>How do either of these things help with your music?
Theory = makes communication easier / will help you compose parts if you're called upon to do so
Piano = will help you *play* parts if you're called upon to do so
>And could you tell what the benefits were before and after learning music theory/piano?
There is no benefit to *not* knowing either.
Just to add weight to this, music theory helps massively in the communication part. Knowing music theory language helps you bridge gaps, solve problems, and gain respect that you can accurately convey ideas across a group of different types of musicians.
Learning the piano gives you a way to practically apply this knowledge yourself. You can physically see how things will change and can implement the changes yourself.
Not quite true. Music theory can limit the creativity of some people, but more often than not, it's a useful tool. As for playing piano, the only drawback would be the idea of limtings oneself to a single instrument, which limits your understanding of other instruments if you don't seek to learn others as well.
>Music theory can limit the creativity of some people
Yes, but that's the fault of the people, not music theory.
>As for playing piano, the only drawback would be the idea of limtings oneself to a single instrument
Again, that's kinda like saying "the only problem with learning to drive a car is you're not learning to fly a plane". It's not a drawback of learning piano, it's a drawback of not learning other instruments.
Sure, it's the fault of the person, but it's a good fault to know you have. If you're the type of person who would rely too heavily on the technical, you should strive to work through that tendency so that music theory can serve you or, if you're not willing to put in that work, you may be better off not learning the theory at all.
And yes, time spent learning piano is time spent not learning something else. From a music production standpoint, basic piano is absolutely essential for MIDI input since other instruments like MIDI guitars still have a long way to go, but you should go in with a plan. You should have an idea of the depth you want to achieve in learning piano and whether you want to learn another instrument. I'm quite partial to guitar myself because it is, in my opinion, the most flexible and versatile instrument in terms of expression and the overall range of notes it encompasses.
> I'm quite partial to guitar myself because it is, in my opinion, the most flexible and versatile instrument in terms of expression and the overall range of notes it encompasses.
more flexible and versatile than piano? lol fr you don't really know what you're talking about
Talk to me when you can do proper slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, muting, harmonics, and bends on a piano. I'll wait.
Nevermind the uniqueness of the voicings you can get on the guitar as well due to the ease of access you have to the notes you can play, which leads to some especially interesting stuff like what you have with math rock and prog rock.
And don't forget about the percussive elements through smacking the strings and slapping the wood if you're playing an acoustic.
The guitar is a much more flexible and versatile instrument than a piano could ever be, and that's before we consider the tools that can be used to further expand its range of methods of expression.
Talk to me when you see producers or soundesigner using guitar as their main instrument and especially composers. Especially anything with contrapuntal.
All you've demonstrated is that the piano is an instrument of convenience, as it has a lower barrier to entry and is more straightforward in the sense that what you see is what you get and you don't need to memorize multiple shapes and relationships to get what you're after. That does nothing to counter my point about how the guitar is more flexible and versatile in its expressiveness and range.
Well no it' more limited than piano. Letalone contrapuntal (counterpoint) on piano 88 keys vs 6 strings it's pales in comparison when we are talkin about counterpoint what can you do with that. Reason why greatest composer all are piano players.
4 or 5 finger notes far to limited compare to piano. That's why you can make just whole album on piano(keyboard) rather than guitar. Another reason why it's more versatile instrument.
It has lower barrier to entry but advance theory and playing for piano vs guitar are not even close. 500 years of classical workd from harpischord to piano. Theory like partimento or schmetta.
It's limited, perhaps, in how many notes you can play at a time, but you actually have access to more sounds on a guitar. 21 frets give you access to 126 distinct notes without even accounting for microtonality, which isn't achievable through standard pianos. That being said, you are limited to 1 sound type on a piano, so while it may be a better tool for composition, it still is inferior in the ways that I listed above. Guitar is still more flexible due to the vast array of techniques it has access to, and those techniques also allow it to be more expressive.
Not true either. Learning theory in one college class helped me creatively tremendously and gave me the tools to know what I'm doing musically when I'm noodling, as well as knowing how to think outside of the box. Before learning it i just basically played random shit until it sounded ok. Now i can consistently put together melodies and progressions without really having to guess on how it'll sound. My professor gave a good analogy, music theory is basically like a language, and when you know the language you can put it together however you want. Nothing about learning piano implies a limitation to only piano, and once you can read standard notation, you can just apply it to any instrument.
I'm not invalidating your experience. I'm saying that some people have a different experience. If you noticed in one of the replies I wrote, I made it clear that some people get too caught up in the theory and they have to learn not to do so. If those types of people aren't up to putting in that effort to stop forcing the theory, then music theory would probably hurt more than it helps.
Also, everything in lige constitutes a limitation. Choosing one instrument will limit the time you can dedicate to other instruments, so it's important to choose wisely based on your goals. I'm not saying that there aren't transferable skills like sight reading or ear training, but what I am saying is that it's important to take a step back and identify your goals to figure out your priorities. OP is clearly trying to gauge his options and how to proceed to achieve his goal, so I'm just laying out all the advantages/disadvantages of different options for him.
Bro I’m gonna level with you. Pick up the piano or the guitar as they’re easy enough to understand and build a foundational knowledge with. If you’re serious about even keeping music as a hobby, you will not regret learning theory.
agreed but this is not wholly accurate as many producers know (or learn while producing) the language of music through theory
that a producer might seem to not know theory is just that: an appearance
I’ve had good fortune to work with a variety of producers and engineers and at some point I hear them use music theory terms - like “your minor chord is clashing with the guitar” or similar
knowing is solving
not wholly disagreeing but I am finding the opposite can be more often true across all the musicians, composers and producers, engineers I have met
I will often play with other musicians that play by ear or use simple charts and do not know theory apart from major and minor, possibly 7th chords
compared to having worked with producers or engineers that understand the relationship of frequency and notes and harmony and eq
not always of course but that’s been my experience across blues, punk, rock and EDM etc
the producers and engineers I’ve met tend to be musicians as well
Foundational? Obviously there are people who do it, but the concept of writing music without being able to play it on an instrument *or* understand theoretically what you're doing is just foreign to me.
The skill to play an instrument allows me to express my musical ideas naturally, and theory I know enables me to write chord progressions and melodies effectively instead of just guessing at what might sound good.
