Theory: Do You Need It? Top 5 Essentials For Guitar Players!

[@pjr114]

Shane, yours is the best channel I subscribe to. Love the lessons. Stuff always makes sense.

[@christak1144]

Omgosh Shane hope you and your family are safe from devastating fires in LA. Thoughts and prayers to all.

[@Busk_N_Groove]

Thank you Shane! Great lesson. I really dig your simple & straight forward approach. Here’s to your YT channel going big in 2025! All the best 🎶

[@michaelbuccetti6138]

This is great! Your explanation of modes is the simplest and most effective one I’ve ever heard! I know what the modes are, but I have no idea how to apply them. Just showing the Dorian over that A minor was awesome. Any more videos on how to apply modes would be great for me. Then I went back and found your video on how to learn every note on the fret board and I was blown away! I thought I was pretty good until I watched you and saw the exercise. I’m adding that to my practice routine. Thank you!

[@TheRiotguitar]

thx- modes can be confusing yeah why make it complicated?

[@coryspence6839]

Been digging your new channel, man -- glad YT recommended it to me. Doesn't need to be any fancier for me, I love the format.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks!

[@tombarrett7419]

Shane! Great short explanation of the Dorian mode. Excellent simple demonstration. Please do a whole video where you show the other modes...your way! Thanks so much... your channel!

[@lancemorgan644]

Thanks, Shane, for covering the real essence of the roadblocks that stop so many of us. Too many times we have heard those basics mentioned all over the inter-web, but never explained where we can make the connection leap to better guitar playing. Your attempts at teaching relevant concepts are highly successful. Thanks for taking the time to cover today’s topics. Valuable lesson, dude. You are the Man.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thank you!

[@kaoquinn]

Shane a great video! Even as experienced as I am, I was able to gain some great information out of it. 💯.

[@tito.tarantula]

Excluding music theory when learning any instrument is like driving around without a map. Thx for the lesson, Shane.

[@timboehlert9703]

Back in High School Music Theory class we were assigned the task to learn intervals by ear using songs that we knew, exactly as you've outlined here. Those simple mileposts were so helpful towards learning new concepts that are the building blocks that will elevate your understanding and appreciation of music.

[@TanyaNeedham-z1e]

You're so spot on with keeping things simple. Theory is the foundation but where you can take it is up to the artist. In theory it's just that. Until you use application theory is just theory. You're such an amazing teacher and I'm grateful for all of your videos as they are valuable to someone like me who's just trying to figure it out. Thank you for taking your time to share and keeping me interested as to what's next.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks Tanya I'm glad it's helpful!

[@TanyaNeedham-z1e]

@@TheRiotguitar you had mentioned any new ideas regarding stuff for future videos. I love Bossa Nova covers. Just a thought.

[@Hetti-g2c]

Another great video. Knowing music theory with the piano, helps my ear and feel learning the guitar. But I need to solidify the important basics. Great interesting tips. It’s not easy but your teaching flow is appreciated. Practice, build, I’m getting there and yes, developing my ear even more. Great teaching, Shane. Your GIT background and years of performance experience give you a teaching edge that we’re benefiting from. Thank you.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thank you Hetti!

[@MightyJoeInternetBeef1960]

Just discovered your channel! Shane, great basic "what you should know" for any non-schooled musicians. FYI, I own that same killer t shirt!

[@MatthewLGuidry]

That phrasing in the intro “doodle” was top notch

[@TheRiotguitar]

thx!

[@mariacruikshank5150]

Wonderful! Thanks for these important tips. Another great video from my favorite channel! 💙

[@buzzfretwear2906]

The opening doodle had some AMAZING lines! Geez!

[@LucasHaneman]

This is great stuff, and I agree. Practical development of the ear along with theory we can put into practice is really where it’s at. This combination will help us learn music, faster, and communicate better with other musicians. By the way, regarding my comment on your phrasing video you were completely right about Harmelodics being Ornette’s thing. I was confused as in university. I took a full course on Ornette so talked about that concept a lot. Sonny’s thing was just very cool phrase development, where the motifs start to wrap around each other. Both great improvisers.

