Sorry for taking up so much real estate here but I was inspired to comment by all the great takes on this subject – and I had some time to think, and reminisce with the day off and all!

 

  When I was ten and teaching myself how to play the guitar, I began to write songs to remember the chords I was learning. I was experimenting with how they went together and sounded against a melody. I didn’t know what I was doing but it was how I started and a method I still use today. I was not teaching myself scales or I-V-IV chord combinations in various keys, I just played and sang melodies against the chords. When certain combinations didn't sound right I changed things up a bit. I did learn a few tunes to play with friends but for the most part what I enjoyed most was the "just playing" part – by myself or with others, jamming. (Just my stubborn streak of not wanting to be told how to do something - besides, it was the 60's and I thought I was John Lennon.) I did get a Beatles songbook a little latter on with chord diagrams and that helped a lot. I should have memorized those tunes at the time as I realize now how it would have helped me progress faster. Later on in High School there was a guy in our Folk Club who played the cello in the orchestra and he taught us more chords and songs. So the basis of my learning was part hands on experimenting and guidance by someone who was versed in the theory behind the music we were playing.

 

  When I started singing in bands and presenting some originals to the guys there was usually one member who had some knowledge of music theory and he would spell out in musical terms what I had done – like the chord names, the key and time signature to communicate it to the rest of the lads. Many times he would say, you can't do that, or, how did you come up with that combination and so on. So, I believe it is possible to write decent music with no music theory guiding the process. However, music theory can be helpful when you get in a bind and need a way out of a musical dead end, or when you are playing with others and need a starting point (not to mention the recent post comment of the concept of using a capo). IMHO some basic knowledge of the language of music is useful to communicate ideas with others and to guide an original composition in a certain tonal direction or to provide options when you need help. Some people can just get together and play without it and that’s great, but you can bet they put in some serious woodshedding before any of that kind of magic can happen. Some of the musicians I have known over the years have said that knowing theory actually got in their way sometimes when writing. When they began analyzing what they were doing they lost the inspiration side of the creative process. That’s not to say they never wrote a totally inspired tune but that sometimes knowing what they were doing got in the way. Over time I suspect most of us absorb a certain “understanding” of what sounds good and what doesn’t – and isn’t that learning some sort of music theory?

 

  One of the guys in one of the bands I was in back in the 70's took a keener interest in music theory, then classical music in particular, and now is a tenured professor and head of the music theory department at Princeton with three books on Beethoven under his belt  – but he still likes Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and can still Jam like a monster on his old Hammond C3 when slumming back into town. With some people, the music is just inside them. Back in the day he would write these awesome bridges between songs we would put together as medleys. He used his knowledge of theory to put those together to match up songs that were in different keys. Theory in this case was invaluable.

 

  I learned how to play the guitar, the bass, the mandolin, and now the banjo well enough so I could eventually sit down and just play them for my own pleasure. No TAB, no song to copy, not thinking about the chords in any certain key or anything but to just play. That’s one kind of “just playing” but the other kind is when you can sit in with other musicians and “just play” because you really know your instrument and can feel your way around whatever comes up. That’s what I want to be able to do. In order to get to that “just playing” plateau you need to get the basics down and you need to practice, and that takes work! Once I found the banjo I knew it was the instrument I was meant to play. It was a natural fit for my love of chords, melody and rhythm. In the beginning of my banjo journey (even before I got my first banjo actually), I started to read books on famous players, got some instruction books like RSB and Ken Perlman, some Murphy videos, taught myself how to read TAB, a little very basic theory, watched a ton of YouTube and listened to all the greats on the instrument I could find. That kind of R&D might be a little overboard for most folks but that’s what I did. It was important for me to understand the instrument – where it's been, where it's going, how it’s being used today, and how I might want to approach it. It was important for me to start playing recognizable music right away to keep me going as I did not know anyone in the area to turn to. That kind of work is not for everyone of course, but I really want to be somewhat proficient and so I figure that’s what you need to do. In my case, putting in this kind of effort helped me acquire some basic banjo playing techniques and a few songs to start with, which kept my interest alive. You need to feed your desires to keep them healthy and strong and I have been stuffing myself at the banjo buffet lately. After I had honed some basic skills, the next step was to get a shot at learning from a great player, and because I've put in the work ahead of time and have a foundation of banjo knowledge to bring to the table I thought that would be possible. Learning music theory was probably going on in the background but I was not sitting around memorizing the “circle of fifths” or the various scale degrees! And believe me, you guys and gals here on the BHO have been a gold mine of information that continues to inspire and educate me along the way!

 

  To me, the banjo is the perfect instrument to just sit down and start playing (after putting in the aforementioned effort of course), and that's why I love it – you've got chords, melody lines and a drum all in one portable package. These days I am making small inroads into playing with others, which does require a little understanding of keys and chords so I am finally trying to put all that together. And, I found a great teacher, who I don’t know for sure (I have not asked him yet) but I think only took me on because he saw my desire and passion to play and could tell I had worked at it, and had some potential not because I knew any theory. His teaching method so far has been having me learn songs by sending me Mp3s. Some of the tunes have banjo in them and some don’t but instead may have singing or another instrument playing the melody. He stipulates that I cannot use any TABs, no EQing the banjo part up in GarageBand and no YouTube or listening to other recorded versions of the same song – play as a member of the band or make it a solo piece he says. Then once every two or three weeks we get together and play for a couple of hours. What I am finding out is that once the melody is figured out I seem to stumble into the right chords (or ones that work) and that I start locating alternate ways to play the melody up and down the neck employing pull-offs, hammer-ons, drop-thumb and slides. I am hearing music better now than I ever have before. Once the tune is in my head, my heart, and well in hand, I can go and listen to the way others play it and adopt some of their takes and twists on the melody. With a song figured out, now the options come a bit more naturally. And, songs I learned months ago continue to undergo changes as I improve in my technique. The ear training is opening up new note choices to try. Still there has to be some theory rubbing off from somewhere or perhaps it’s just the musical ear is being trained to hear what works and what doesn’t.

 

  I guess the more familiar you become with the fretboard in each of the various popular tunings, with an ear that can hear ahead of your playing, along with enough technique to find those notes, the sooner you will be free to "just play" and play well even if you are not familiar with the song. That is what my teacher is trying to build into me. After my first lesson he said, “you’re already a banjo player…you just need to learn how to play the banjo.” I thought that was a nice way to encourage me and yet let me know there's still a lot to learn. Even though I have enjoyed the banjo since the moment I got mine with no idea what I was doing the level of enjoyment has skyrocketed with the learning process. If music theory is guiding this process it's not a conscious effort on my part – it feels more like the listening and hearing (along with regular practice) is doing most of the work. While as of yet I cannot explain the theory behind the note choices or the rhythms I choose it feels right to me. As the musical ear improves you listen better and with practice the playing gets better and how can you not be having fun when that happens – theory or not!