I'm currently enjoying listening to the audiobook version of Steve Lukather's "Gospel according to Luke"
Even if you're not sure who Steve Lukather is...
you WILL have heard songs he's played on!
He's the guitarist in Toto and has been a prolific session guitarist since the late 70's perhaps most well known for his work with Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie and for playing on Michael Jackson's Thriller album...
(yep he wrote and played the iconic riff from Beat It!)
The list of artists he's worked with and albums he's played on is HUGE.
So I tend to listen to what guitar greats like "Luke" have to say when it comes to practicing guitar.
This quote caught my attention:
“I can’t tell you how helpful knowing music theory and learning to read and write music has been. It is the language of what we do.
"You don’t have to be ‘Mr Sight-read’, but fuck anyone who tells you it ‘hurts your playing’.
I have never heard such shit in my life. Knowledge is power.
“There are great players that know none of this stuff, but I bet if you asked them, 95 per cent would say they wished they did, and that they had learned it when they were young. I played by ear for the first seven years of my career, and it was very hard to go back and learn music properly, but I think it was worth it - and I use it every day.
"There is so much competition - anything that gives you the edge to get the gig and keep it seems the right way to go to me.”
Knowledge IS power.
But...
"Knowledge is not power until it is applied” -Dale Carnegie.
So I guess the question is:
Do YOU need to know theory for what YOU want to be able to do with your guitar playing?
What do YOU need to know in order to play the way YOU want?
Make sure you're at the very least learning the types of chords, scales, arpeggios etc you'll need to use.
Check out this video I've done on the subject when you get a chance
Practice hard and have fun!!
Jimmy