If you're reading this, it probably means you're a music major or know one. Music majors are created in many different strengths ranging from piano, voice, percussion, strings, you name it. But there's one thing that all musicians are taught and it's my biggest struggle: Theory.
Let me give you a little background on my musical knowledge: I have taken piano lessons since I was seven years old, I have been playing percussion since the age of thirteen, and I've been part of a choir since the young age of five. You could say that I've been exposed to knowing how to read, write, and transpose music, and you would be correct. But, somehow, I am terrible at theory.
Theory is best explained as the breaking down of the structure of what makes music what it is. The greatest composers worked around this science of chords and notation. Almost every piece of music has a key and notes that fit within the key signature. If you're in the key of C Major, you have no sharps or flats.
When it comes to composing a melody, I was taught only contrary and parallel motion. A scale in C Major is numbered with eight notes in it. C would be known as I, or tonic (the formal name for the first note in a key signature.) All eight notes are labeled with their respective roman numeral. The fifth note in the C Major scale is G. I was taught how to write the triads of the I and V chords (including only the dominant and leading tone 7th's). That's it. I have the Theory II final in my possession to prove it.
Most theory students are taught skills of being able to write more complicated versions of chords on the board, know how to pull apart a piece of music and analyze it properly, and know most of the technical cadences (how a phrase ends) by the time they take their second year of Theory. I went into my second year of Theory completely blindsided.
I don't like to blame my freshman year Theory teacher for this. He taught what most of us will teach our students through middle school and high school. We were also at a community college, where assignments were naturally a little easier to accommodate working adults and busy students. However, I was taught the bare minimum of what a musician should be able to know and understand.
When I was given a quick facts sheet of what I was supposed to know already in my second year of theory at my university, my gut dropped and I cried later that afternoon. The sad truth is that I'm not the only musician affected by this kind of teaching. I want to tell you a few things if you are struggling:
You are not alone.
You are not a failure as a musician.
It's not an easy course.
Getting help from a tutor is ok.
I am now in my second year of re-taking Theory III, and I'm still struggling. I've already made mistakes that I could prevent, but it's a life lesson that college is continuing to teach me.
My advice is to keep in touch with your mentors and give extra time to the course. Stay on top of every assignment, and study hard. Remind yourself that it won't be this hard forever. You are qualified as a musician, and deserve every opportunity as everyone else. Also, your peers will be better at it than you will. That's ok. Practice hard, catch up, and do the best that you can.
You can do this, music major.
