There is an infinite music where sounds are played that are not struck and each note is perfect and if experienced will put you in bliss, and they are all inside of you.

I've been playing for 40 years. To me the best approach is learn the theory so well that it's subconscious. This creates a basic framework in the mind which can then be creatively worked and we don't have to consciously think about notes until we start or end a phrase. This allows us to play what our brain wants to hear instead of repeating patterns.

This man is expounding on his opinion. Learn theory people!!!!

“You don’t need theory” - this entire discussion is about music theory. Consonance, Dissonance, Phrasing, Tension, I -V7, HW Diminished, right notes, wrong notes… all music theory.

Interesting but I can't help thinking that his immersion in theory and exploration of harmony resulted in a 'hardwiring' of those sounds and how to get them. It really is hard, or even impossible, to sound musical using this in/out approach if you don't have some vocabulary ingrained in your ears and fingers.

relatable perspective for life not only music , i see him talking about both at the same time , maybe at the end its all the same thing , perspectives are fascinating, theres so many ways to attack the same thing regardless the topic subject matter , thats the door ive recently gone through at 57 years old 2 months now into the guitar neck theory notes etc

This is the lesson I needed, after 36 years of playing.

Listen, I don’t believe in criticizing other people’s art or methods. I’ve played by ear for decades while not knowing “what” I’m doing (theory). But finally I started working from theory outward into testing the boundaries, so YOU really need theory even though you can play by ear and get a long ways toward learning without it. Just do it. There are no shortcuts.

He's still just talking about theory. Every guitarist I see saying you don't need theory, just talks about theory. Sometimes they even make up new words for the theory they are talking about.

Perfect! Just play any crap you want and if it doesn't sound good, call it "tension". Music theory isn't a set of rules, it's a set of measuring tools. It's always amazing to me how much effort people put in to not learning things that can give them a much wider sonic pallet.

Right and wrong notes, some people have an ear for it from day one, and others train their ear through theory over time. Once known though, you're free to create just like the great musicians born with amazing ears. Neither path is easy though. You have to put the time in. Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, refreshing view , never heard this take on notes and music. As a mostly self taught player will just keep noodling. Thank you! Wayne Hi, I am looking forward to the next post.

I have studied theory forever. I think it's important to know it, and I use it constantly. It made me a better musician than I was, that's for sure. In terms of actually using it or not in improvising it really depends IMHO on the material you are trying to improvise over. If it's a simple vamp, one two chord vamp, yeah sure you can avoid it to some extent and find your ways to create tension and release (which is a gold concept in all music of course). But if you're playing more "complex" things harmonically, with changes etc like bebop etc, you have to know theory to sound legit. At the end of the day it's all about the material you play and the effect you want to create. But I think a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so my advice is, well, learn theory, then decide with your ear if you want to use it or not. Wayne in any case is a fab musician that I greatly admire.

One of the advantages of going through the theory is to make sure that you are exploring more possibilities than you personally would have invented. It also ensures that your exploration of the instrument isn't based around the unconscious preferences you have in the movement of your hands, for example the tendency some have to avoid using one of their fingers. Finally, I agree that we shouldn't be a slave to theory, but identifying particular sounds by ear and knowing their names helps us communicate with our fellow musicians.

Love it!

I appreciate you sir 🙏

Great examples from a great example of a theory laden person. Knowing the theoretical explanations he gave is good, forgetting the theory as you select good feeling notes is better.

Really interesting. Thanks.

I saw him live about six years ago in Seattle. It was good but I really did not know what was going on, so he must be a genius!

Great musician, and great video! thank you very much

I think one of my favourite guitar solos is Wayne's from 'The Great Pagoda of Funn' by Donald Fagen, please listen if you haven't yet, it's just astonishing

Great lesson ! I am a painter (between figurative and abstract) and I am a guitarist. I am finally realizing after years of playing guitar that there are ultimately 12 notes that will sound more or less good depending on the context and that theorizing all of this is like trying to make sense of an abstract painting. Most of the time, an abstract painting is born from an emotion rather than a rational thought, for music I am beginning to understand that it is the same... Afterwards we can justify everything by theory and if the theory does not, then we will then say that the guitarist uses symmetrical patterns or such 😄

Thank you!

