Do you need to be a music theory savant to compose hard-hitting guitar parts (or, any guitar part, for that matter)? Or is playing by ear enough?
While music theory and building a lexicon of sorts does help you find your way around the fretboard a lot quicker, it's not the be-all and end-all. Progressive electric guitar virtuoso Jason Richardson is the latest to give his take on this timeless debate – with a little help from Al Di Meola by way of John Petrucci.
“Theory is important because it helps expedite the writing process, but it’s obviously not a necessity,” he tells Guitar World when asked about constructing the dual harmony lead lines on AntiFragile, the band's latest album. “I know plenty of players who write the craziest-sounding stuff, and some of them don’t know anything about theory.”
Richardson goes on to say that, in some sense, it's “almost better for them” because they aren’t constrained by conventions or perceptions that might inform what they're going to write – rather, are just “playing what sounds cool to them.”
“The bluntest way I’ve ever heard it put is this: Al Di Meola was at one of the John Petrucci camps [John Petrucci’s Guitar Universe] and he said, ‘Learn as much theory as you possibly can and then forget it!’” he recalls with a laugh. “That way it’s subconscious; it’s in the back of your head, not the front.”
As the six-stringer aptly puts it, “Remember, it’s called music ‘theory,’ not ‘law.’ It’s just there to guide you, to be a suggestion and help make things work better together with each other.”
Richardson was officially named All That Remains' new guitarist in 2019, after the death of original lead guitarist and co-founding member Oli Herbert a year prior.
For more Jason Richardson, plus new interviews with Robin Nolan and Gary Holt, pick up issue 592 of Guitar World at Magazines Direct.
