Best way to go about learning theory

[Colen M]

Hello, first post here.
I’m not a beginner player, but I am a not very familiar with theory.
I gave theory a go a few times in the past, but got bored because, as a by myself garage player only, it didn’t seem very important. I played everything by ear(20%) and by memorizing(80%).
Now, I’m getting older and my memory is not what it used to be- playing moderately complex songs by memory is becoming very difficult.
I’m guessing that if I understood WHY a thing is played the way it is played, then the need to rely on memorization is reduced. Is that a true statement?
If the answer is yes- can anyone tell me the best way to go about learning theory using the resources this site? For example- what should I learn first, second, third etc? Or does sequence even matter.
Thanks for any tips and/or guidance! 🙂

[Mr. Ink]

Hi colen. In every lesson from Brian,he is telling were the chords and licks coming from. That’s the cool thing about this site. After a few lessons you will see the connections on the fret board and how it works together. So you will learn a little theory in every lesson. Also is there a blues lead course yo can absolve. And in every lesson there’s a discription about the lesson and what you can learn from it.

But Maybe there’s a structured way then mine 🙂 I think somebody will answer soon.

I wish you all the best have fun at learning.

[sunjamr]

Hey Colin, some members have photographic memories and their brains can think blindingly fast. But I am not one of them. I have bothered to learn some theory – even took a class in it years ago. But the truth is, it didn’t help my playing at all. What DID help my playing is learning all the pentatonic scales forwards and backwards, and how to connect them quickly all up and down the neck. At the same time, I started adding to my brain’s lick library. Then one day, I realized I didn’t need a lick library anymore. I could just think of a note sequence while playing, and I knew where to find all the notes to play it. This is kind of like when you drive in heavy traffic, you aren’t just looking at the car directly in front of you….you are looking maybe 6 or 8 cars ahead to be able to predict what’s going to happen.

Sunjamr Steve

[Martin W]

Hi , you could start with the major scale , the info this scale gives you is endless , chord sequences, intervals etc then the pentatonic scales in all positions , but I find little nuggets of info are easier to digest than loads of theory at once , learning all the notes on the fretboard is a must aswell , but don’t get overwhelmed by it , enjoy the ride

Martin

[Duffy P]

Theory will definitely help you with memorization, and with communicating with other musicians. And it can make you a better player, but its not required.

If you are getting lost in the form of a song, its very helpful to know how the song is put together – what an intro is, what a chorus is, what a verse is.

It’s also really helpful to know what a turnaround is, and where they might be used. (In brief, its the thing at the end of a song which prepares it to start over.) Suppose the song starts on the root chord (G in the key of G for example). There are lots of ways to get back to the G, and these “turnarounds to 1” are largely interchangeable. If you know that’s what a song is doing, or a part of the song is doing, then you don’t need t memorize a whole bunch of other stuff.

[John P]

I had a real problem putting a song together and remembering it’s sequence until I started learning it by starting at the last bar. Play it then ad the next . Play both. And so on , till you get to the beginning. Just try it out and I think you will see how well you will remember it.

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