Great stuff, love WK’s playing… but it’s only possible what he’s discussing ‘cause he’s deeply explored the theory and music that came before and can build upon those (and developed his ear).

I don’t hear this angle enough but personally I look at theory as a ‘musicians language’. Recording, rehearsing and playing out are much easier if you can communicate in the dialect of the experience.

I didn’t know this Wayne Krantz. Fascinating. 🙏

Muito bom. Perfeito!!!!!

If all the possible note choices were a jungle full of beautiful plants and trees with delicious fruits (resolution) on the one hand and dangerous creatures on the other (tension), it would be of help to have wandered the area many times making a map with paths. It can lead to going the same path over and over again … or it can transform into an intuitive general sense of orientation, like a place becomes your home once you live there long enough. You can’t get lost anymore, so you can get lost in the moment.

The theory about theory, theoretically, is just a theory of theological things. I,ll show myself out ... Great lesson and inspiration! Thank cue.

Sensational !

Just came here to say that this guy is almost 70y'old. Cheers

I just love his approach and way of thinking about playing - this is revelatory for many and brings joy by simplifying the whole universe of jazz music theory to the absolute essence of creating tension and release - I just ❤❤❤it - thanks for sharing

I couldn't understand a theoretical word of what he said but I loved everything he played.

Proud to have you explain7ng that

Genius Musician (not just Guitarist, I feel he would be capable on many an instrument) Met Wayne twice (at his gigs) the most humble and approachable Musician I have ever met. Please continue to support this Man and The Musicians that are still Courageous enough to be themselves☮️✌🏻

Absolute genius.

thank you very much

Recomiendo su libro An Improviser's OS (Book) I recomend this book, unico en su estilo. One of a kind

improvising gives the best ideas

Jazz, Nice!

Only works if you know the way home. Getting lost is the easy part. Encouraging content, though!

Wayne Krantz a true musical treasure.

This is super awesome

He speaks wisdom of life in general

this is gold!

So glad to hear this . I am utterly bored of people who want to sound predictable and conventional. Tension, release, unpredictable phrasing and dissonance are so important. Music has to be both a emotional release and and an emotional message. When we speak we don't think about how grammar is formed. Thought straight to the mouth and vocal chords. Music should be more like that than some awful stagnating morass of should I /shouldn't I theoretical anxiety.

Pure wisdom.

Of course you need theory….. it’s just a must. Not everyone is a gifted musician. But even if you are, if you want to develop your gift. There is no way around……. Music Theory, is the key…….

I know a little theory to understand what someone is talking about. I have never memorized scales or anything. I play by ear. That's the most fun for me. I hear it in my head then play it. I tried learning theory years ago and not only was it overwhelming (it never ends), but if I played a cool progression that didn't follow theory, I didn't want to play it. I brought a couple chords to a pro guitarist I hung out with at times, to ask what they were. He loved the chords but said they really don't fit into any theory. He said it doesn't matter, they sound cool.

"You don't need theory" says someone who surely knows his stuff pretty well.

Love this guy. He completey changed the way I chose to play guitar. Opened up a whole new world. Total genius.

Krantz transcends again! My teacher showed me Wayne two decades ago and he said ''He understands my approach ''Learn, forget and play'' ". Now Wayne gives even deeper level of that.

Says the guy who is intimately familiar with theory. :) Theory is an incredibly useful way of making sense out of what you hear. It can also be handy if you've got to play but aren't quite feeling inspired. But of course you don't "need" theory. But then again, you don't need a car or email. You could just walk or send a postcard. You'll eventually get there. -Huge Krantz Fan

I like the way this guy thinks.

problem is that you basically don't play wrong notes at all

guitar genius

Don't listen to people who tell you not to learn

It is actually an old style, Fado/Sailor/Brothel blues. It is said to be the very root to jazz, blues, country a lot of styles until the music industry sat an comb to it and divided it to separate genres. My granfather a hired gun mastering many instrument he liked to play this style jaming on electric guitar, long sessions. I could not get my head around it as I seensed flavours from around the whole world like eating a spicey meal cooked by an maniac but also as something pretty appealing. No one did as people used to leave but it was and it is something very impressive.