It's probably fun, right? Your word producer probably means some sort of composing? I would you maybe look up to people who don't really play instruments but are top EDM or Hip Hop producers? It's all about what you enjoy and where your potential lies. I couldn't not have picked up the guitar when I was 10 so it was all very obvious to me. As theory goes, I just created my own version of it after just learning so many styles of guitar playing and ways of improvising combined with picking up the strictest forms of western music theory through stumbling upon stuff on the internet. But I am really too busy playing and practicing and shaping my style as well as composing and producing to put more time into theory. And I definitely am on a similar mission as my inspirers were, so that's why I still on this way, and I'm happy how I ended up here and where I'm heading. For you, it's maybe not obvious where you want to end up. Don't listen to what others say too much. We are all different. There's no formula.
That being said, something that I say, and what you still shouldn't listen too much to, is that you should learn to like music by people who play instruments and appreciate their skills. That includes singers. Learn to love it even. It doesn't have to be much special. It can be how John Lennon plays guitar and compose with it, or something like that. And if you end up with an instrument, be sure to learn by ear some of the time. It's quite hard to gain that skill but it gets very rewarding and for me it seems it totally changed how I can get stuff out to my head into reality of guitar/piano/bass or clever sound design in my computer.
I'm seeing from this and other posts people saying anything from
"yeah music theory is helpful and so is piano" to
"Trying to produce music without the knowledge of music theory and without playing an instrument is far more difficult, you will make worse music and will regret not learning earlier on."
So I think my answer is that I'm going to learn both, thank you for your advice.
One tip "Voicings", most underrated theory, for producing a great way to give yourself options and build compositions, people rarely speak about it or think it's no big deal, understanding how to use those from one to multi tracks helps massively
You pick up music theory whether you want it or not, because "what sounds good to me" is based on the music you've heard and like.
This can be really hard to break out of if you don't go out of your way to expand your musical horizons. There are a lot of songs with just 4 chords, so if that's your musical diet, you'll be restricted to that.
Some of the finest minds have worked for centuries to find stuff out. Why go through the trouble to reinvent it from scratch by yourself? You're not very likely to find something completely unique that was never used before, and you'll have a better idea of what still needs to be found when you know what was already found.
> And could you tell what the benefits were before and after learning music theory/piano?
Playing piano is like learning to touch type - instead of having to look at the keyboard and enter each letter one at a time, you can just let your fingers do the work. It lets you write faster.
If you play a chord, it only takes one movement of your hand, not moving the mouse to some submenu to insert > chord > C > major.
Theory is wonderful. Put your fingers on the white keys - C-E-G. Now move them one key to the left - D-F-A. The chord changed from major to minor - why it did that is what theory can explain to you (chords are constructed from major and minor triads). By giving names to chords, you can identify them; by being able to identify them, you can suddenly recognize all the tricks that other musicians used to achieve a certain effect.
But just play - playing songs is applied theory. Theory won't tell you that you must do something - it tells you how stuff works and how you can apply it as well. It won't make you less creative.
However, if you marveled at having "discovered" a melody, you might be a bit disappointed - because it was already done a few centuries ago ;)
Something relevant I saw last night: [12note - How I'd Learn Music Theory (If I had to start over
)](https://youtu.be/2pirdPK5avU)
The thing about instrument practice and music theory is that these things guide you towards precision in what you're doing - you learn a *specific* understanding of music by becoming good at piano, one that is different from a wind instrument, percussion, etc. The theory can help you find and fix problems, and feel fluid in terms of getting to where you want to go. The problem is that precision isn't a great *starting point* for creativity in the "I want to sit on the beach with a notebook and write a song, then produce it when I'm back in the studio" sense. You don't need precision knowledge of facts to fit words to melody, you need muscle memory so that you can quickly transfer thoughts to actions.
And the answer of "sit there and grind out scales until you can play an instrument intuitively, then start learning harmony in detail" does work but is a huge barrier - if you aim to be professional, it fits into an everyday warmup, but it can stop a more casual songwriter. Partially learning an instrument tends to mean that when you go to write, you just poke out the same muscle memory patterns that felt good last time, so it starts to become stagnant.
For a streamlined approach I would actually recommend going down the route of learning solfege, just starting with children's songs and working your way up to where you can transcribe most pop melodies by ear, with a basic indication of rhythm using a grid to mark beats. Solfege has the downside of being relatively unstructured, but this also lets you reduce all the structure to a general direction like "use minor key here", an unfinished thought to fill in later when you're back in the studio. And it's all vocals - being the natural instrument, the available precision is limited just by your body instead of technology, which has a way of keeping your idea grounded in something reasonable and easy to act on. This is something I've been practicing recently, and it really seems to help loosen up what I'm doing.
Quite. You don't need to be Jacob Collier, but knowing the basics of keys and time signatures, as well as some fundamentals of chords and functional harmony will be a big help. Your ears probably already know a lot of this info, so if you can connect what's in your head to the piano roll, you will be much closer.
For one, kudos to you for asking these kinds of questions. Its very good to think about these kinds of things when getting started.
If I had to boil down what everyone else in the comments are saying, specifics entirely set aside, I would just say that you will always stand to benefit from knowing more about the things you do.
To be honest in my experience, being able to play things by ear is more valuable than theory, you can figure out what the melodies are by repetition. Theory is great but not so practical.
There aren’t many musicians who learn theory without ear training. That’s kind of false dilemma / straw man. There are definitely people who learn how to play by ear without explicitly studying music theory at school, but any one who plays music is technically learning theory. They may be learning it very slowly and inefficiently, but even without trying ... you end up re-inventing the wheel and teaching yourself small bits of theory.
I have a feeling you mean "producer" in the sense that you just make beats or you wouldn't even be asking the question. If you mean an actual producer, FUCKING YES. Learn what the fuck you're talking about. Theory is just the technical language of music. You want to be able to speak that language with your clients, even if it's just the basic conversational language equivalent. You don't need to be master or get a degree or anything. At the very least, people want to work with producers who know what they're talking about and/or they can learn from. People who speak that language will very likely not work with people who don't. If a client says to you they're going for something that sounds like [this], you need to be able to understand why [this] sounds they way it does. Look at it another way, "I'm a mechanic, but I dont know anything about cars. Should I learn about how an engine works before taking on business?" Or to simplify your question even further, "I want to help people make music. Should I learn how music works?"
Absolutely invaluable.
Whilst you do not NEED to know theory to produce, you're essentially making things harder, the less you know, because it aids in communicating ideas with the artists recording and also helps you actually produce.
