Importance of Piano and Music Theory

Deciding to study piano and music theory can easily be one of the best decisions I’ve made so far for the lifestyle I chose as a musician. When I started getting into music, I decided to start learning guitar and taking vocal lessons. This was a good start to get me playing my favorite songs and be able to play with other amateur musicians. After a few years, I became interested in the piano because it was used in many songs and the texture it added to them was very beautiful. That made me very eager to learn it. That’s when I decided to start learning classical piano as well as music theory along with it. Once I started taking those lessons, everything I had in my head related to music started to actually make sense. The way different notes worked became fascinating to me and I even became better at playing guitar by translating the chords I learned on piano. By understanding how notes formed chords, it made the process of writing songs much easier and faster.

When I came to college, I realized that I needed to expand my musical skills. I started taking classes on how to compose for movies and TV as well as soundtracks for videogames. I found that to be a very fulfilling activity and quite fun. If I didn't know how music theory worked prior to taking those classes, it would have slowed down the process of writing music dramatically.

By having experimented with theory and piano before college, I am now able to transmit the emotions I want to portray in my music much easier and faster, just like painting a landscape with all the details possible. What music theory teaches you is that there is a plethora of different choices in terms of what notes and chords work with each other. Even though many musicians think that music theory is a waste of time and that we should just rely on our own innate musical skills, they are missing out of the opportunity to be able to use music theory to their advantage. By being able to mix music theory knowledge with your own instincts of what sounds good and just ¨trying¨ different combinations of notes/chords that might not be mentioned in theory books, you can come up with new things and create your own style that you can be recognized by. If you are a starting musician wanting to get serious about it, consider practicing piano and learning music theory aside from whatever instrument you want to learn. It will definitely make you a better musician and an ¨artist of emotions¨. Aside from that, it will open the possibilities to work in different fields of music such as composition for movies and TV, composition for videogames, producing, etc. To anyone wanting to learn piano, I recommend you to get an electric piano or a MIDI piano that you can plug to your computer. I would not recommend a real piano if you are just starting because of the maintenance it requires.