# Is there a tried and true way to learn music theory - quickly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786 "2009-06-05T05:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786/21 "2009-06-07T00:09:31Z")
> [@Oukile](#): > > If you aim at playing the violin and have other people around you enjoy it, then: > > - yes, learning music theory will help, but > - honestly, you don’t need to rush. Anyway, you will need to spend so much time practicing the violin that leaning theory will be comparatively neglictible. So very true. To a point. Certainly, at the earliest stages, a ‘need-to-know’ basis is a good one to work from. There does come a stage, however, when having a grasp on concept of harmony - of which scales, intervals etc. are only building blocks - will be essential to really grasp what’s going on. > [@ascenray](#): > > Just to clear up any potential misunderstandings, I can say as a Suzuki veteran that the Suzuki method teaches no music theory. It’s all about listening, copying, and memorization. As a result, I sight read for crap. I’ve always had a rather unfavourable opinion of the Suzuki method, ever since I saw kids who should have been my equal fall behind, unable to keep track of what was going on in any orchestral situation, and I suspect they were encountering the same problems which you describe. (There was also the influence of my high school music teacher, who encountered one of the first visits to Britain showcasing Suzuki. He described his two thoughts, on seeing two dozen kids play the Mendelssohn concerto in unison, as (a) “That’s amazing!”, and (b) “What’s the point?”) ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786/22 "2009-06-07T00:22:53Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I’ve always had a rather unfavourable opinion of the Suzuki method, ever since I saw kids who should have been my equal fall behind, unable to keep track of what was going on in any orchestral situation, and I suspect they were encountering the same problems which you describe. > > (There was also the influence of my high school music teacher, who encountered one of the first visits to Britain showcasing Suzuki. He described his two thoughts, on seeing two dozen kids play the Mendelssohn concerto in unison, as (a) “That’s amazing!”, and (b) “What’s the point?”) The main cello teacher and head of strings at my university told me “I can always tell the kids who took Suzuki; they can’t read.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786/23 "2009-06-07T00:48:53Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > The main cello teacher and head of strings at my university told me “I can always tell the kids who took Suzuki; they can’t read.” Oh, all right, I was trying to be polite. One situation I found myself in was with a parent who was _sure_ that their child should be in the senior orchestra, and that I _really should_ listen to her. Fair enough, she played something out of the Suzuki books (I forget what, they’re so boring), accurately. Given that I had zero time to be dealing with this (I had the said orchestra waiting in another room), and knowing what I needed to find out about her, I just turned the page and asked the kid to have a go at the first bars of the next piece. Nothing. Until, after a few seconds, she realised I was serious, and only then did I clock that she’d not only never looked at that piece (which can be illustrative in itself), but had never been expected to sight-read before. No rhythm, no tonality, just a vague sense of pitch-going-up-and-down. OK, it was a bad experience all round, and one I might have managed differently, but the simple fact was that the kid could play some pieces very nicely, but lacked basic skills which were essential even at the level we were discussing. ---
**Author:** ![Libre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@Libre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Libre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786/24 "2009-06-07T07:23:47Z")
> [@Oukile](#): > > If you aim at playing the violin and have other people around you enjoy it, then: > > - yes, learning music theory will help, but > - honestly, you don’t need to rush. Anyway, you will need to spend so much time practicing the violin that leaning theory will be comparatively neglictible. > > This is a little less true for piano. However, you can also acquire basic skill at playing the piano with very little theory. In other words, whatever skill you reach will cost you x hours at practicing the instrument and just a fraction of x at learning theory. And you can multiply x by a large number if the instrument is a violin. > > I don’t want to drag you away from learning theory which in the long term will be usefull, nor from learning to play an instrument. Being able to play nicely is a blessing ! Well, technically it is a hardly learned skill, but once you have it, it is certainly as valuable as a blessing. Just be advised that you will need a lot of practice, and that you must think about the long term. Wow. I’m overwhelmed and very much appreciative of all your responses - thank you so much. I now feel I have a strong starting point from which to proceed. Music has always been the very heart of my soul - I feel moved beyond imagination by Fur Elise and Pachabel’s Canon, among many others. It is only recently, at age 38, that I’ve realized that music is the palette with which I feel I can and must express myself. While music theory is a daunting task, I’ve come to gather through the various responses I have received that it is not entirely nescessary, or even advisable, to learn it completely in order to be well on one’s way to grasp the fundamentals of music. That said, I must be true to who I am (where rules and formality play a role), put my nose to the grindstone for awhile and edge into fundamental waters - though with hope and gladness, rather than despair! I am thankful for your combined input, and am hopeful where it might lead. Find your inspiration and run with it… life is short! Thank you. Sincerely, ~Libre [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-tried-and-true-way-to-learn-music-theory-quickly/498786.md?page=1)