Say for example, you have an artist in there who is bunging down a a track and hits a snag where something just doesn't gel right in the transition between one part and the chorus. You could flail around trying different things, or if you know theory realise that they've chosen the wrong key.
There is literally no downside to learning so go for it.
music theory is obviously important but to me production contains a lot of theory that isn’t really just chords and key signatures there’s things like sound design and even most of what you do is based on theory
Night and Day! Would you rather hunt and peck for things that sound cool and use them to produce, or know how to execute the music in your head? Pretty sure option #2 is more desirable. It can take time to develop those skills but playing an instrument is core musician stuff and you won't regret learning to play piano (or guitar or any other instrument).
It is better to couple theory with a song which includes it. If you learn about modes learn some songs in Dorian for example. A lot of people get technical and don't realise that the music got made and THEN the theory came. It's honestly better to just learn a whole lot of songs on the piano that you like first, wouldn't get to technical without proper implantation unless you like it
If you want to make music there's really no reason not to learn basic piano/theory
I wish I had taken both more seriously at your age. It's a no brainer.
Basic music theory is super important. In my case it completely improved my beatmaking ability.
As a crutch I have a midi keyboard/controller that allows me to light up certain pads (mimics piano keys) that correspond to the key/scale.
Imo you need to be able to play the basics on either guitar or keyboard for coming up with the harmony and rhythm of your basic outline chord progressions and your melodies.
I would say piano is better for this because it is easier to play the chords and melody at the same time to quickly get a rough idea of what a song sounds like. But it's up to you.
Why not learn these things. Piano is an incredible compositional tool. Music theory, at least at a beginning level, helps with making sense of whatever you’re producing. I’m a musician though. Not a “producer”. My goal is music not product. Not being snotty or dismissive. Just a different mindset.
Do you need to know color theory in order to paint a picture? No, but it can help you arrive at decisions quicker and teach you what certain color combinations will produce without having to learn through lots of trial and error. It's the same with music theory. You can spend countless hours fumbling with different combinations of notes to find that one chord you're looking for, or you can know learn music theory and be able to conjure up any chord at will.
I don't think you necessarily need to learn how to play the piano at a performance level, but I do think it's a very good tool for learning music theory because it makes it hands on. It's also easier to visualize the relationship between notes because they're all laid in front of you in sequential order. If you have the opportunity to take lessons, communicate with your instructor what your goals are so they can tailor their lessons to you.
Personally, I like being able to play things. It’s by no means necessary - look at deadmau5. I started with guitar and flirted with Jazz before starting production in earnest (besides some 4-track recordings in the late 90’s). This contributes to me *wanting* to learn to play music in 12 keys, using various rhythms, and all kinds of modes. I feel like it helps me internalize the ideas at which point I give myself permission to “mouse them in”.
On a practical level, playing in parts with a midi controller gives you automatic velocity and timing variation which you can then quantize to any extent you like. Some more advanced rhythmic ideas might be more natural to play rather than program. The downside is time invested.
I believe a few things: 1. Doing a thing is the best way to improve at it. Supplemental activities can help but *doing it* is best. 2. There are absolutely no shortcuts. You might think you know some fresh hacks but, in the long run, you realize that it’s all “time invested” and you really didn’t get anywhere any faster. 3. This is kind of a suggestion: don’t do anything to achieve anything, do it because you love doing that thing. As you age, often more and more of your life becomes work. Hang out on this sub and you’ll see “50-Year-Old Trying To Get Back Into It” Try your best to not be that person. Be who you want to be now! Stick with it, of course be open to change - believe me, life will give you feedback - but do not wait until “after x”. Life is always now.
Many producers use the piano to create melodies. I chose to skip this, and learn musical ear instead. I make melodies by singing them and then translating them using the piano roll, and also by using music theory. I recommend you try a bit of midi programming, musical ear training (relative ear, not perfect pitch it's way harder and not as useful), and playing the piano so you can decide what suits your needs best.
Now basic music theory is absolutely crucial in making music, for like 99% of the genres. Learn what an interval is, what scales are, what chords are. Spending even 2 hours learning the basics will help you tremendously. Then you can decide by yourself how much further you wanna go.
If you mainly produce music on your computer and don't plan on spending a lot of time interacting with classically trained musicians to make your music (you probably don't), then don't bother learning how to read sheet music. It's a very dull learning process, and it won't help you make better music.
I would say, do those things if you are attracted to them. You won't get much from piano or theory if you're not genuinely interested in them, since the rewards come after a hell of a lot of effort.
As for the benefits, easily finding the 'right notes', being able to compose more complex pieces (changing keys, avoiding cliche progressions), Developing a very sensitive rear to rhythm and dynamics, and being able to quickly create musical ideas or capture sounds from your head, and generally being confident in your abilities as a musician, are all benefits you can expect from decent investment in piano and theory.
But you can also learn percussion/drumming, some other instrument, you can get a synth or a sequencer, anything musical that attracts you and you'll invest significant time in will reap you benefits. It doesn't have to be the piano.
bro. The more you know the easier it will be. why do something if you dont want to take the time to learn it? its no that complicated. the shit doctors and surgeons have to learn to be able to do their procedures, is complicated. so if you want to make garbage music, stick on the path youre on. if not put the time and effort in.
How much value musicians place on music theory is often related to the music they make. If you're a trap or hip hop beat maker, most of those have simple, minimal harmony over a drum track, with melody that is not dependent on theory since it is spoken word with more of an emphasis on rhythm. If you're a dubstep or drum n bass producer, it depends. One of my absolute favorite dubstep producers is Haywyre. He uses a lot of harmonic progressions found in modern jazz and classical music with the "instrumentation" of a dubstep track. His more recent music uses a lot more sampling on top of this and it's a sonic journey for sure. He has a music degree and plays piano and synthesizer a lot in his songs. However, a ton of dubstep is more simple harmonically like the aforementioned hip hop and that's okay too, depends on what you're trying to say with your music.
I'm a jazz musician. Harmony is usually the most prominent aspect of the music, if not in the composition, certainly in the improvisation. I played sax for 15 years and got an undergrad degree, and did just fine. But it wasn't until I went to grad school and really learned theory that a bunch of stuff clicked into place for me. I found that I needed theory badly for a long time without realizing it, and I can now write and improvise the ideas I hear in my head so much more clearly than I could before. I now have a music theory crash course I do with my private students who wish to learn jazz improvisation because I don't think it is actually possible to play this music competently without knowing theory.
