Do I need to know music theory to make beats? No, but it sure wouldn’t hurt. Knowing what key, a song is in, or what chords are available within that key, or just being able to speak the language of music when talking music with other musicians, vocalist or music makers certainly can’t hurt. knowing music theory to make beats is only a plus!
Knowing music theory will not only assist in beat making, but it can open other doors for you musically that might not otherwise present themselves.
Just a short story from my experiences. When I was younger and in the rap music scene making beats. There was a group of us that I made music with some rapped some made beats. We were all young and full of dreams, you know, 2pac & Dr. Dre dreams! (I know I just told my age with those examples but hey), we all had those dreams and aspirations and pursued them to the best of our abilities and within our resources. Well, as you can imagine, time ran out, at a point with rap music, if you haven’t made it, you most likely not going to make it. Father time had other plans.
Quick back story. I have been playing piano for as long as I can remember. I started taking lessons probably when I was 7 because my oldest brother wanted to take lessons and me having the down south old school type of up bringing, we all had to take piano lessons. By all I mean, I am the youngest of 4 men. My mother favorite saying when she was whipping me for not practicing was, “This music will take care of you when nothing else will”. And she was right, that is partly why I do what I do, because I know the skill trade value in music, the reason music has been taking out of the schools, because of the skilled trade value in music. Ok, I got off course, go read my other blogs to understand why I went off on that tangent. But music is everywhere, in commercials, films, video games etc. So, when all my peer’s musical journey was ending, mine was just beginning. <There are so many other careers in music other than being the next big rap star or the next big hip-hop producer>. But like any other career, there is a certain level of education required, you must know what is going on in the industry and what you are talking about. Example: opportunity comes for you to <score a indie film>, no pay involved, but serious upside and a boost to your music fanbase. The email reads, “we want an instrumental in the key of g-flat in ¾ time for a certain scene in the film, attached is a clip of said film. We will send future clips as we see them”. Here, in this moment, knowing music theory can’t hurt. Knowing what the key of g-flat is and how to make music in that key. And know what ¾ time is and how to make music in the key of g-flat in ¾ time, again, sure can’t hurt. That’s just one example that can occur amongst so many ways to make a living with music.
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