What Is Music Theory, and Why Should You Learn It?

Whether or not you know it, by playing your ukulele or singing or doing any kind of musical activity, you're using the concepts of music theory to broadcast your vibration out into the world. When I was a music therapy major in college, I spent my first year taking classes called Tonal Harmony which were all about music theory.

But what is music theory, exactly?

Well, music theory is a set of concepts that try to explain and show just how music works. We all hear tones, sounds, timbre, and rhythm - but how do you capture those ideas and present them in a way that makes sense to someone? These are all abstract concepts that are meant to be felt, so how do you put them into visual form so that you understand what you're doing when you play a major scale or work through a chord progression?

By using a set of symbols developed over hundreds of years, music theory does just that - it takes the ethereal concept of something like music and turns it into something you can read with your eyes so you can better visualize. I like to believe that knowledge is power, and the more you understand about how music actually works, the better a musician you'll be.

Of course, it's not necessary to really understand a lot of music theory in order to play the uke. If you're having fun, just have fun! But for me, learning music theory added another layer of meaning to my practice of music. Learning music theory also helps with ear training, so that you can recognize when something is in tune. (And when you might want something out of tune on purpose.)

I've just started diving back into my old music theory textbooks from college, and with a few new ones in my collection, I'll be sharing more about music theory so that you can learn right along with me! 

Meanwhile, check out this free course on edX, Introduction to Music Theory.