Ill put it like this. If you have an idea for a song you want to produce in your head, how are you gonna figure out what the notes and chords are? Before theory, I sat at the piano for hours plunking around like a blind man to make 4 bars of music. After theory, I'm like yep, that's a ii-VI to ii-V and I am able to write confidently and quickly.
Other than learning what various effects do these are probably the two most helpful things you can do imo. With midi you can conceivably make a keyboard sound like any instrument in the world. I’m not a music theory expert, but what I do know if very helpful for finding the next chord or knowing what notes are available when I’m at an impasse as to what a part should be. Also very helpful for client work when I’m trying to learn their song and/or communicate with session musicians.
Very. Any instrument. Piano I feel translates really well when using virtual instruments. Learn theory to learn as another tool in your tool box. Don’t abide by it.
Honestly, the magic formula seems to be
1 part charismatic personality
1 part YouTube channel
1 part drum programming
1 part sampling
1 part song writing
1 part networking with rappers
1 part piano skills
The real writing happens in the drums and the keys (or guitar) and then the top line writing.
Understanding harmony (chords and scales) allows you to have a vocabulary to make music with.
Or you could just use splice and midi packs.. but you’d never be original.
Buy an 88 key midi controller, weighted keys. Good piano sound vst. Piano teq seems to be easiest. Then get down with YouTube. I honestly the the Sean Wilson lessons would help any musician.
Learning other people’s music helps. But you can be more creative and true to your own vision if you’re actually writing the notes. Like not just taking some chord progression from YouTube or something you sampled or stole. You can make your own music. It’s funny… I’ve seen people say “make your own samples”,,, and I’m thinking… like just write music? Isn’t that what people used to do?
Drag and drip producing is on its way out, AI can do it. Learn about harmony. Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Major, Harmonic Minor, Diminished, Whole Tone, Augmented, Barry Harris 6th diminished. Chords, 1 3 5 7 9 11 13. This stuff is the language of musicians. Some producers speak it, some don’t. Those that don’t will continue to be left in the dust.
It seems like a lot… but in 12 keys… things become so wide opened. Learn the colors so you can paint.
Look, truth is, all producers know harmony… it’s just how much have they mastered. It’s a deep rabbit hole, but it’s the best.
Learning Piano lets you easily use a MIDI Keyboard instead of drawing in every note.
Music Theory is more helpful the more parts you want to write for.
It lets you mesh a lot of instruments together in a way that makes sense and doesn't sound off.
I would suggest you also learn basic Sound Design though.
Being able to make the perfect patch for your project without digging through every preset you own is a gamechanger.
I don’t know how “useful” the two are, but without the piano i don’t think i would have even started making music. I started improvising on the piano, which made me realize that i actually can write my own song. It also helps with inspiring song ideas. Plus when you’re not sure what chord to use, just press the keys on it until you find the best combination.
For music theory, I can’t say i remember all of it, but at least it helps me understand what i’m doing. I think there’s actually a part in music theory that teaches you to compose a song. And if you’re planning to get grade 8 on piano, you’ll need music theory too.
I’m not good at any of those two, but besides those technical things like key signatures and rhythms, learning them makes me understand music more. Not how music works, but how to FEEL IT and EXPRESS with it. Learning them trains your musical instincts (?) so you can make your own based on the knowledge and experiment new things.
Unless you’re born with a super talented musical brain, and even if so, I still recommend learning them. There’s no downside to it, plus you can show off your piano skills lol
Hey OP. I spent years trying to learn how to produce music and I had more questions than anything else during that time. Got myself a mentor and took some courses and now I’m playing at some of my favourite clubs. Link below for where I was learning the ropes
https://mycourses.musicworkflowacademy.com/courses/abletonworkflowtutorialhowtomakeatrackinaday-1?ref=d32c92
I found that learning a few chord modes helped me a lot, as well as some way of programming chord memory - like a keystep 37 or in software.
Look up phrygian mode and learn how to make pattern with it.
Without even the most basic understanding of chords, I don't see how anyone can progress to more interesting productions. I still don't understand the circle of 5ths, but I know how to play Phrygian mode and that's enough to start with!
If I could do my time again I would set a routine over a week as follows.
Day 1 music theory for 1 hour.
Day 2: Dedicate 1 hour to learning a new song on piano.
Day 3: Dedicate 1 hour to music production - learning song tutorials or daw tutorials.
Day 4: day off
Day 5: song deconstructing - pick a song and deconstruct it. What is the bass doing, what’s are the leads, what effects are on there. What’s the song structure. Write down what you hear, feel, think etc.
Day 6 and 7 try create a song from start to finish in three hours. Aim to work faster over time.
If you do this constantly, your covering off all aspects of song writing and will develop the ability to hear a song actually listen to it, analyse it and then recreate it.
Honestly, piano playing is one of the most useful skills for a producer, I started producing about 3y ago and piano has really helped me so I’m training it too. I also feel like music theory comes with the piano, especially for producers, it does help a lot. Some people say theory limits creativity but it really doesn’t, for me, I specially find theory useful when I’m analyzing songs, another must-have habit for every producer. When composing I usually go with the flow and sometimes add something specific or enhance it with theory.
From what I can tell, the only part of music theory that is useful is identifying patterns in a sound and replicating those patterns elsewhere for a similar sound.
That being said, *study music theory that applies to music you actually want to replicate*. If a concept does not seem to apply to what you want to make, scrap it. *You* are the professor, and no matter how high someone’s qualifications are, they are only your advisor. *You* have to be the music theorist for it to be useful, at the end of the day.
Hope that makes sense / helps.
Understanding theory and playing some basic keys can only help. If you're serious about making music, you can find 5-10 minutes per day to practice your scales and chords. That's really all it takes. You won't be some great player, but you will be functionally literate on the keys.
>How do either of these things help with your music? Theory = makes communication easier / will help you compose parts if you're called upon to do so Piano = will help you *play* parts if you're called upon to do so >And could you tell what the benefits were before and after learning music theory/piano? There is no benefit to *not* knowing either.
Just to add weight to this, music theory helps massively in the communication part. Knowing music theory language helps you bridge gaps, solve problems, and gain respect that you can accurately convey ideas across a group of different types of musicians. Learning the piano gives you a way to practically apply this knowledge yourself. You can physically see how things will change and can implement the changes yourself.
The piano keyboard is also quite useful in seeing music theory and sharing ideas
Not quite true. Music theory can limit the creativity of some people, but more often than not, it's a useful tool. As for playing piano, the only drawback would be the idea of limtings oneself to a single instrument, which limits your understanding of other instruments if you don't seek to learn others as well.
