TAC Family Forums

Here’s my take on this @ShawnS

I’ve read quite a few different ways to approach music theory, and guitar applied music theory.

I gotta admit, that I think it makes sense to apply music theory to the guitar for those who are going to play guitar. Why teach me music theory on the piano when I play guitar?

So, this approach is how this person, finally, came to understand music theory… specifically on the guitar. It took him a long time. Every person who shares their approach has the same objective, to save me time by showing me how to see the big picture that they see. I believe that each of the different perspectives I looked at might have helped me to some small degree. However, what every one of these teachers overlooked, was that I can’t see through their eyes. The only way for me to see the big picture as clearly as they do is to put the time in exploring the guitar, playing, practicing, dreaming about chord shapes, going into a meditative state and “hearing” intervals on the guitar, or however each of us does it. Eventually, the whole fretboard will gel into one, interconnected pattern.

And when we finally get there, we’ll have our own way of describing the big picture because we are a unique individual.

So many people share “what they wished they knew when they were starting out”. Here’s mine: stop wasting time thinking about music and guitar, and spend more time messing around with the guitar. Hands on, ears focused, heart open, brain turned off.

MG 😀