[@TheRiotguitar]

Sonny is a master, love his phrasing

[@joemiller9856]

Great video! I love that you are sensitive to those of us who aren’t total theory geeks. Also hit how you underscore the key concepts. 👏👏

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks! I try to keep things simple but when i listen back i feel like sometimes I could make it clearer- glad you liked it

[@Nozmo_King_NJ]

Great tips as always, Shane. I'll bet a lot of your followers here have watched and enjoyed many "Live at Daryl's House" episodes. I'd love to hear the story about how you got that gig, and/or your first association with Daryl Hall. That would be cool!

[@halbertking2683]

My late friend , Roddy used to say " You can teach technique but you can't teach style . " Roddy was an architect .

[@thomasreilly-Guitar]

Thanks Shane. Definitely working on all these aspects will make your life so much easier as a guitarist. I remember a bass player asking just to play the 3rd and the 7th stay away from the root. I’d no clue. I was really embarrassed and stressed haha

[@TheRiotguitar]

that's what I'm talking about

[@48king24]

Looking forward to the new book!

[@chadgaliano330]

Awesome hat! Great lesson. I loved the last lesson on layering. Would love to see expansions on that, like how to lay down a useful bass track and maybe how to achieve a basic recording setup for hobby musicians that can't drop a ton of money on gear. Theory lessons are always appreciated also.

[@TheRiotguitar]

yeah you rite

[@edkutschke814]

Thanks, some great things to work on there. Liked the way you explained everything.

[@rajeshgumber363]

From my experience music theory has been the foundation in improving my knowledge of guitar playing and understanding what's actually being played and made everything so much more interesting and wanting to learn more all the time. Like with any subject the more you learn the more you understand to move forwards. On a guitar there are only 12 notes repeated everywhere on the fretboard and the interesting part are the lightbulb moments which I love! I mean on a guitar you can produce all types of music from 6 strings it's very magical.

[@Snshine257]

I am struggling to learn music theory. I find that I have to read and reread and listen and then listen again before it sinks in. I’m trying not to give up but it is a struggle for me and is going slow. Maybe I’m just too old now and should have studied it earlier in life…. I’m sure that it is beneficial to know though if you plan to seriously play an instrument.

[@TanyaNeedham-z1e]

@rajeshgumber363 right! It's like building a house if there's no solid foundation it crumbles. In my field chemistry can seem so intimidating but if you stick to the foundation you never get lost. Like colour theory is all just 3 colours. All other colours come from that basic theory. I watch people stress and the answer is what's the missing primary colour? Simple...

[@rajeshgumber363]

@@TanyaNeedham-z1e Absolutely!

[@rajeshgumber363]

@@Snshine257 Fairpoint, one way to start is to get yourself a Fretboard Chart of the Notes (print one free off the internet) which shows all the notes on the fretboard and whenever you learn anything refer to the chart and after a while you will know all the notes ( there's only 12 notes just repeated everywhere). This will definitely help you because this is the alphabet of music.

[@brettlac]

Best musician channel on KZbin. 🏆

[@TheRiotguitar]

aw thanks Brett

[@mateoverano6314]

Hey Shane - all the best for 2025! ALL your uploads make my day everytime. Makes me get up and practice ALL the time. Huge THNX💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks

[@riniones]

first musician that I hear speaking clearly about the modes--- In fact all excellent advice!

[@TheRiotguitar]

thank u for watching that long into it haha, I've heard most vids don't even get full views

[@riniones]

@@TheRiotguitar I am not a content creator but I do watch videos and have no problem with the length but younger people may have a shorter attention span-- You need some time to develop an idea so it must be hard to strike a good balance-- you always give great advice and insight and thanx for that!

