Depending on what you want to do with your music, you will need to know varying degrees of theoretical knowledge in order to achieve your goals.
Playing live happens to be a particular avenue where little to no knowledge is required in order to still deliver a great show.
First, let’s clarify that in order to make music come out of your instrument, you probably already know some degree of theory. For example, in order to recognize the key of a song, you will need to know and study the names of chords.
But knowing the key of the song doesn’t make you proficient at playing in front of people on its own. This avenue needs to be developed like any other of its counterparts which includes songwriting, reading music, playing great solos etc.
Imagine reciting an extract from a foreign language that you aren’t familiar with. Playing live without any theoretical knowledge will be much in the same. As long as you pronounce the words accurately, you do not need to have an understanding of what you’re saying in order for the audience to understand you.
But what if you want to collaborate with other musicians more effectively, or even write pieces of your own? That’s where theory comes in. It helps to give you an understanding of what you’re playing so that interpreting music is a lot more streamlined.
Personally, I feel theory is an important part of being a confident musician, and therefore I devote as much time as possible in to studying it.
Learning theory can only benefit your playing in a positive direction, however it’s absolutely not a requirement for playing live. I will end with a fitting quote that stresses this point.
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.” -Ludwig van Beethoven
