Writing songs without good music theory knowledge

[Ben Thorpe]

I’m thinking about writing my own song soon for the first time, and my music theory is not very good. I came up with a riff which I’m going to build my song around. I know it would be very helpful to have good music theory knowledge to write a song, but can you write a decent song with next to no knowledge about music theory and just experiment and go with whatever sounds good? Thanks!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

I am in a similar situation. You might have seen I started my own challenge to get a start on theory and my next step will soon be to write my own solo or even song. Personally, not as someone with a lot of theory knowledge but as a listener to music in general I think you can do pretty much everything. You should just try out the same Idea with a little different notes and then trust on what your instinct says is right.
Also it would not be difficult to just google a pattern of a scale and base the notes you use in your song around that pattern. This way you know you have no “wrong notes”. As I said, I am no way an expert, but I hope that helps a little!

 

[Richard O'connor]

I would say you could yes. I write my own music and I don’t have much music theory knowledge. I would say have a basic grasp is necessary. Obviously y0u need to now what key you are in and time signatures etc. In an ideal world you would want good theory knowledge, this will help with things like harmonizing, key changes and even using notes and chords that you wouldn’t necessarily think would work or sound good. It’ll also help with solos. Knowing what scales to use and what modes will help a lot and add extra components to your songs.

 

[Vasrely Derian]

I’ve heard someone say this before that “Music Theory is just a tool to help make it easier for musicians to bring out the ideas in their head”
So, yes its possible. Its just that its easier with music theory knowledge.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I got some good advice from some pros that you may be able to find inspiring. One of them is one of Syn’s biggest guitar heroes. I watched a Dimebag Darrell masterclass where he’s demonstrating what he does with scales. I KID YOU NOT, this is almost word for word what he said when someone asked him about how he writes his solos; he said, “I don’t know much about scales or theory (plays a pentatonic scale) I mean I know this is a pentatonic scale. But I just play what sounds good.” And that’s Dimebag – one of the biggest guitar players of all time.
Another one is Marty Friedman. I watched a Youtube video of him and he said, “I like to create my own scales. Sure I know theory. But it takes a lot of time to sit there and study every scale. So I like to play a chord (plays an Amajor chord) and immediately after I like to make my own little scale of what sounds good over it. (Plays chord then plays “invented scale”) I mean I’m sure that scale has a name, but I don’t know it. I just know it sounds good.”
Also, look at Syn’s writing process. Especially in City of Evil. I mean sure, the guy knew theory. But when you actually sit down and try to dissect his solos and songs, they change key signatures a lot and his scale usage is all over the place.
In conclusion, I feel that knowing TOO much theory can make you follow the rules ‘too much’ and can make your songs sound mundane and monotonous. Sure classical composers really knew their stuff but they also had things like first movement, second movement, third movement, etc where things got changed up a lot. Many amazing legends don’t know much about theory at all. And if they do, they only know a decent amount and learned it through the years instead of having to learn it first and THEN write a song. But I agree with Vasrely. It does make it easier. I hope this helps

 

[Kirstin Deal]

You absolutely can. Personally, I use theory more as a guide. If I were to lose one or the other, I would lose theory by far. Take note of how many incredible musicians don’t know theory or aren’t familiar with it. Look at Stevie Ray Vaughan. He is one of my personal favorite artists of all time and he’s written incredible music. However, according to him, he flunked his theory classes and he doesn’t know much of anything. Write what sounds good to you. I typically use theory in the sense that I could maybe add extra “color” to something by switching something up (which you can still do without theory. I just do it consciously). Pretty much all I’m saying is yes, you can write good most without theory knowledge. You may come up with a very feel driven song rather than technical which is always great

 

[Dan Shipway]

Every riff I have ever written is with absolutely 0 music theory. I wrote one and i turned around to my guitar teacher and said it was in f major. It turns out it was in e flat major. What i tend to do is play the first note of the chords and see what scale they lie in. So yes it is possible.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

Just listen to the wise words from 5:02 to 5:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhl-Cs1-sG4&feature=youtu.be&t=5m2s

 

[Dominik Gräber]

So now I have a question here. Ok, you definetly don’t need theory to make good stuff. But what can I do when I am just not able to come up with something?
I struggle with inventing and improvising pretty much, because I either don’t have a melody I can come up with or I can not translate it to the guitar. Also my two hands don’t always know what to do at the same time when I improvise.
So where do I start when wanting to write something cool without having an eye on theory?

 

[Richard O'connor]

i usually just listen to a tonne of different music. Lots of different styles, ill even listen to bands i don’t really like just to see if the riffs they do can spark something for me.
I know this may seem ridiculous to a lot of people, but i seem to get some riffs in my head while i’m lying in bed. For some reason my imagination seems to run wild at this point. The hard part then is remembering these the next day. I know Myles Kennedy said he gets a lot of ideas when he’s doing regular things like mowing the lawn and doing dishes. Maybe take some time away from the guitar and see where you imagination takes you!

 

[Noah Berends]

Another way to build up a good mental bank is to learn a ton of riffs from bands and then try to play them in a different way or play the notes in a different order. This can help you understand what makes up the riff as well as how you can use the notes otherwise to create something unique.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

I have the same problem, I’m just trying to sleep and suddenly an awesome melody comes to my head but if I start thinking too much about it I’ll forget it or I’ll just fall asleep and forget it the next day haha. So I guess we all have the ability to write good music we just need to stop overthinking too much and let it come naturally.

 

[Alec Lewis]

To go along with Jak’s comment. Slash said in a youtube video about improv and scales that he has only basic knowledge of music theory, and finds that it is hard to play with emotion if you are worrying too much about music theory. So I would definitely take that into account.

 

[Josh Wright]

Definitely you can. What I’m finding out is you can do just about anything, and it ends up having a name . No lie though, if you go out of the scale shape there is a name for that variation. Just go with the feel, if you have the basics, go off of that and then experiment.

 

[idssdi]

Writing songservices without knowing music theory is completely fine! Just me sure that it sounos good!

 

[Alan Celis]

i completely agree with Ids, if it sounds good its fine, ive written some songs entirely out of what i think sounds good, and even though those songs make almost no sense from a theory point of view, it sounds awesome.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I had an entire album of songs that weren’t to any key in theory. They did sound good, but they sound even better after I fixed most of the harmonies and solos. Not to take away that they sounded good before. Knowing theory is a huge boost, but you can totally do it the other way for sure. You’ll know in your head if it really sounds good or not regardless of which scale is being played and what it is called.