[@lylecaine4833]

I think one of the things that sets you apart from other players is how you put the stank on your notes and make it groove with that funky New Orleans flavor which is one of my favorite things.

[@mateoverano6314]

Danke!

[@KelsterVonShredster]

Whoa...that was next level playing.....awesome

[@TheRiotguitar]

thx!

[@RNC_GSP_1969]

Totally reinforcing exactly what I've been working on the last month. Thank you Shane, this is great content and I really appreciate you for providing this type of instruction on your channel. In regard to modes, I've been looking at them in relation to the Diatonic scales. I like this approach because the roots are always in the same place. Keep up the great videos man.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks!

[@douglasnewton9034]

Dear Shane Discovered you about 4 months back ; what a delight to find a straight talking ( and pro player ) offering their knowledge . You have nothing to fear about me ( 62 , from across 'the pond' ) ... Your job's safe .... ; but when playing rhythm , .... Please , please please would you explain and demonstrate the difference between playing straight eight's ( I can just about do that ) , and (the difficult part ) ... Shuffle and / or Swing (swung !) rhythm . I enjoy many types of music but still struggle when people / articles talk about a piece of music 'shuffling' , or that it 'had a good swing / they 'realy swung' . Any theory / demo's would be appreciated by more than just myself . Keep playing , and again ThankYou Doug

[@TheRiotguitar]

good ideas thx i'll keep that in mind

[@AP-ui7oi]

Love your videos. Keep them coming.

[@elizabethdunn1668]

So interesting to hear and see you apply some of these concepts to practical situations. Had you studied music theory before GIT?

[@TheRiotguitar]

Self taught mostly and the theory I knew up until i attended GIT at 19 was learned through books and guitar magazines. thx Elizabeth!

[@lornebaron2265]

Wow. Very valuable information to takeway and apply. Thanks Shane!

[@JameOpton]

great video. thank you.

[@chrisalexander1661]

Great Lesson!!!!

[@alexalexanderman1238]

I have met many recreational guitar players like me that can play lots of chords and play them well but who have not idea why the chord looks the way it does. so if they come across a chord in a song that they don't know, they have to find a chord chart to figure out how to play it. they have never learned even the basics of music theory. Just using your section on harmonizing a scale will help immensely with trying to figure out the chords in a song by ear. one final note: I learned to play bass before I took up guitar. if you don't know a little chord theory, that is, what notes are in a chord as a bass player, you will be playing just root notes all day long. So I think it helped a lot when I made the switch.

[@TheRiotguitar]

well said

[@johnreilly9748]

Very good info there Shane!

[@johnreilly9748]

Forgot the intro noodle was awesome!

[@puremusic68]

Thnx Shane you explain it really well ...... good video

[@kevinmusso2397]

Guitar Bible shared here! All truth

[@piktormusic2538]

Shane, you hit important points here. From my experience, I would also encourage a student to take a basic concept and explore and discover for themselves. Even as a teacher of over three decades, I have to admit that my deepest learned has come via discovery. For example, as a young teen, I discovered relative major/minor myself. When I took formal theory lessons I then learned the formal terms for something that I already knew from experience. Many theory concepts can be deepened i that same way. Your example of listening to Santana first and then discussing the Dorian mode before or after the student has had the experience of absorbing that flavour is right on. Like you, I started as a rocker and then went through a similar progression that you underwent…though I wish I had had Scott Henderson pushing me…. As always, thanks for the great video. I know younger and older players that I want to send here.

[@TheRiotguitar]

well said!

[@ronjooss2492]

Dudes: Shane's Truefire courses are pure fire if you love this channel! That's how I found him. Just sayin'

[@fredr2694]

wow, that opening groove just melted my face off.....time to go practice.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thx!

[@mateoverano6314]

Agree totally. Would die for a breakdown of all the licks in there

[@_avia_]

1511 is my lucky number from now on. :) Thanks for sharing these great ideas Shane.

