"best" On-Line music theory lessons?

geared towards guitar, first, in general/piano second.
 
any ideas?
 
asking for someone else...

those links were cool!
i bookmarked those for myself...
 
but not what i'm looking for.
need something for a young mother to help tutor young kid working with a guitar,
but wanting to learn theory.....
something very basic.

I think learning theory from a piano keyboard works best especially for kids. It's laid out for them to see and much easier to grasp than a guitar neck.  

Why can't they just use a method? I would recommend shearer over Berklee. Don't make the mistake of learning chords as shapes and chord names and positions . Teach them horizontal ly from the get go.

 
Every guitar book that involves a guitarist learning how to read traditional music does to some extent include "some or much music theory " as it applies to the guitar . Most offer  the rhythmic beats and the subdivisions of music ...ex 4 /4 , 3 /4 , 6 /8 , ect ect ..they all go into all of that starting with whole note and the subdivisions of measures ...
In addition to that many lesson books offer the harmonic Keys music is played in .
Such as all the accidentals for each Key Signature ....The Relative Minor and chord types ..Major , Minor , Seventh ,
Many of the traditional guitar books also include The Circle of Fifths .... and scales ...
What is it that this 12 year old expects to find that's not already out there in Spades ?
 
just asking
 
Kenny
 
PS when I went to my first guitar lessons the guitar teacher asked me what do you want to learn ? 
I told him I wanted to learn Secret Agent Man ...He laughed and hit me with a stack of guitar books just like the ones I'm talking about ...I never did learn Secret Agent Man of that guy ...that's another story

craigb
I'm going to guess you've never had music theory.

 
(sigh) Not this debate again. A lot of "theories" I don't believe in. If FLIGHT was a theory, how can so many people be flying everyday? It's a FACT! The theoretical part might be whether or not your flight arrives on time.
 
If MUSIC was a theory, how come I hear it everywhere? It's a FACT! If there's a theory it would be whether or not that song you're listening to right now is actually... "music".
 
Or am I simply confused again?
 

craigb
Nowhere does it say you HAVE to color within the lines,...

 

True!

jamesg1213
Learning music theory is no different to learning spelling, punctuation and grammar so you can write.
 

I get that idea
 
The first 10 or 15 years of my playing was pretty much done w out reading music ...I did have a little theory ..
Then I was taught how to read and got very deep into theory ..it was all an uphill climb
Recently (about 10 years )  I didn't read music all that much ( a perishable skill )  at least all the theory stuck ....
 
I think a lot of times  , a lot of musicians and players start out enjoying  The Rock & Roll lifestyle where they don't have to learn or follow the rules in the first place ..
They write simple music , make money and then the day comes when they may need to share their creative process. They may now have to use a middle man such as a producer or a teacher to get their ideas out there for teaching the general public or players  their unique musical language .
 
Some folks and players just keep doing their own thing and find people that can adapt to their style and fit in ...
Having a really good ear and being able to pre hear songs and song structures is a skill worth its weight in GOLD.
When I played as a sideman for Andrae Crouch ( a couple of years  ) I had to think and play fast on my feet as it was all happening in real time ..it was a good experience for me ...before it went south ...
 
all the best,
 
Kenny
 
 
 
 

kennywtelejazz

jamesg1213
Learning music theory is no different to learning spelling, punctuation and grammar so you can write.
 

I get that idea
 
The first 10 or 15 years of my playing was pretty much done w out reading music ...I did have a little theory ..
Then I was taught how to read and got very deep into theory ..it was all an uphill climb
Recently (about 10 years )  I didn't read music all that much ( a perishable skill )  at least all the theory stuck ....
 
I think a lot of times  , a lot of musicians and players start out enjoying  The Rock & Roll lifestyle where they don't have to learn or follow the rules in the first place ..
They write simple music , make money and then the day comes when they may need to share their creative process. They may now have to use a middle man such as a producer or a teacher to get their ideas out there for teaching the general public or players  their unique musical language .
 
Some folks and players just keep doing their own thing and find people that can adapt to their style and fit in ...
Having a really good ear and being able to pre hear songs and song structures is a skill worth its weight in GOLD.
When I played as a sideman for Andrae Crouch ( a couple of years  ) I had to think and play fast on my feet as it was all happening in real time ..it was a good experience for me ...before it went south ...
 
all the best,
 
Kenny

I have huge gaps in my music theory knowledge. I've reached a point where I can put together a reasonable sounding tune or collab with a guitar part for someone, but it's all within quite limited parameters. If I'd taken more time with the theory side, I know I'd be able to come up with more harmonically interesting stuff, in the same way that for example, yourself or Bayoubill can, because you know the guitar neck inside out and backwards. Still there's always time..

jamesg1213

kennywtelejazz

jamesg1213
Learning music theory is no different to learning spelling, punctuation and grammar so you can write.
 

I get that idea
 
The first 10 or 15 years of my playing was pretty much done w out reading music ...I did have a little theory ..
Then I was taught how to read and got very deep into theory ..it was all an uphill climb
Recently (about 10 years )  I didn't read music all that much ( a perishable skill )  at least all the theory stuck ....
 
I think a lot of times  , a lot of musicians and players start out enjoying  The Rock & Roll lifestyle where they don't have to learn or follow the rules in the first place ..
They write simple music , make money and then the day comes when they may need to share their creative process. They may now have to use a middle man such as a producer or a teacher to get their ideas out there for teaching the general public or players  their unique musical language .
 
Some folks and players just keep doing their own thing and find people that can adapt to their style and fit in ...
Having a really good ear and being able to pre hear songs and song structures is a skill worth its weight in GOLD.
When I played as a sideman for Andrae Crouch ( a couple of years  ) I had to think and play fast on my feet as it was all happening in real time ..it was a good experience for me ...before it went south ...
 
all the best,
 
Kenny

I have huge gaps in my music theory knowledge. I've reached a point where I can put together a reasonable sounding tune or collab with a guitar part for someone, but it's all within quite limited parameters. If I'd taken more time with the theory side, I know I'd be able to come up with more harmonically interesting stuff, in the same way that for example, yourself or Bayoubill can, because you know the guitar neck inside out and backwards. Still there's always time..

Hi James,
Don't sell your self short  . A lot of people have large Gaps in the Music Theory Dept ...myself included ...
When it comes to how much I know or think I know , my chosen path is to accept that the more I think I know the less I really know  I need to accept  that no matter what it is I'm looking to do in music , I will always have room for improvement in any musical area I may be interested in exploring ....no matter how good or bad it may be there is always room for improvement ...
 
People that may teach on a daily basis or folks that might compose in a traditional old school way of music creation may have an edge only in the sense from having to draw from that well more often than others .
IMHO, In the end music theory is just a tool / way of explaining things that happen in music in a scholarly way using terms that people have agreed to understand   ( that's the low end of it )
On the higher spectrum /  end of music theory , music theory is every bit as deep as advanced mathematics ...
Where somebody wants to go with that information is entirely up to them ...it's endless 
 
Plenty of times I have been around people that could talk a real good Game when it comes to music theory ...some of them even sounded just like Freaking Einsteins ...more often than not ...those types couldn't play their way out of a paper bag  even if their very life depended on it ...
 
all the best, 
Kenny