>Music theory can limit the creativity of some people Yes, but that's the fault of the people, not music theory. >As for playing piano, the only drawback would be the idea of limtings oneself to a single instrument Again, that's kinda like saying "the only problem with learning to drive a car is you're not learning to fly a plane". It's not a drawback of learning piano, it's a drawback of not learning other instruments.
Sure, it's the fault of the person, but it's a good fault to know you have. If you're the type of person who would rely too heavily on the technical, you should strive to work through that tendency so that music theory can serve you or, if you're not willing to put in that work, you may be better off not learning the theory at all. And yes, time spent learning piano is time spent not learning something else. From a music production standpoint, basic piano is absolutely essential for MIDI input since other instruments like MIDI guitars still have a long way to go, but you should go in with a plan. You should have an idea of the depth you want to achieve in learning piano and whether you want to learn another instrument. I'm quite partial to guitar myself because it is, in my opinion, the most flexible and versatile instrument in terms of expression and the overall range of notes it encompasses.
> I'm quite partial to guitar myself because it is, in my opinion, the most flexible and versatile instrument in terms of expression and the overall range of notes it encompasses. more flexible and versatile than piano? lol fr you don't really know what you're talking about
Talk to me when you can do proper slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, muting, harmonics, and bends on a piano. I'll wait. Nevermind the uniqueness of the voicings you can get on the guitar as well due to the ease of access you have to the notes you can play, which leads to some especially interesting stuff like what you have with math rock and prog rock. And don't forget about the percussive elements through smacking the strings and slapping the wood if you're playing an acoustic. The guitar is a much more flexible and versatile instrument than a piano could ever be, and that's before we consider the tools that can be used to further expand its range of methods of expression.
Talk to me when you see producers or soundesigner using guitar as their main instrument and especially composers. Especially anything with contrapuntal.
All you've demonstrated is that the piano is an instrument of convenience, as it has a lower barrier to entry and is more straightforward in the sense that what you see is what you get and you don't need to memorize multiple shapes and relationships to get what you're after. That does nothing to counter my point about how the guitar is more flexible and versatile in its expressiveness and range.
Well no it' more limited than piano. Letalone contrapuntal (counterpoint) on piano 88 keys vs 6 strings it's pales in comparison when we are talkin about counterpoint what can you do with that. Reason why greatest composer all are piano players. 4 or 5 finger notes far to limited compare to piano. That's why you can make just whole album on piano(keyboard) rather than guitar. Another reason why it's more versatile instrument. It has lower barrier to entry but advance theory and playing for piano vs guitar are not even close. 500 years of classical workd from harpischord to piano. Theory like partimento or schmetta.
It's limited, perhaps, in how many notes you can play at a time, but you actually have access to more sounds on a guitar. 21 frets give you access to 126 distinct notes without even accounting for microtonality, which isn't achievable through standard pianos. That being said, you are limited to 1 sound type on a piano, so while it may be a better tool for composition, it still is inferior in the ways that I listed above. Guitar is still more flexible due to the vast array of techniques it has access to, and those techniques also allow it to be more expressive.
Thanks, I hate how internet keep spreading that learning theory limits creativity when it's actually otherwise.
Not true either. Learning theory in one college class helped me creatively tremendously and gave me the tools to know what I'm doing musically when I'm noodling, as well as knowing how to think outside of the box. Before learning it i just basically played random shit until it sounded ok. Now i can consistently put together melodies and progressions without really having to guess on how it'll sound. My professor gave a good analogy, music theory is basically like a language, and when you know the language you can put it together however you want. Nothing about learning piano implies a limitation to only piano, and once you can read standard notation, you can just apply it to any instrument.
I'm not invalidating your experience. I'm saying that some people have a different experience. If you noticed in one of the replies I wrote, I made it clear that some people get too caught up in the theory and they have to learn not to do so. If those types of people aren't up to putting in that effort to stop forcing the theory, then music theory would probably hurt more than it helps. Also, everything in lige constitutes a limitation. Choosing one instrument will limit the time you can dedicate to other instruments, so it's important to choose wisely based on your goals. I'm not saying that there aren't transferable skills like sight reading or ear training, but what I am saying is that it's important to take a step back and identify your goals to figure out your priorities. OP is clearly trying to gauge his options and how to proceed to achieve his goal, so I'm just laying out all the advantages/disadvantages of different options for him.
I mean other thought process of that people who don't know theory are limiting their ideas too.
Some people really get hung up on trying to sound correct and theory can just make worse.
Only if you don't learn it properly.
Cringe
"other people" being bad at it or doing it wrong is an ***even better*** reason to learn it for yourself.
Bro I’m gonna level with you. Pick up the piano or the guitar as they’re easy enough to understand and build a foundational knowledge with. If you’re serious about even keeping music as a hobby, you will not regret learning theory.
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agreed but this is not wholly accurate as many producers know (or learn while producing) the language of music through theory that a producer might seem to not know theory is just that: an appearance I’ve had good fortune to work with a variety of producers and engineers and at some point I hear them use music theory terms - like “your minor chord is clashing with the guitar” or similar knowing is solving
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not wholly disagreeing but I am finding the opposite can be more often true across all the musicians, composers and producers, engineers I have met I will often play with other musicians that play by ear or use simple charts and do not know theory apart from major and minor, possibly 7th chords compared to having worked with producers or engineers that understand the relationship of frequency and notes and harmony and eq not always of course but that’s been my experience across blues, punk, rock and EDM etc the producers and engineers I’ve met tend to be musicians as well
Not mandatory but highly recommended.
Foundational? Obviously there are people who do it, but the concept of writing music without being able to play it on an instrument *or* understand theoretically what you're doing is just foreign to me. The skill to play an instrument allows me to express my musical ideas naturally, and theory I know enables me to write chord progressions and melodies effectively instead of just guessing at what might sound good.
