Achieving Your Musical Potential: Why Aspiring Musicians Should Learn Music Theory, Part 2

In part 1, we reviewed some wonderful advantages to learning music theory for an aspiring musician, including a general boost in skill and the ability to collaborate with other musicians more smoothly. Now, let's discuss more of the details of what this kind of education entails...

It Speeds Up the Learning Process

Let’s say you want to learn a song that’s in the key of G major. If you know what chords typically show up in G major (G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em) and what the key signature is, you’re already halfway there. Or maybe you’re trying to figure out why a melody seems to come full circle—understanding cadences and phrasing helps you identify and replicate that feeling in your own work. When you know the patterns, you stop reinventing the wheel every time you decide to create something new.

It Sets You Up for the Long Game

Many musicians hit a plateau at some point. They’ve maxed out what they can do by ear or muscle memory. That’s where a lot of people quit—or stay stuck. Learning music theory at a young age, while you're still developing, saves you from that frustration later. It future-proofs your growth. Especially if you want to get into production, teaching, film scoring, or even music school, theory becomes essential. There are also those who are multi-style musicians…how did they get there? By understanding the musical rules of each style! The more you learn about music theory, the easier, more interesting, and more exciting it is to play around with styles and genres!

A Quick Example: The Power of One Chord Change

 Meet Sam. Sam is a 14-year-old songwriter learning piano, mostly by ear. She’s written a solid verse and chorus but the bridge feels flat. Her piano teacher shows her something simple: instead of going from C → Am → F like usual, she can add a secondary dominant (E major) before Am to add tension. So now it’s C → E → Am → F. One chord change—boom. The bridge comes alive with emotion. Sam lights up. That’s music theory in action.

How Do You Start?

You don’t need to sign up for a four-year conservatory to learn theory. Start with the basics:

- Learn your major and minor scales.

o   There are many great books out there whether you prefer self-study or private lessons, but we recommend Alfred’s Complete Book of scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences. You can start with just scales, and then as you progress you can add in the other features of each Key.

- Understand intervals (the distance between two notes).

o   This is where piano knowledge really comes in handy. Having the image of the arrangement of the keyboard in your mind’s eye makes learning theory much easier.

- Study common chord progressions (like I–IV–V or ii–V–I)

o   This comes back to the book we just recommended, which has the main progressions, or cadences, in their root position, 1^st inversion, and second inversion. Having a grip on the basic cadences will help propel learning the other common progressions.

- Get familiar with time signatures and rhythm notation

o   Knowing how to count the main beats as well as feel the meter of different time signatures allows you to have much more variety in the music you can play.

- Practice ear training and identifying chords by sound

o   Those who have a knack for ear-playing may find this part to be the easiest. Those of us who struggle with ear-playing, however, can improve this area by listening to progressions repeatedly to help your ear memorize those chords’ relationships to each other.

You can find free resources online, take lessons, or get a simple theory workbook. The point is to take it slowly and connect it to what you’re already doing. Apply the theory to songs you love—or songs you write.

Final Thoughts: Theory Is Your Superpower

If you care about music and want to make amazing sounds—not just copy what others do—then music theory isn’t optional. It’s the roadmap, the toolkit, the translator, and the cheat-code all rolled into one. It’s the difference between hoping your song turns out okay and knowing how to write a song that hits hard, every time. So, if you’re serious about music, give theory a real shot. You don’t need to become a theory wizard overnight—but the more you understand, the more powerful you become. Play with feeling, always. But back that feeling with knowledge, and the sky’s the limit.