[@TheRiotguitar]

haha

[@toastoftowne1076]

Thanks very useful. cool hat

[@1legmoto]

Thanks Shane. Great video!

[@tinakesack]

I hope you are doing ok with the fires out there!!

[@dwightrobertson275]

Thanks!

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks Dwight!

[@mooseymoose]

Yup, though I'd add some things; how dominants tonicize keys and how the three diminished 7th chords transform into 4 dominants each by lowering one of the pitches. It's also good to understand the other transformations by raising and lowering one or two pitches, but the dominants are so crucial. You can get to anywhere from anywhere using them.

[@mateoverano6314]

Dear Shane - intro sounds killer again. What’s your signal chain this time (and in general for all your vids). Definitely worth a vid on its own…?🙏

[@TheRiotguitar]

Melancon Custom T- Free the Tone Heat Blaster- Fender Twin Reverb

[@dwightrobertson275]

Jan 9 ,Hey man thinking of you today hope you and your stuff is safe Take care.D

[@xaque9732]

when i was a kid, the anti-theory bias among guitarists was so strong that you almost felt like a sellout for knowing anything, and i didn’t learn all this stuff until much later than i should have. i don’t think that knowing something ever hurts you. now, you may not want to devote all your practice time to running scales if you don’t like that sound, but just knowing the scale can’t hurt you. the way that theory made sense to me was when i started looking more at songs. go through and dissect the progressions in motown songs or beatles songs or whatever and figure out what key they’re in and all that shit and the theory seems a lot more practical

[@scottgalupo]

What is that Scott Henderson-y thing you do at :47?!

[@TheRiotguitar]

hmm it's more Holdsworthy- it's a weird pattern thing I was messing with just moving down the strings -all left hand.

[@scottgalupo]

@ well, it’s awesome! Thanks for responding - and for all the work you’re putting into the channel 👍

[@mariacruikshank5150]

Are you safe from the devastating wildfires there? Please give us a quick update, when you are able, that you guys are okay. Sending positive vibes ... 💙

[@dkelley9661]

Yup, theory is VERY helpful, useful, and it's value will outlast the time spent learning it. Plus, it introduces new sounds and flavors to you that you're unlikely to pick up otherwise. More is more. Knowledge is power. Hypothetically, even if you practice incessantly, you will want new inspiration. With theory, you can learn new approaches on your own, become a self feeding player. Much harder to do from scratch. As you point out, ear training is also exceptionally important for musical and personal growth. More broadly, if one seeks to be a competitive pro player, not giving yourself the advantage of actually knowing something about music is just lazy and unrealistic. It's like imagining you could just "freestyle" a 747 in your garage without instruction.

[@carlmoretonmusic]