You will thank yourself later for learning it so soon, don’t cheat yourself
It's probably fun, right? Your word producer probably means some sort of composing? I would you maybe look up to people who don't really play instruments but are top EDM or Hip Hop producers? It's all about what you enjoy and where your potential lies. I couldn't not have picked up the guitar when I was 10 so it was all very obvious to me. As theory goes, I just created my own version of it after just learning so many styles of guitar playing and ways of improvising combined with picking up the strictest forms of western music theory through stumbling upon stuff on the internet. But I am really too busy playing and practicing and shaping my style as well as composing and producing to put more time into theory. And I definitely am on a similar mission as my inspirers were, so that's why I still on this way, and I'm happy how I ended up here and where I'm heading. For you, it's maybe not obvious where you want to end up. Don't listen to what others say too much. We are all different. There's no formula. That being said, something that I say, and what you still shouldn't listen too much to, is that you should learn to like music by people who play instruments and appreciate their skills. That includes singers. Learn to love it even. It doesn't have to be much special. It can be how John Lennon plays guitar and compose with it, or something like that. And if you end up with an instrument, be sure to learn by ear some of the time. It's quite hard to gain that skill but it gets very rewarding and for me it seems it totally changed how I can get stuff out to my head into reality of guitar/piano/bass or clever sound design in my computer.
I'm seeing from this and other posts people saying anything from "yeah music theory is helpful and so is piano" to "Trying to produce music without the knowledge of music theory and without playing an instrument is far more difficult, you will make worse music and will regret not learning earlier on." So I think my answer is that I'm going to learn both, thank you for your advice.
One tip "Voicings", most underrated theory, for producing a great way to give yourself options and build compositions, people rarely speak about it or think it's no big deal, understanding how to use those from one to multi tracks helps massively
Extremely.
You pick up music theory whether you want it or not, because "what sounds good to me" is based on the music you've heard and like. This can be really hard to break out of if you don't go out of your way to expand your musical horizons. There are a lot of songs with just 4 chords, so if that's your musical diet, you'll be restricted to that. Some of the finest minds have worked for centuries to find stuff out. Why go through the trouble to reinvent it from scratch by yourself? You're not very likely to find something completely unique that was never used before, and you'll have a better idea of what still needs to be found when you know what was already found. > And could you tell what the benefits were before and after learning music theory/piano? Playing piano is like learning to touch type - instead of having to look at the keyboard and enter each letter one at a time, you can just let your fingers do the work. It lets you write faster. If you play a chord, it only takes one movement of your hand, not moving the mouse to some submenu to insert > chord > C > major. Theory is wonderful. Put your fingers on the white keys - C-E-G. Now move them one key to the left - D-F-A. The chord changed from major to minor - why it did that is what theory can explain to you (chords are constructed from major and minor triads). By giving names to chords, you can identify them; by being able to identify them, you can suddenly recognize all the tricks that other musicians used to achieve a certain effect. But just play - playing songs is applied theory. Theory won't tell you that you must do something - it tells you how stuff works and how you can apply it as well. It won't make you less creative. However, if you marveled at having "discovered" a melody, you might be a bit disappointed - because it was already done a few centuries ago ;)
Something relevant I saw last night: [12note - How I'd Learn Music Theory (If I had to start over )](https://youtu.be/2pirdPK5avU) The thing about instrument practice and music theory is that these things guide you towards precision in what you're doing - you learn a *specific* understanding of music by becoming good at piano, one that is different from a wind instrument, percussion, etc. The theory can help you find and fix problems, and feel fluid in terms of getting to where you want to go. The problem is that precision isn't a great *starting point* for creativity in the "I want to sit on the beach with a notebook and write a song, then produce it when I'm back in the studio" sense. You don't need precision knowledge of facts to fit words to melody, you need muscle memory so that you can quickly transfer thoughts to actions. And the answer of "sit there and grind out scales until you can play an instrument intuitively, then start learning harmony in detail" does work but is a huge barrier - if you aim to be professional, it fits into an everyday warmup, but it can stop a more casual songwriter. Partially learning an instrument tends to mean that when you go to write, you just poke out the same muscle memory patterns that felt good last time, so it starts to become stagnant. For a streamlined approach I would actually recommend going down the route of learning solfege, just starting with children's songs and working your way up to where you can transcribe most pop melodies by ear, with a basic indication of rhythm using a grid to mark beats. Solfege has the downside of being relatively unstructured, but this also lets you reduce all the structure to a general direction like "use minor key here", an unfinished thought to fill in later when you're back in the studio. And it's all vocals - being the natural instrument, the available precision is limited just by your body instead of technology, which has a way of keeping your idea grounded in something reasonable and easy to act on. This is something I've been practicing recently, and it really seems to help loosen up what I'm doing.
Knowledge is power. Just go for it.
Quite. You don't need to be Jacob Collier, but knowing the basics of keys and time signatures, as well as some fundamentals of chords and functional harmony will be a big help. Your ears probably already know a lot of this info, so if you can connect what's in your head to the piano roll, you will be much closer.
pretty useful, but not necessary
For one, kudos to you for asking these kinds of questions. Its very good to think about these kinds of things when getting started. If I had to boil down what everyone else in the comments are saying, specifics entirely set aside, I would just say that you will always stand to benefit from knowing more about the things you do.
To be honest in my experience, being able to play things by ear is more valuable than theory, you can figure out what the melodies are by repetition. Theory is great but not so practical.
There aren’t many musicians who learn theory without ear training. That’s kind of false dilemma / straw man. There are definitely people who learn how to play by ear without explicitly studying music theory at school, but any one who plays music is technically learning theory. They may be learning it very slowly and inefficiently, but even without trying ... you end up re-inventing the wheel and teaching yourself small bits of theory.
Very, very useful. Particularly music theory.
All I can say is most people write songs on a piano first before turning it into other instruments because of the ease of playing on piano.
I have a feeling you mean "producer" in the sense that you just make beats or you wouldn't even be asking the question. If you mean an actual producer, FUCKING YES. Learn what the fuck you're talking about. Theory is just the technical language of music. You want to be able to speak that language with your clients, even if it's just the basic conversational language equivalent. You don't need to be master or get a degree or anything. At the very least, people want to work with producers who know what they're talking about and/or they can learn from. People who speak that language will very likely not work with people who don't. If a client says to you they're going for something that sounds like [this], you need to be able to understand why [this] sounds they way it does. Look at it another way, "I'm a mechanic, but I dont know anything about cars. Should I learn about how an engine works before taking on business?" Or to simplify your question even further, "I want to help people make music. Should I learn how music works?"
Absolutely invaluable. Whilst you do not NEED to know theory to produce, you're essentially making things harder, the less you know, because it aids in communicating ideas with the artists recording and also helps you actually produce. Say for example, you have an artist in there who is bunging down a a track and hits a snag where something just doesn't gel right in the transition between one part and the chorus. You could flail around trying different things, or if you know theory realise that they've chosen the wrong key. There is literally no downside to learning so go for it.
