Many musicians often make the novice mistake of dismissing music theory because they believe it will restrain their talent. This assumption couldn’t be any further from the truth. True, there are great talents and inspiring works out there without prior knowledge of musical principles but it’s those principles which will actually show you all the possibilities for your music, and more.

Developing as a musician, like any skill, is based on established fundamentals, which when applied and practiced regularly, becomes an inherent characteristic. It is not unlike learning to talk, which begins with incoherent mumbles and gestures as infants, expanding as you learn from your surroundings, augmented by regimented English courses in school, and further developed by your ability to read. Rather than constraining your ability to communicate to a rigorous structure of words and grammar, you actually expand your ability to elaborate your emotions, ideas, and thoughts through learning English standards. Notice that this knowledge doesn’t necessarily make us esteemed writers, just as a learned music theorist is not necessarily a compelling musician.

The ability to read music has the wonderful side effect of enhancing your ability to not only elaborate your ideas with like-minded people but also makes it clear in your mind the direction you want to go with your compositions. Rather than fumbling around in the dark, hammering out chords and notes to find a suitable sound for your songs, having an understanding of chord progressions for example, can simplify and hasten the process. Any artist knows that getting an idea on paper can be a dire matter, especially when every passing minute can rob you of inspiration.

Yet another interesting side effect of developing an understanding for music theory, is that your appreciation for music is deepened and widened. As you gain insight into the subtle nuances that go into every piece of music throughout history, the commonalities between genres comes to light, allowing you to dabble, experiment, and explore with other styles, and incorporating it into your own projects.

Learning music theory is not unlike learning a new phrase or word from a new friend, or even from a new country. Every morsel of knowledge lends to building upon your talents, and provides you with an even broader range of possibilities. This is quite the contrary to the prior misconception of formal principles restricting your creativity. What you gain in the end, is a map with which to quickly and easily navigate the nearly endless web of musical possibilities you could have only grasped at, before.