Wayne has some of the best, in the pocket playing which makes his wrong notes sound good, theory or not and is why he can sound awesome either by himself or in a trio. Having good time is just as if not more important than how much or how little theory you know or don't know when it comes to playing.

Some have forgotten that the roots of rock music grow from jazz and blues, and in these styles a lot of things are deliberately done wrong so that the melody sounds like a live one.

I'm just hearing lots of short phrases 'motif' practised patterns put together with that 7/8 kind of Stravinsky 'Right of spring' Genesis foxtrot 'Supers ready' rhythm played underneath. Dissonance is there for a reason it's not just placed anywhere for the sake of it!

The foods that we eat and enjoy are based on what's available to us. If we lived on a planet that only gave us acidic foods we'd like that. In music we are used to a certain flavor based on where we are on the planet (eastern versus western music in a very basic way). If you change up what we're offered musically we'll eventually get used to it and enjoy it.

V7 defines the key. The key gives you the list of options by various tensions. But you hear the tension and release and feel it. Do you need theory? Yes and no. It's there whether you want it or not.

The big misunderstanding is that every good player eventually develops a vocabulary of ideas. Lots of great players HAVE that vocabulary they just dont assign "verbal" names to them. So they know the sound of a Major 9 arpeggio but they couldnt tell you what it actually is. They just know they like the sound of the notes. Then they say, you dont need theory. Well no you dont really, but you DO need a vocabulary of ideas. Its just a form of ear training. Theres a argument to be made that maybe all music "theory" should just be taught by ear. Once someone can hear an idea in their head before they play then they know it. You don need to be able to name it. But if you dont have any ideas in your head then you just making up shit as you go along and sometimes will just play terrible stuff.

Theory, particularly harmony, is the language of music. How does a musician communicate without knowing theory?

In this day and age it is very fashionable to be anti institution. But to be able to meaningfully flick your middle finger to the rule book, it is best to have read the book first. Then and only then have you risen above it.

Musicians! This post is rather interesting and informative! Pay very close attention to improve your improvisation skills vastly as this instructor knows of that which he posts ! 🎸

A knowledge of theory lets you to give a masterclass on tension and release with authority. 😂 The joy of music is in the sublime control of tension and its release, which is why we still love good music from past centuries and lose interest in music that is too bland or too chaotic.

Theory is how we communicate ideas.

We need John to do another updated rig run down of Wayne

Wayne did a class last year, is this the same post ?

Can you explain what it meant when you said there are 2048 tonalities in the chromatic scale?

This!!!!

Many beginning guitarists want a 'shortcut' to avoid having to learn all the theory. What they don't realise is - theory IS the shortcut. Without it you've got an expanse of fingerboard with no map as for what to play. Sure, play anything you like...and watch your audience disappear out the exit.

If you don’t know theory how do you apply everything he’s talking about?

To be honest he wouldn't have a musical opinion about any of those notes if he hadn't practiced scales and theory for aaaaages. The difference between him and somebody that is playing random notes is that he feels the musical context of every note and has a bunch of musical instinct to take him to the next. That comes through reflective practice, using theory as a scaffold.

Music theory existed some time after music was being created by people....the music always comes first. Babies learn to speak before they learn to read and write...similarly here with music theory and the musician. But its a very very useful tool to have. Knowledge never hurts anyone...well not usually and not in a musical sense. Like he said extremely well - having theory won't necessarily make you a better player than someone that has none...its no substitute for a musical mind/imagination. Couple that with great playing technique and a good ear and you can go a long long way!! ...eg the Beatles...but there's millions more like them.

Is there a way to get the rest?

I think theory, and perfection, can destroy tension and feeling.

If it was almost anyone but WK saying this I’d be turned off, but I love his stuff. Ironically I’ve been digging his Signals album which seems more structured than his later work. I think it’s difficult to minimize the importance of a thing like theory once you’ve learned it. Hard to subtract it from your mind. Maybe impossible?

Case and point -- groove and phrasing is more important than the notes you play. However, note choice causes tension.