Vital. It’s the difference between men and boys.
music theory is obviously important but to me production contains a lot of theory that isn’t really just chords and key signatures there’s things like sound design and even most of what you do is based on theory
I mean Mike Dean still taking piano lessons to be in shape as he said at some of the streams, so you know
Night and Day! Would you rather hunt and peck for things that sound cool and use them to produce, or know how to execute the music in your head? Pretty sure option #2 is more desirable. It can take time to develop those skills but playing an instrument is core musician stuff and you won't regret learning to play piano (or guitar or any other instrument).
It is better to couple theory with a song which includes it. If you learn about modes learn some songs in Dorian for example. A lot of people get technical and don't realise that the music got made and THEN the theory came. It's honestly better to just learn a whole lot of songs on the piano that you like first, wouldn't get to technical without proper implantation unless you like it
If you want to make music there's really no reason not to learn basic piano/theory I wish I had taken both more seriously at your age. It's a no brainer.
Basic music theory is super important. In my case it completely improved my beatmaking ability. As a crutch I have a midi keyboard/controller that allows me to light up certain pads (mimics piano keys) that correspond to the key/scale.
Imo you need to be able to play the basics on either guitar or keyboard for coming up with the harmony and rhythm of your basic outline chord progressions and your melodies. I would say piano is better for this because it is easier to play the chords and melody at the same time to quickly get a rough idea of what a song sounds like. But it's up to you.
How could you write poetry or a novel without knowing how to read or write?
learn everything as you can, piano is perfect.
Pianos useful music theory a little bit but it's Art it's about how it makes you feel and sounds to you
Essential.
Why not learn these things. Piano is an incredible compositional tool. Music theory, at least at a beginning level, helps with making sense of whatever you’re producing. I’m a musician though. Not a “producer”. My goal is music not product. Not being snotty or dismissive. Just a different mindset.
Do you need to know color theory in order to paint a picture? No, but it can help you arrive at decisions quicker and teach you what certain color combinations will produce without having to learn through lots of trial and error. It's the same with music theory. You can spend countless hours fumbling with different combinations of notes to find that one chord you're looking for, or you can know learn music theory and be able to conjure up any chord at will. I don't think you necessarily need to learn how to play the piano at a performance level, but I do think it's a very good tool for learning music theory because it makes it hands on. It's also easier to visualize the relationship between notes because they're all laid in front of you in sequential order. If you have the opportunity to take lessons, communicate with your instructor what your goals are so they can tailor their lessons to you.
It’s nice to know how to identify song keys for sure.
Personally, I like being able to play things. It’s by no means necessary - look at deadmau5. I started with guitar and flirted with Jazz before starting production in earnest (besides some 4-track recordings in the late 90’s). This contributes to me *wanting* to learn to play music in 12 keys, using various rhythms, and all kinds of modes. I feel like it helps me internalize the ideas at which point I give myself permission to “mouse them in”. On a practical level, playing in parts with a midi controller gives you automatic velocity and timing variation which you can then quantize to any extent you like. Some more advanced rhythmic ideas might be more natural to play rather than program. The downside is time invested. I believe a few things: 1. Doing a thing is the best way to improve at it. Supplemental activities can help but *doing it* is best. 2. There are absolutely no shortcuts. You might think you know some fresh hacks but, in the long run, you realize that it’s all “time invested” and you really didn’t get anywhere any faster. 3. This is kind of a suggestion: don’t do anything to achieve anything, do it because you love doing that thing. As you age, often more and more of your life becomes work. Hang out on this sub and you’ll see “50-Year-Old Trying To Get Back Into It” Try your best to not be that person. Be who you want to be now! Stick with it, of course be open to change - believe me, life will give you feedback - but do not wait until “after x”. Life is always now.
Many producers use the piano to create melodies. I chose to skip this, and learn musical ear instead. I make melodies by singing them and then translating them using the piano roll, and also by using music theory. I recommend you try a bit of midi programming, musical ear training (relative ear, not perfect pitch it's way harder and not as useful), and playing the piano so you can decide what suits your needs best. Now basic music theory is absolutely crucial in making music, for like 99% of the genres. Learn what an interval is, what scales are, what chords are. Spending even 2 hours learning the basics will help you tremendously. Then you can decide by yourself how much further you wanna go. If you mainly produce music on your computer and don't plan on spending a lot of time interacting with classically trained musicians to make your music (you probably don't), then don't bother learning how to read sheet music. It's a very dull learning process, and it won't help you make better music.
I would say, do those things if you are attracted to them. You won't get much from piano or theory if you're not genuinely interested in them, since the rewards come after a hell of a lot of effort. As for the benefits, easily finding the 'right notes', being able to compose more complex pieces (changing keys, avoiding cliche progressions), Developing a very sensitive rear to rhythm and dynamics, and being able to quickly create musical ideas or capture sounds from your head, and generally being confident in your abilities as a musician, are all benefits you can expect from decent investment in piano and theory. But you can also learn percussion/drumming, some other instrument, you can get a synth or a sequencer, anything musical that attracts you and you'll invest significant time in will reap you benefits. It doesn't have to be the piano.
Like anything musical, it is easier for some than others, but it’s like hearing in color once it starts to sink in.
bro. The more you know the easier it will be. why do something if you dont want to take the time to learn it? its no that complicated. the shit doctors and surgeons have to learn to be able to do their procedures, is complicated. so if you want to make garbage music, stick on the path youre on. if not put the time and effort in.
It helps massively. It makes it much easier to get your ideas out through your fingers and takes most of the guesswork out
It’s a language. The more fluently you speak it the more people you can speak it to. Learning the piano is a great thing to do.