Nice video, and as a guitarist myself of many years, I totally agree with your advice. Made me laugh at one stage when you talk about the chords in a key and playing the arpeggios, ages ago I had become lazy and stuck in a rut, so I did some guitar grades. My mate who plays in a band that does big gigs, and is pro said to me "why on earth are you doing that stuff...?" So I said to him one night at an open mic night, "Ok, if it's so unworthy, just give me a G dominant 7 arpeggio across two octaves please....." He just looked at his fretboard going... "Errrrrrr....." I said "Exactly, that is absolutely why it's worth it." Many players can stay just in the pentatonic / blues world, and that's just great, but I have seen many a GREAT player fall apart and look lost when you start changing key or adding some extended chords in jams.. I guess if you play in a rock band making a million a year playing pentatonic and you are happy, then you're in a great place. Personally, I like to experiment and trying to figure out what I can play over changes is fun. The one thing I will say though is that some players I think have been incredibly creative because of their lack of theory knowledge. A good example would be the guy that got me starting playing guitar, Alex Lifeson. (I heard 2112 when I was at high school and made me want to play guitar. I also saw them at Bingley Hall in Stafford on their moving picture tour when I was about 12.. amazing) Anyway, I have seen Alex talk in videos about the parts he plays, and I guarantee you he knows a lot less theory than many would think. BUT, I think that lack of knowledge has enabled him to try things on the fretboard that a 'theory trained' player would never do because they would think 'it's not what I should do'. Alex Lifeson is, in my opinion, one of the most creative players in the last 50 years. Could he just step in and play with Shane and an artist at an hours notice, no, I believe he wouldn't do a great job, but he's had a great career at being himself. Both are valid, just depends on what you want out of your music and playing. (Maybe you could do a video where you talk about players like Lifeson, who have created great music with limited theory knowledge, but created AMAZING music. Personally, I have a reasonable theory knowledge, but I have often found that when I create music, quite often the parts that were the most interesting and led me to a great place were accidents. I just used that 'accident' to build around. But some people I know would think I am a great composer... LOL I remember being in a class at university many years ago doing a multimedia degree, and the tutor accidently hit a key and the design totally changed, but it looked good. And he said "Listen guys, sometimes we make mistakes, but if the end result, even if unintended, is great, then it is GREAT work. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't plan it...) Shane, that playing at the beginning of the video was superb. I'll just say that I have seen you on and off with artists over the years, but after starting watching your videos about a month ago (and bought a lesson on TrueFire) I have to say I can see why you have had a good career as a player. You obviously love music, but your playing is just right for the music, not over flash for the ego, hitting all those nice notes that make it much more interesting to the listener. Plus, like others have said, I like your simple approach to your videos, your format is great and appealing to us guitar players. Don't start wasting your money on video gear and a getting some posh room etc, it's ALL about the content which you do very well, and I really like how you focus a lot on rhythm work which is totally overlooked by lots of players who spend all their time trying to learn how to solo when they don't understand what they are playing over. Apologies for blabbing on.

[@TheRiotguitar]

thanks for watching and your reply

[@musicproductionvideos5019]

How do you like the Weber Attenuator? I'm looking for one for my music room and heard they are not all created equal. BTW your video in the LA courtyard makes me miss LA. I lived there for 20+ years and sure do miss the weather etc. Now in Nashville with extreme cold in winter and extreme heat in the summer. Thanks!

[@TheRiotguitar]

you know honestly I never use it much. I don't like the sound of the amps run that way. I have a nice master on the Marshall that sounds better than the atttenuator. Yes i did my time in Nashville, nice town but I'll take LA for a lot of reasons....weather being a big one!

[@alchemysticgoldmind4164]

And !!!!Be able to play rhythms..and stay in the pocket aka..Groove

[@robertgirt5813]

If I had the chance to do it all again, I'd want for my next door neighbour and I'd be the pest hanging around trying to soak it all in!

[@cii2]

Learning scale theory is to ones benefit, the other stuff is kind of moot point. But one thing you must do... Practice! And it's best to practice songs that you like.

[@TheRiotguitar]

i think chord construction (harmonized major scale) is very useful, more so than the scale construction IMO, especially if you want to write songs

[@TanyaNeedham-z1e]

I'm having flashbacks of mama trying to teach me piano with All Cows Eat Grass A-C-E-G still stuck. Still can play by ear just not very well other than having the ear for the note gonna help me play I'm hopeful. All I've really done is pick a bit and do the To. Merello scratching sound hahahaha

[@TanyaNeedham-z1e]

Yall ok out there Shane?

[@LoraxChannel]

I don't get the reluctance to learn theory. It's easy, and basically is just a way to communicate in words, what sounds like what.

[@jeremyversusjazz]

#1 be able to play good lol

[@guitarplayer5932]

i see guys like allen wert who are so far down the theory rabbit hole they forget to play actual music, all of the greatest rock/pop stars dont know 1/10 of what allen does

[@robertgirt5813]

Thanks!

[@TheRiotguitar]

thank🙏 you so much Robert!