Intro To Music Theory - Steve Vai

In short...

This document is a guide to the fundamentals of music theory for the aspiring guitar player.

Also check out this webinar interview: Vaideology with Steve Vai

In long...

Do you need to know music theory to be a good musician? That’s one of the commonly asked questions I hear when speaking to aspiring guitarists. It seems to be a source of confusion and concern for many. Here’s something to ponder: whatever you are interested in, you will naturally seek out to understand because you are interested in it. If you find yourself fascinated with understanding the language of music, nothing will stop you from seeking it out and making it part of your musical vocabulary.

But, if you are not interested in understanding music theory, chances are, you will struggle through the tedious process of employing discipline and memorizing things that may eventually be only nominally helpful at best. The good news is that it’s not the academics of music that will make you an effective musician; of vital importance is your creative imagination and your enthusiasm for a good idea. Perhaps the most powerful connective tool to your instrument is the quality of your inner musical ear. This is what manifests the invisible into the physical.

There are many who couldn’t care less about knowing anything regarding the academics of music, but are powerful music creators nonetheless (I refer to music theory and technique as the “academics” of music).

Then there are those who have a strong desire to master the language of music, but the whole process seems overwhelming and intimidating. And some may even feel embarrassed that they are virtually musically illiterate and have a quiet but insidious belief in their head that they just aren’t smart enough to comprehend it. Whatever you believe will be true to you... until you change your mind about it.

Some people can be very critical and may tell you that, if you understand music theory, it will compromise your ability to “play from the heart.” I would recommend not buying into that premise. This may or may not be the case. The trick is in finding the balance.

And some people may start to study the language of music and realize its vast hidden potential in unlocking deep creativity in their musical imagination; they discover that it’s not that complicated at all, it makes sense, and feels very natural to them with a little study. They start to see the infinite creativity it allows, in ways that not understanding music would never be able to unlock. In this case, it’s not uncommon to develop a voracious appetite for the study of music theory. It’s all good.

The question is: What do you want?

Everybody has a different set of desires and abilities in understanding things at various levels. Some people are more intellectual thinkers than artistic thinkers, and that’s fine. You can always choose to develop your skills in various areas that are not natural to you, but a good rule of thumb is to follow your enthusiasm exclusively.

“Follow Your Bliss” ~ Joseph Campbell

If a very intellectually gifted person absorbs the depths of music theory, they may find themselves creating complex theoretical music for the sake of fascinating themselves with their own intellect. The music they create may inevitably sound like... well, meandering intellectualized exercises. And that’s fine, too, if that’s what they want to do. There’s creative artistic value in that for some listeners, and, if it’s fulfilling for the composers, it’s a win-win.

Since as far back as I can remember remembering, I always had a deep fascination with the written language of music. On paper, it looked like beautiful art to me. It felt like a warm, safe place (a bizarre analogy, I know). It was this mysterious language that I instinctively knew could unlock my musical expressions. To be able to write a composition for a large group of people by starting with a blank piece of score paper, with its infinite possibilities for inventiveness, was absolutely spellbinding to me. I always had an intense desire to understand it fully and master it completely. Although I’m still a work in progress—because the evolution of music theory is infinite—I so much enjoy being able to use what I do know, and I still continue to study it.

Besides taking up the accordion at nine years of age (just like all good Italian boys from Long Island), my serious studies in music theory started in seventh grade, when I took a music theory class that was taught by a guy who I considered brilliant: Bill Westcott. This is where I learned the fundamentals and much more. It wasn’t until I met Joe Satriani when I was 12 years old and started taking guitar lessons with him that I began to understand how to apply this music theory to the guitar to unlock some of its mysteries, as compared to composing for various players. Joe took the same theory classes with Bill as I did, perhaps four years or so before me. Although Joe possesses a high degree of intellect and musical understanding, his inner melodious heart uses music theory to do his inspired bidding.