"Tension" here is just another word for "dissonance." What's dissonant now is far different from what was dissonant 100 years ago, because music keeps evolving. Our ears have become so accustomed to harmonic chaos that it's hard to play a "wrong" note. Like playing tennis without a net.

Alex Lifeson is decades ahead of this he’s the quintessential instinctive player. His solo in Tom Sawyer, for example, shouldn’t make sense theoretically but it does.

Skronk!

How do we know what the "wrong" notes are?

I have tension trying to follow this.

He seems to say that he got deeply into theory and now doesn’t use it. I think of the expression, do what I do or did, not what I say.

Wayne has gone *deep as fuck* on theory, for decades, to the point where the scales, chords, vocabulary, sounds, etc. are all internalized and can flow out of him without conscious thought. He says he just thinks "play some wrong notes", but they notes aren't *random.* To deliberately play wrong notes, you have to know what the right notes are. Moreover, the "wrong notes" he chooses are themselves organized, coherent, and sound particular spicy for the given musical context, because of all that theory work he did.

I had always been told that you should know all of the rules but to then go and break them.

Anyone who plays with Steely Dan knows there stuff

I could not agree more. And in your face, Rick Beato! :) About two decades ago, I was in a recording studio when a thrash metal band was finishing their session and a folklore band was warming up. There was a 60+ year old violin player, never listened to metal in his life, those chord progressions were totally alien to him, he could read notes and he didn't know a jack about theory. Withing minutes, he began improvising on his violin to the tune of a thrash metal song. Our jaws dropped. While the sound engineer was discussing what chord goes well with Fmaj7, the old man just came up with something great. And that's a musician. Not a person who tells you that you cannot play Cmaj after Emaj in blues.

Any additional Theory knowledge is helpful but overwhelmingly ones focus should be on playing in the key of awesome.

To quote Eric Morecambe playing Rachmaninoff piano concerto - "I'm playing all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order."

To each their own, I guess?

Need to know what is right to know what is wrong

Genius.

"You don't need theory" is that just a clickbait statement, because if it is it worked. I wouldn't normally even waste a second debating the idea. You need SOMETHING. Call it theory, don't call it theory, I could give an F. Every form of dealing with music in any repeatable, organized way is a form of "theory". You might as well understand WTF you're doing , instead of wondering WTF you're doing. Mis dos pesos. 😁

so wayne krantz can afford to move away from theory just because he learned it so much . the quintessence of assimilation of theory occurs when you can forget it while enjoying the worlds it has opened up to you

so this is the guitar player for south park?

Always liked Wayne Krantz, bad choice of title though ... I know what he means in the context of everything thing else he's saying and playing. Obviously, you would have no idea which notes are "wrong" or "bad" to play if you didn't know which notes are "good" or "right" to play. My favorite musician in the world doesn't "know" theory (not the formal names, or any formal training, etc); but when he plays, he shifts between tension & resolution faster than any other musician I can think of. If you ask him what to use a diminished sound for, he wouldn't know what you're talking about; but then play him a diminished chord or arpeggio and he'll show you so many things to do with a diminished sound that your head will spin ... he just grew up playing since 3-4 years old, he knows the sound, and every way to resolve it. He just doesn't know schooled/book-learned "music theory" ... but he has been awarded an honorary doctorate because of the genius and depth of knowledge he has. He just doesn't use the same words. I guess what I'm saying is that we're all arguing about semantics. We're pulling one sentence fragment out of context and saying that's what someone meant while ignoring the other 99% of his words. If you really knew no music theory, than nothing Wayne said would make any sense at all. The most fundamental thing about "western" musical theory is the concept of tension & release. It's the defining aspect of "functional music" vs. "non-functional music" like Gamelan or Gregorian Chants that have no dominant/tonic relationship. That was almost all he talked about, tension & release ... knowing theory myself, I hear him saying that you can use anything you want as "tension", it doesn't have to be specified "out" sounds like the "altered scale", or the "whole-tone" scale that are commonly used to explain the concept in theory classes ... you can do ANYTHING for tension ... just weird random notes/mediant relationships/chromaticism, just resolve it at the right time, that means you have to keep track of what/where/when to resolve in your ear/head even when you're not resolving. You have to keep track of both sounds at the same time.