Is music theory universal?

Question

I'm currently 17 years old and want to dedicate myself to music. I've listened to different styles of music now: jazz, funk,groove also classical (Bob acri>any pop Idol in 2018). 2 weeks ago I bought myself a Guitar and a Piano and played/learned songs and trained my hands for each instrument. Question comes now: I want to learn the music theory of the guitar first but can I apply that knowledge to the piano (once I learned most of the important things).

Like Barre chords can't be played on the piano right? Is music theory universal for any instrument?

Answer 1

Yes, music theory is "universal" in the sense that the same phenomena regarding melody, harmony, rhythm happen on the guitar and the piano. In other words, if by "music theory" you mean a tool or framework that helps you reason about your decisions, which notes to play and when, then it is universal. You might bump into technical limitations like, it's not technically possible or practical to play certain combinations of notes on the guitar, and it is not possible to pitch-bend notes on the piano. The piano keyboard contains a physical realization of some concepts of Western music theory, like the diatonic scale of the white keys.

And no, music theory is not universal, in the sense that it won't teach you about actual music. Music theory can provide tools to help you reason about the real thing, once you do something real, i.e. play music. You don't need to know lots theory before you can enjoy playing. And if you don't enjoy playing, it's hard to learn it. So, play songs, have fun. I'd suggest you learn music practice first, and add small amounts of theory to find names to the things you discover in practice. Learn to play melodies and chords by ear.

Answer 2

'Barre chords' can certainly be played on piano - except there's no need to 'barre'. The same notes exactly can and are played on each instrument.

Music theory itself covers many aspects, but most of those, particularly in the earlier stuff, will apply to both guitar and piano (and most if not all other instruments).

The piano is considered the best of all for understanding a lot of that theory, as it's set out in a simple graphic way, unlike guitar. For example, there is only one place on a piano where a particular note lives. On guitar there may well be even more than the 6 that 6 strings may indicate. Another is the black keys on piano generally mean # or b, whereas on guitar, all notes can look quite similar!

Do yourself a favour, and favour the keyboard as a theory learning medium.

Answer 3

Yes, music theory will help you regardless of what instrument you play.

Maybe if you play the quarter-tones on your sitar then maybe you don't need western music theory, but for the instruments, you will play typically in the west, it will do.

Question comes now: I want to learn the music theory of the guitar first but can I apply that knowledge to the piano (once I learned most of the important things).

There is no guitar theory or piano theory, there is music-theory and that is applicable to all instruments. You can definitely play the notes of a bar chord on the piano, it may be a very awkward voicing but nothing at least, in theory, is keeping you from playing it.

Answer 4

You're confusing technique with theory. Technique is the way you physically interact with your instrument, like, for instance, fingering on piano or barre chords on guitar. Theory is concerned only with the sounds that are produced and how they relate, not the way in which they are produced.

For instance, theory will teach you about major, minor, dominant, diminished, major seventh, minor seventh, diminished seventh and major minor seventh chords, and so forth, but the way you go about creating producing these chords will definitely vary from instrument to instrument.

As you note, there are no barre chords on piano because the very idea of a barre chord is tied to the limitations of a guitar with six strings (not all of which produce tones from the desired chord). However, the purpose of, say, an F barre chord on the guitar is to produce an F chord sound, and you can achieve the same chord on piano, even the same or a similar voicing, using a different technique (like having really, really big hands).

So music theory, at least, as ggcg points out, on western instruments, is universal. It is the analysis of sounds, a way of describing what you hear or create. Technique, of course, varies wildly from instrument to instrument, like all mediums.

Answer 5

The term 'Music Theory' is quite a general term. It can apply to reading, writing and understanding music and music history. Each instrument has its own technical requirements when learning to play it. A good knowledge of music theory would come in handy for learning most instruments, so in that sense you could call it 'universal'. Much of the theory of music that you learn from the guitar can be equally relevant to your piano study, and vice versa.

Answer 6

NO! Music theory in not universal!

Well, in reality Western music theory is fairly standard for all Western instruments and the piano and guitar are "Western" instruments. You will not likely understand southern Indian or far east Asian music using what is called "music theory".