Originally Posted by: JeffS65Guitar Fundamentals ( 1 and 2)



Definitely a hindsight deal. Not knowing the breadth of theory, I was limited to what I heard and what sounded good. Theory is, it appears at this point, something that opens doors to playing. It also helps understand why certain things work under certain contexts (major versus minor scales etc). Not knowing is like choosing to play with blinders. I did that for a long time. It has worked very well for some pretty famous people, that is to say not knowing theory. The reality is, you may not need to know everything about theory but having some basis in it allows to open playing horizons. It helps you build structures in you playing. It helps you understand things other players did when you listen and maybe find inspiration in them.

Granted, I'm still learning theory.

An example is when I was in a band in '89. The other guitar player didn't have theory but he was blessed with some freaky perfect pitch (and a really nice legato style). Me, I was good enough in my 'ear knowledge' but every night between practices, I'd have to work twice as hard to get things down. Play them over and over. Kept messing around until I got what I wanted to hear down. While you have to spend some time 'getting it down', having a better sense of theory would have given me a road map and I wouldn't needed to spend as much time figuring out what made sense. I then could have spent more time on 'getting it down'. Focusing on style and that sense of command you have when you have it down. It inhibited me and particularly in the shred 80's. Since I was fast and clean and noodled with the best of them, I had an expectation on me a bit that made me feel a little like a fraud because I had to overcome that shortfall.

Please can you link me to GF 1&2?

The way you talk about the importance of theory from the perspective of someone who played by ear is very interesting for me, and encouraging!
Can you give me a summary of the theory you have learnt?