Music theory encompasses chords and how they are built and structured, understanding and building scales, building a melodic passage, learning about rhythmic meters, and studying ear training. Most music programs in a typical college level curriculum include the study of music theory. Many students presently don't want to spend the time on music theory because they feel that it doesn't relate to their instrument and does not make sense to them.
Except for people that are intellectuals, most people believe music theory is boring and needlessly complicated and music is supposed to be fun, not a mathematical exercise; and it's hard enough training the muscles of the hand and learning to sight-read without bothering with all that theory. Music theory helps tremendously with training your ear and gives you very enhanced improvisational and compositional powers and learning chords and how to play them is a very valuable tool for the pianist.
Unless you have perfect pitch, you need theory to truly gain a sharp ear. And, even if you are one of the rare ones who has perfect pitch, you still need theory in order to enhance your relative pitch and your sense of melodic and harmonic structure so you can compose, improvise, and perform with depth and dexterity. Just because you can hear a note and name it doesn't mean you understand it sufficiently, just like being able to read notes and play them back doesn't automatically give you great dexterity or allow you to write a great symphony.
Imagine listening to someone reading out loud using no expression or emotion, with a lot of hesitation. Still, they are able to read and speak the words. The problem is that they do not sound good because there is no understanding of the words they are articulating.
Even if they know the meanings of all or most of the words, the true meaning and all of the mental and emotional subtleties contained in the content are going over their head. They would do so much better if they actually knew what they were reading about. It's the same with a musician.
No matter if you have perfect pitch and are naturally gifted with dexterity, the confidence you will gain from knowing why certain notes should fit together will affect other people who hear them. Most music students are required to study music theory as it is a basic fundatmental skill they must learn. They must learn why music sounds the way it does and how it is put together. - 15359
Except for people that are intellectuals, most people believe music theory is boring and needlessly complicated and music is supposed to be fun, not a mathematical exercise; and it's hard enough training the muscles of the hand and learning to sight-read without bothering with all that theory. Music theory helps tremendously with training your ear and gives you very enhanced improvisational and compositional powers and learning chords and how to play them is a very valuable tool for the pianist.
Unless you have perfect pitch, you need theory to truly gain a sharp ear. And, even if you are one of the rare ones who has perfect pitch, you still need theory in order to enhance your relative pitch and your sense of melodic and harmonic structure so you can compose, improvise, and perform with depth and dexterity. Just because you can hear a note and name it doesn't mean you understand it sufficiently, just like being able to read notes and play them back doesn't automatically give you great dexterity or allow you to write a great symphony.
Imagine listening to someone reading out loud using no expression or emotion, with a lot of hesitation. Still, they are able to read and speak the words. The problem is that they do not sound good because there is no understanding of the words they are articulating.
Even if they know the meanings of all or most of the words, the true meaning and all of the mental and emotional subtleties contained in the content are going over their head. They would do so much better if they actually knew what they were reading about. It's the same with a musician.
No matter if you have perfect pitch and are naturally gifted with dexterity, the confidence you will gain from knowing why certain notes should fit together will affect other people who hear them. Most music students are required to study music theory as it is a basic fundatmental skill they must learn. They must learn why music sounds the way it does and how it is put together. - 15359
About the Author:
Georgia Reader writes for PlayPianoGuide.com, which is a site that reviews the most recent and most successful piano courses currently online. Music theory is mandatory for piano students to learn as well as learning the notes and how to play the instrument.
