10 commandments for worship bands / 9. theory & ear training

1. thou shalt play in tune
2. thou shalt learn the song, not just the arrangement
3. thou shalt practice with a metronome or drum machine
4. thou shalt seek out a mentor or coach on your instrument
5. thou shalt know thy gear
6. thou shalt play less for more
7. thou shalt seek out feedback
8. thou shalt be on time
9. thou shalt learn basic practical music theory and ear training
10. thou shalt continue thy education

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for the rare individual, music theory is fun. but for a lot of people, it serves as the nail in the coffin in their formal music training. the standard story is that the theory stuff gets boring….”i just wanna play music!”….so you give up on it, and just learn songs by ear from the radio. which is not a bad thing - very valuable actually - just incomplete.

i’m very much a proponent of learning and using practical music theory, regardless of the style of music you play. it gives you freedom to improvise and make smart choices, musically speaking.

this won’t be complete by any means, but here are the most important tidbits (according to me)….

theory:
*major scales - chords are made from scales, everything relates to the scales
*scale degrees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. the notes of the major scale.
*diatonic chords - there is a triad (three notes) built on every scale degree. 1 (Major), 2 (minor), 3 (minor), 4 (Major), 5 (Major), 6 (minor), 7 (diminished - in modern music this is more often 5 major, inverted….don’t worry about it)
*circle of fifths - fascinating, both in “theory” and in practical use…

ear-training:
*learn to hear where “one” is. this is home base. it’s the C in the key of C. it always comes back to the one.
*from there, learn what “four” and “five” sound like. and how they tend to function.
*when you start to hear the numbers, it makes transposing to different keys much easier.
*as a singer, especially in writing/singing background parts, it’s much easier to remember your part if you think of it in numbers (or scale degrees). you can see the shape and intervals in your mind. doesn’t matter what key you’re in. (i tend to “see” music in the key of C regardless of what key i’m actually playing/singing in.)

there’s so much here that i can’t possibly even touch it in this post. for some, this info is very basic. for others, you have no idea where to start. my challenge is just to take a step forward from wherever you are now.

i’m suddenly aware that i really just geeked out on everyone. if so, i’m sorry. but, if anyone wants to know more, i love talking about this stuff. leave a comment or email me for more info.

the geek is signing off…

p.s. at least i’m not as geeky as the music majors in college who would team up in the cafeteria and play classical music by rubbing the rims of drinking glasses filled with various amounts of water.