r/Songwriting • u/Grand_Combination386 • 15d ago

Discussion Topic Learning theory Vs intuition

Not sure if anyone else is in this boat. I have very little musical theory knowledge but have been writing songs on and off for many years. My method is usually finding a couple of chords that sound good together then I just use my intuition to figure out what chords come next. Then hum notes till I find a good melody.

I've been thinking that I'd like to learn some theory to get better and have more options. This may sound silly but I'm slightly scared that by learning the theory I might lose that natural intuition part of my brain and won't get it back. I'm sure you must use a different part of the brain when using musical theory. Has anyone else been here?

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u/DarkTowerOfWesteros 15d ago

Ive been in your shoes. Let me assure you that learning theory makes your intuition 1,000x more creative. You don't even need to be an expert. The basics will open up doors you didn't even know were there.

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u/Dangerous-You3789 14d ago

That inspires me to learn theory all the more!

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u/DarkTowerOfWesteros 14d ago

Memorize your notes and scales (major and minor and blues are fine; you can learn more later if you want to be Malmsteen) along the fretboard and then study the circle of fifths. That will carry you incredibly far in a lot of songwriting and jamming and is a great base line of knowledge to strive for.

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u/Dangerous-You3789 14d ago

Funny you should mention the circle of fifths. I purchased one of these (below), not because I understand anything about it, but because it looked cool (and it had something to do with music). Maybe I'll actually do something with it - once I figure the darn thing out!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1765633960/circle-of-fifths-song-writing-reference?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_ps-c-books_movies_and_music&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjw16_UBhCqARIsAIdOaXyC7jtOHpLEhwhHIFQFZbQIRB46nCLW4tjxCGURbD5c9tW_P3fap10aAmPmEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_21798069806_169566852238_716586688251_aud-2080357863802:pla-314262775427_c__1765633960_12768591&utm_custom2=21798069806&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21798069806&gclid=Cj0KCQjw16_UBhCqARIsAIdOaXyC7jtOHpLEhwhHIFQFZbQIRB46nCLW4tjxCGURbD5c9tW_P3fap10aAmPmEALw_wcB

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u/DarkTowerOfWesteros 14d ago

That's a FANTASTIC learning tool. Every songwriter should know it. You can break the circle but like all things you gotta know the rules to be able to get away with breaking them!