Do you ‘need’ music theory?
August 6, 2021No. The short answer to this question is no. It’s that simple. You don’t need music theory to be a musician or to be a ‘good’ musician.
The long answer is, “it can be useful for some things.”
It can be incredibly useful to communicate with other musicians. It can also be useful to describe what is happening in a piece of music as it relates to other pieces of music.
It can also be useful to understand and incorporate specific ideas into your own music because you understand those ideas and patterns more deeply.
Basically, it depends. Not a fun answer, but the answer nonetheless.
ISJ