When I attended Berklee College of Music after high school, I was able to delve more into the study of music theory, particularly in the jazz idiom, and classes with Wes Hensel and Mike Metheny were very helpful. My attraction to the music of Frank Zappa was supreme because in him I saw it all being done the way I always wanted to do it, but perhaps with different notes. Frank used everything and anything to get his point across, and he reached into the depth—and beyond—of any of the available elements at his disposal, be it composition, guitar playing, technology, humor, etc.

Intellectual Understanding vs. Experiential Knowing

You will notice in the examples in this book, I stress taking what you are learning to a deeper level than just the intellectual understanding of it. By going deeper, I am referring to making it experiential. There is a vast difference between memorizing something and understanding it intellectually and knowing something “experientially.”

An analogy of this might be found in honey. You can learn what honey is on an intellectual level. You can be a specialist on the properties of it and even be the world’s leading authority on it. You can write volumes of information about honey, explaining its origin, molecular structure, how it’s made, all the different varieties, etc., and you can even give exhaustive and imaginative explanations on what it tastes like. But a person will never actually know what honey really is until they put it in their mouth and focus on the flavor of it, because the taste of honey is experiential and has virtually nothing to do with the intellectual understanding of it.

In the learning and utilization of the academics of music, the intellectual understanding of it has its place. In any field, there is a period that a person goes through when they need to hone their vessel, so to speak. You need to apply your focus to the learning of the modality for a while, but the most effective method of “owning” what you are learning is to evolve past the learning by making it second nature, with no real need to think about it. It just becomes a “knowing” that does not require thinking. And in order for that to happen, one needs to have evolved the learning into the experiential knowing stage. Geez, I hope this makes sense... I’m trying.

One of the secrets to achieving this is in your ability to listen with great intensity to whatever it is you are learning or playing. When you play what you are learning, it becomes tangible in a different way than just as a thought. When listening intensely, you are not thinking; you are instead being present. Being present is a higher state than thinking.

The importance of listening to what you are playing cannot be stressed enough, and there are various exercises for listening on a deeper level throughout this book.

So, to know music theory or not? If that is the question, my answer might be: it doesn’t matter, but what matters more are your interests and desires. Having said that, I always recommend at least a basic understanding of the fundamentals of music theory, and, since I’m primarily a guitar player, I decided to create this book, which I believe covers those simple fundamentals and how to apply them to the guitar. I believe these academics are relatively simple to understand but can greatly aid your understanding of the basic language of music. This will inevitably make your songwriting, communication with other musicians, and navigation on the instrument easier and more effective. It can also inspire you to create and express certain musical ideas that you may not have had access to if you were completely musically illiterate.

This book is not meant to be a guitar lesson, per se, but more of a document on basic music theory. The lines blur at times, but a guitar lesson-type book would include much more of a focus on technique.

In this book, I’ve tried to give the basics as they may apply to a guitar player, but I also touch on some advanced concepts that you can explore if interested. I might recommend taking the time to completely read through this document twice and just see what pieces to the puzzle immediately come together. But in the real learning and memorization aspects of this book, I might suggest going one subject at a time until you have mastered it, then move on to the next subject—even if it takes a week or more for each subject. This book is constructed in chronological order, so once each section is mastered, the next should make sense.

If you find yourself fascinated with music theory, there are myriad opportunities to deepen your understandings. And these days, with the Internet, they are at your fingertips.

The idea is to take the path of least resistance; that is, look into yourself and go with whatever it is that feels natural and instinctual to you, regardless of what anybody says you should do.

If you are not interested in having a basic understanding of the academics of music, then throw this book away and move on. But, if you do desire to have a handle on music theory, then read on.

In closing, I would say that it’s important to understand that wherever you’re at right now in your understanding of music theory or technical development as a player is just fine, and wherever you decide you want to go with it is just fine, too.

Everything is just fine. As a matter of fact, it’s infinitely better than just fine; it’s intensely phenomenal. Hey, you’re playing the guitar!

Enjoy,

Steve Vai

December 10, 2017, 3:04pm

Pune, India