work I can still play music. It seems to use a different set of brain power and itā€™s very therapeutic for me. So Iā€™ve recently replaced the time I would normally spend on video games with playing guitar. I actually know quite a bit of music theory from doing 7 years of playing trombone in jazz band, marching band, high school music theory classes, piano and lurking around music composition channels on YouTube for years now. I stayed away from guitar when I was younger because; I didnā€™t have the money, had friends way better than me that played, and wasnā€™t really into making it a competition. Iā€™ve since learned to play for me and play the music I like.

Anyway, my goal for this is to refresh my theory knowledge and apply that knowledge to playing guitar. Ear training and transcribing are important topics for me as well since Iā€™m fairly out of practice but do have exposure as part of my music theory classes in high school.

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I want to learn theory simply because I want to do more than just memorize other peopleā€™s songs. I want to be able to play some acoustic songs alone, but be capable of jamming in a band setting with confidence. I would love to be able to write my own songs and express myself through the music. To be able to transcribe music and play be ear would be fantastic as well (already doing the ear training course).
It looks like I find a great place to accomplish those things.

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I want to be a know musician in medicine music circles and I want to write many great songs others love to play and sing.
Iā€™ve gotten stuck in the past with the worksheet type of work. It either seemed too simple or like too much and Iā€™d just rather play.
I am committing now because Iā€™ve had that same spark of inspiration when writing a song and finding a shining chord progression because I knew the chords in the key. I was thrilled with applying that knowledge. I am beginning to find a true passion in learning theory.

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Welcome and congratulations on getting into writing. Thatā€™s more than a lot of us feel we can do. Hope to hear your songs sometime,

I loved music in school and I was fortunate to have excellent teachers. I studied voice and recorder in grade school. I took piano up until grade two until my beautiful and folksy hIghschool teacher went to university. I took voice and clarinet in hIghschool and played in the band and sang in our hIghschool musicals. In hIghschool I started on the guitar. Then I went to University and music took a back seat. When I graduated and got my first real job I took my first paycheque and bought a real guitar. I took lessons off and on but work and family always got in the way. Now with my last real paycheque, I bought a taylor guitar. I now play with two friends. My goal is to play house concerts with them and to sing. I also would love to write songs. I am a TV producer so writing is also one of my loves. More than anything I want to sing and to be able to play the guitar and the piano to back me up. I also love producing so I am playing with recording and laying down tracks and arranging. COVID has given me the time to get back to my love and your courses are helping me to finally move forward. My advice to others is no matter how busy you are with life find some time for music.

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I feel I want to learn theory, to be well rounded player. I want to be able to put together in my head how things fit together, and to make sense of it. My goal is to just play and enjoy the journey, play songs, possibly play around with making my own music. Theory is just another aspect of getting there, not only that it will help with my technical abilities as well. Iā€™m new to all this, but 2 years in learning. Iā€™m getting better with some songs, still working on the chord changes. Just having fun!

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I played many years ago and didnt look to hard at theory.

Ultimately it restricted my ability to jam and create music, so Iā€™ll be learning this time around

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I like to understand things around me. I also love playing guitar. Iā€™ve learned some basic chords and songs by myself as a kid (pre-internet era) but I never understood how the music works.

I was fascinated to discover mathematical rules behind the music and Iā€™d love to learn all about it.

I hope this knowledge would give me the freedom to improvise and simply to enjoy even more guitar and music in general. Iā€™d like to be able to play blues and maybe even jazz.

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The reason I am learning the Theory is because you bring it in a light, fun and easy way. When I used to be a drummer teachers always use to say that I needed to learn notes. But that was never fun, or even understandable for me. You bring it in such a way that you WANT to learn all about it. And ofcourse I do it because I want to understand music better and I would love to increase my knowledge and learn to be a better musician. An who knows, maybe play in a band in the future :smiley:

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I want to learn music theory to understand what I am playing on the guitar. How the notes and chords relate to what I am learning.

I have learned how to read some music but on bagpipes and not the guitar as it is so different. I stoped playing the pipes on a health problem so now want to learn as much as I can.

I want to be able to read guitar music notation and where to play the notes on which string for a particular piece of music. One of my reasons is that I want to learn instrumentals and play with sheet music as well as tabs, so if I can get better by learning this then I will be made up. I am 73 now and started using your tuition a while ago and I am willing to learn. Thank you. Regards. Chas.

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It was a long time coming, but my love more music has grown so incredibly (especially in this most recent year) that I decided to get serious about music composition and song writing. Iā€™ve told myself that if I practice guitar consistently enough over the next several months (until May), I will buy myself a piano as I have also been wanting to learn this instrument. I have already purchased FL Studio 20 (the Fruity version for $99) and an online course on the software to learn it.

I have these pieces of music in my head that I want to share so much! However, trying to transcribe them is difficult and I hope music theory will provide (at least in part) the answer that I am looking for when composing my music. Thank you Justin for this content! I have already learnt so much in the last 2 months of playing guitar and from your music theory content.

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I want to read those music notations related to guitar while someone covers a Pink Floyd song, huge fan want to learn to play PF solos, it bounces above my head when someone talks about how they play all technical stuff, so I want to learn theory.