Just weeks after Cory Wong broke the internet with his divisive claims about music theory and what it takes to be an elite guitarist, acoustic guitar extraordinaire Tommy Emmanuel has opened up about the “bizarre” struggles he faces because of the holes in his knowledge.
Yet, with the Grammy winner regarded as one of the best acoustic guitar players in the world, his comments add weight to those who argue that music theory isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, and may leave Wong red-faced.
The funk guitarist, who is on a one-man mission to prove that rhythm guitar isn’t boring, feels players can’t count themselves as “advanced players” unless they can ace his note-finding test.
His claims sparked a vibrant debate, with Stevie Ray Vaughan used as an example in one outstanding counter-argument. It seems Emmanuel is among those voices standing in the opposite corner, even if he’s greatly aware of the issues it causes.
“I can’t read notes,” he says while appearing on Australia’s The Project. “I can read a chord chart and follow the chords, but I can’t read notes.
“It’s really weird, being a teacher in a place like Berklee College of Music: 400 students asking questions, and I’m the only person there – and I’m the instructor – I’m the only one there who can’t read,” he adds. “It’s bizarre.”
But the guitarist, who has released four platinum-selling records across a tireless career, has never let his weaknesses weigh him down. Handily, he also has help when it matters most.
“I can write you a song and play it, but I can’t write it on paper,” he says. “I have to hire people to do that.”
Recording voice notes on his iPhone, he extends, has been a life-saver. During lockdown it was a method he stuck to religiously, ultimately writing an entire movie score with it – which, going off the timeline, is most likely Ray Giarratana's The Tiger Rising; it is never confirmed during the interview.
“I wrote the whole film, all the themes, on my iPhone and texted it to the guy in LA and he put an orchestra and stuff on it,” he continues. “And then I redid the guitar in a proper studio when we were able to move around,” he says.
The ‘to theory or not to theory’ debate will likely still be raging on come doomsday, with, for instance, Jason Richardson recently giving his own take on the matter.
Superlative songwriters and shredders are standing on opposing sides of the argument which, truthfully, hints at the answer lying in preference more than anything else.