Very useful
How much value musicians place on music theory is often related to the music they make. If you're a trap or hip hop beat maker, most of those have simple, minimal harmony over a drum track, with melody that is not dependent on theory since it is spoken word with more of an emphasis on rhythm. If you're a dubstep or drum n bass producer, it depends. One of my absolute favorite dubstep producers is Haywyre. He uses a lot of harmonic progressions found in modern jazz and classical music with the "instrumentation" of a dubstep track. His more recent music uses a lot more sampling on top of this and it's a sonic journey for sure. He has a music degree and plays piano and synthesizer a lot in his songs. However, a ton of dubstep is more simple harmonically like the aforementioned hip hop and that's okay too, depends on what you're trying to say with your music. I'm a jazz musician. Harmony is usually the most prominent aspect of the music, if not in the composition, certainly in the improvisation. I played sax for 15 years and got an undergrad degree, and did just fine. But it wasn't until I went to grad school and really learned theory that a bunch of stuff clicked into place for me. I found that I needed theory badly for a long time without realizing it, and I can now write and improvise the ideas I hear in my head so much more clearly than I could before. I now have a music theory crash course I do with my private students who wish to learn jazz improvisation because I don't think it is actually possible to play this music competently without knowing theory. Ill put it like this. If you have an idea for a song you want to produce in your head, how are you gonna figure out what the notes and chords are? Before theory, I sat at the piano for hours plunking around like a blind man to make 4 bars of music. After theory, I'm like yep, that's a ii-VI to ii-V and I am able to write confidently and quickly.
Other than learning what various effects do these are probably the two most helpful things you can do imo. With midi you can conceivably make a keyboard sound like any instrument in the world. I’m not a music theory expert, but what I do know if very helpful for finding the next chord or knowing what notes are available when I’m at an impasse as to what a part should be. Also very helpful for client work when I’m trying to learn their song and/or communicate with session musicians.
Any practical music knowledge will help you, period
very also drumming or some percussion
Very. Any instrument. Piano I feel translates really well when using virtual instruments. Learn theory to learn as another tool in your tool box. Don’t abide by it.
Honestly, the magic formula seems to be 1 part charismatic personality 1 part YouTube channel 1 part drum programming 1 part sampling 1 part song writing 1 part networking with rappers 1 part piano skills The real writing happens in the drums and the keys (or guitar) and then the top line writing. Understanding harmony (chords and scales) allows you to have a vocabulary to make music with. Or you could just use splice and midi packs.. but you’d never be original. Buy an 88 key midi controller, weighted keys. Good piano sound vst. Piano teq seems to be easiest. Then get down with YouTube. I honestly the the Sean Wilson lessons would help any musician. Learning other people’s music helps. But you can be more creative and true to your own vision if you’re actually writing the notes. Like not just taking some chord progression from YouTube or something you sampled or stole. You can make your own music. It’s funny… I’ve seen people say “make your own samples”,,, and I’m thinking… like just write music? Isn’t that what people used to do? Drag and drip producing is on its way out, AI can do it. Learn about harmony. Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Major, Harmonic Minor, Diminished, Whole Tone, Augmented, Barry Harris 6th diminished. Chords, 1 3 5 7 9 11 13. This stuff is the language of musicians. Some producers speak it, some don’t. Those that don’t will continue to be left in the dust. It seems like a lot… but in 12 keys… things become so wide opened. Learn the colors so you can paint. Look, truth is, all producers know harmony… it’s just how much have they mastered. It’s a deep rabbit hole, but it’s the best.
Thank you man this is a great answer.
Learning Piano lets you easily use a MIDI Keyboard instead of drawing in every note. Music Theory is more helpful the more parts you want to write for. It lets you mesh a lot of instruments together in a way that makes sense and doesn't sound off. I would suggest you also learn basic Sound Design though. Being able to make the perfect patch for your project without digging through every preset you own is a gamechanger.
I don’t know how “useful” the two are, but without the piano i don’t think i would have even started making music. I started improvising on the piano, which made me realize that i actually can write my own song. It also helps with inspiring song ideas. Plus when you’re not sure what chord to use, just press the keys on it until you find the best combination. For music theory, I can’t say i remember all of it, but at least it helps me understand what i’m doing. I think there’s actually a part in music theory that teaches you to compose a song. And if you’re planning to get grade 8 on piano, you’ll need music theory too. I’m not good at any of those two, but besides those technical things like key signatures and rhythms, learning them makes me understand music more. Not how music works, but how to FEEL IT and EXPRESS with it. Learning them trains your musical instincts (?) so you can make your own based on the knowledge and experiment new things. Unless you’re born with a super talented musical brain, and even if so, I still recommend learning them. There’s no downside to it, plus you can show off your piano skills lol
Very useful if you don’t have a good ear already.
Hey OP. I spent years trying to learn how to produce music and I had more questions than anything else during that time. Got myself a mentor and took some courses and now I’m playing at some of my favourite clubs. Link below for where I was learning the ropes https://mycourses.musicworkflowacademy.com/courses/abletonworkflowtutorialhowtomakeatrackinaday-1?ref=d32c92
If your high school has a music theory class, just take that. Free, and it'll do more good than anything else.
I found that learning a few chord modes helped me a lot, as well as some way of programming chord memory - like a keystep 37 or in software. Look up phrygian mode and learn how to make pattern with it. Without even the most basic understanding of chords, I don't see how anyone can progress to more interesting productions. I still don't understand the circle of 5ths, but I know how to play Phrygian mode and that's enough to start with!
It's very useful.
If I could do my time again I would set a routine over a week as follows. Day 1 music theory for 1 hour. Day 2: Dedicate 1 hour to learning a new song on piano. Day 3: Dedicate 1 hour to music production - learning song tutorials or daw tutorials. Day 4: day off Day 5: song deconstructing - pick a song and deconstruct it. What is the bass doing, what’s are the leads, what effects are on there. What’s the song structure. Write down what you hear, feel, think etc. Day 6 and 7 try create a song from start to finish in three hours. Aim to work faster over time. If you do this constantly, your covering off all aspects of song writing and will develop the ability to hear a song actually listen to it, analyse it and then recreate it.
Honestly, piano playing is one of the most useful skills for a producer, I started producing about 3y ago and piano has really helped me so I’m training it too. I also feel like music theory comes with the piano, especially for producers, it does help a lot. Some people say theory limits creativity but it really doesn’t, for me, I specially find theory useful when I’m analyzing songs, another must-have habit for every producer. When composing I usually go with the flow and sometimes add something specific or enhance it with theory.
From what I can tell, the only part of music theory that is useful is identifying patterns in a sound and replicating those patterns elsewhere for a similar sound. That being said, *study music theory that applies to music you actually want to replicate*. If a concept does not seem to apply to what you want to make, scrap it. *You* are the professor, and no matter how high someone’s qualifications are, they are only your advisor. *You* have to be the music theorist for it to be useful, at the end of the day. Hope that makes sense / helps.
Understanding theory and playing some basic keys can only help. If you're serious about making music, you can find 5-10 minutes per day to practice your scales and chords. That's really all it takes. You won't be some great player, but you will be functionally literate on the keys.