AUTHOR: Gary Ewer
No Theory Required
Is it possible to create attractive, appealing song melodies without having a strong background in music theory? I believe it is, and I say that as a person who has had a career-long interest in teaching music theory.
Every so often, someone will write me with a question that goes something like, “Can I have this chord follow that chord?” or “Am I allowed to [insert musical idea here].” In other words, they want to know if music theory “permits” their musical brainwave to exist. Are they violating the rules of music theory by going ahead with their idea?
My answer is always, in the nicest possible way, “Who cares?” Music theory was never meant to tell people what to compose. If that were the purpose of theory, music composition would never rise above selling pencils as an artistic activity.
Music theory has its place, and I believe that songwriters who have such a background benefit greatly. The story that music theory stunts creativity is a ridiculous myth. Theory doesn’t close your mind, it opens it. Theory allows you to communicate musical ideas to others easily, and improves composition without actually telling you what to write. And theory allows you to understand why other musicians’ ideas work.
And because theory teaches you common musical constructs and explains how and why they work, the study of music theory improves your ear.
Nonetheless, can you write attractive, appealing song melodies without having a theory background, or even being able to read music? Yes, for this simple reason: composition fuels theory, and not the other way around. The theoretical rules of music evolve over time, by composers writing what they want to hear. Theory, in turn, merely explains; it doesn’t dictate.
So how can songwriters create beautiful melodies if their knowledge of music theory is scant or missing entirely? Here are some ideas:
1. Use your musical instincts. One might argue that it should actually be easier for a songwriter who doesn’t read music to do this.
2. Even without music theory, most musicians know scales, and so keep this basic rule in mind: most melodies should move mainly by scale steps, with only occasional leaps. (There are notable exceptions to this: “The Star-Spangled Banner”, for one, the opening melody of which is quite leapy.)
3. Good melodies tend to have a “climactic high point”. This is a spot in the melody that is usually a coinciding of a high pitch with a structurally significant chord (the tonic or dominant chord).
4. Good melodies incorporate a recognizable shape, called a motif, which tends to repeat (either as-is, or modified) throughout the song. This motif is part of what makes a melody memorable. A good example is Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”, which repeats that catchy melodic hook over and over.
5. Good melodies should place high-emotion words higher in pitch. There is a natural pulse to language, and you should set your words to reflect this natural pulse.
And more about point number 1, above: The study of music theory sometimes gets a bad rap in songwriting circles because there is sometimes a tendency for theory-trained musicians to limit themselves to what they understand. This is sad; it’s like an artist not using a colour on their palette because they don’t know what to call it.
I encourage any songwriter to study rudimentary theory as a way of improving your creativity and opening your musical mind. In the meantime, keep those five points in mind. It is very possible to write very fine music without specific theory instruction.
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What did you think of Gary’s article – please let him know! You Can Leave a Comment Below, Bookmark, Share or ‘Like’ this Page! Thanks – RR 
Gary Ewer
Gary is a senior instructor in the Dept. of Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the author of several e-books for songwriters, including “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting.”
http://www.secretsofsongwriting.com/
http://www.easymusictheory.com
no, you don’t need to know music theory to write tunes. you just need 1 ear, you don’t even need 2. Life has become so much easier with sequencers and soft synths. But sooner or later, you’re gonna want to learn more about why some things work and others don’t. it’s the same with drumming: you don’t need to know anything about it but it sure helps to look at what drummers usually do or don’t/can’t do.
Thank you SOOOO much for this article! I was JUST thinking what I can do about this situation and up pops this article. I would love to learn theory but I won’t let that stop me from using this advice.
Wow!! Another very helpful post. I am always lyrics in my head along with some kind of melody or rhythm but I haven’t the slightest clue how to interpret what I’m hearing. I have studied music theory here and there but I usually go with my mind and heart then try to belt out what I’m visualizing or hearing in my head as best as I can.
I will claim to be NO musician and/or singer/songwriter. Lately I have started taking guitar lessons after playing for over 20 years. The understanding of theory and chord progressions has helped tremendously but it is by no means a written in stone book of rules. It has helped with the construction of some melodies and the elusive change I was looking for to attack a bridge or a chorus.
I always try and supress a shudder when I ask a student what they expect out of music theory and they answer: “Theory will help me write music”.
I’m constantly telling my theory students that it’s your ears that are the most important and theory is there to help you figure out what you did, how to write it down and PERHAPS give you some options to think about.
I used to think of theory as a hinderance to creativity – that’s when I was thinking of theory as a “rulebook” and getting frustrated (actually, that’s when my only exposure to theory was classical theory). Once I got away from that and started looking at different “flavours” of theory (jazz, contemporary, overtone…) and thinking of it as just another tool to aid my ears, then everything opened up.
Do you need theory to write music? No – music came first and then they figured out how to write it down/what was going on. There’s no reason you can’t write music without theory.