Before I respond to any of your post,
@DreamTheaterRules, I have no issue with folks who don't want to learn theory. I'll explain why I did later.
And this is one reason I never felt it important. I never felt the need to be able to explain to anyone else, in theory terms, what I just did. I played this because it's the notes I wanted to play over that. I knew how it would sound, the end. Not being smug. Just never felt the need to explain. I've known, discussed in forums, and played with, other guys who did. One friend I used to play with regularly was a "solid" player, big on theory. We'd be playing and he'd say "oh I loved that riff you played where you did the blah blah blah (which is what I actually heard when I talked theory
) and I'd say "thank you. I don't know what that meant, I just played what I thought would sound good."
I honestly mean 'to explain what I did' in some of the simplest terms... In other words, talking about a song, and I play a certain chord... Someone says, what is that? I know to say it's the ii, or the VI or III of the key.... I know that might be simple, but that's all the theory i really hope my bandmates know. If I say, let's do a quick IV, I don't want them to have to ask what the IV chord is?
I don't play much Jazz, so I don't worry about knowing subs, or what scale I can play on top of some wacky chord.... Like you, I play what I hear in my head, or what sounds 'right'.
I am when playing other peoples stuff. Don't take this as an insult, just an explanation of my thoughts on this. I grew up a classical piano player. You played it EXACTLY was written, notes, expression, etc., EXACTLY or it wasn't "right." And if you didn't play it exactly the same, it was because you couldn't. So when I started playing rock and roll "some of the riffs" or a similar solo wasn't good enough. To me, I wasn't playing it correctly until I had it note for note, phrasing and all. Plus, as a kid, I didn't think I was good enough to take liberties with Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Michael Schenker, Al Di Meola, Jimi Hendrix or anything else that I played. Plus, if I allowed myself to not have to play it note for note, it was not challenging me to get better. That was how I got better, by making myself play it exactly like they did. Now, you might say "Ha, how did you play Hendrix note for note? He never did that himself!" And you'd be right. When I played a lot of Hendrix, I literally had 3 different versions of Red House, and several other Hendrix songs I played at least two versions of. But the goal was, play them exactly like the record.
I made a conscious decision a few years ago to stop doing rock cover stuff. Before then, I would work on note for note stuff.... and was very un-motivated by it. It's not my thing, that's all. I was in band in middle school, I hear where you're coming from.
As my mother used to say, 'That's why they make chocolate AND vanilla' yeah?
My friend who was the big theory guy said the same exact thing. And, he never understood how or why I didn't want to know theory. I never thought I needed too. He'd make up some chord changes, start playing them and want me to do various styles of solos over them. Do a bluesy thing, now hard rock, now shred, now melodic, now funky... He'd challenge me to do those things, then he'd analyze. He said I had to know some theory to know what to do, and I never quite got that. I just played what he asked for and whatever came out. I remember SRV in an interview saying he didn't want to know theory because every time he started reading it, it interfered with him playing what he "felt." He said it stopped the notes in his head from coming out because he started thinking instead of feeling. I think that sums up my experience with theory very well. But I understand how different everyone is. I have one friend who CAN NOT play without music. You put a song in front of him let him run through it a few times and he can play it great. But ask him to make up a solo and he's LOST. Write one out, or show him how to play one, and he can play it. (not an advanced soloist, probably for this reason...) but he can't just jam over anything. He knows theory! But I can start chording like I mentioned above and he's just lost. He CAN NOT just come up with solo's. It just does not register with him. He can learn one from tab. Learn one from sitting in the room and me showing him the notes. Learn one from a video... but he can't come up with one on his own. And that is hard for me to understand, because he plays a lot and has some skills as a player, but making up solos is just out of the question for him.
I honestly, don't think theory ahead of time... Maybe if I'm trying to figure out some chord structure, but other than that? I don't know enough myself to even begin applying theory! LOL. So, again, 100% aligned here, my friend.
And, by 'figure out a chord structure', I mean by simply understanding what is traditional, and starting there. You probably know this much as well, just by being familiar with songs and their structures.
I can't spend hours talking about theory, my knowledge is really just minimal, but more than some of my fellow musicians, and possibly a lot more than a lot of bar band guys. But, I don't hold it against anyone, nor do I think what I've done in music is right! Furthest thing from the truth, probably.
But, why did I learn theory? Part of the reason you don't want to.... I remember when I was a kid and I'd read one of the guitar rags and they'd say things like, In Back In Black, Angus is using the pentatonic minor, but borrowing notes from the mixolydian scale over the IV chord'. I kept thinking how does he know that? And, after having spent time in band, playing note for note stuff, I thought that there must be rules to tell you what notes were acceptable. I didn't get any real guitar lessons for years, so I was learning in a vacuum. Actually, I just struggled, I dunno that I was really learning anything for a few years. I had probably been playing for 20 years before I got myself in gear and figured out that theory wasn't actually gonna tell me which notes were the 'correct' ones. It just helped me to figure out what just happened.... But, by studying theory, I was given some extra tools and directions to go.
I used to be convinced that Stevie was right... Learning theory would slow me down, keep me from being free in my playing. But, I was wrong. Every guitar player I've ever known who said theory would slow them down also had avoided learning theory. Nobody I know who knows theory ever regrets it. But, some of the most successful musicians I personally know, don't really know much, if any theory.
If I focus on theory, then, yeah, it's gonna be stiff... But, the reality is, I think about theory when I am at home practicing. By the time I get to band rehearsal or on stage, theory has nothing to do with what I'm physically doing. I play well because I've done my homework, because I practiced, because I've played enough notes to know how they sound, because I've listened to the music I want to play (songs, style, etc), basically because I made enough mistakes to know how bad they can sound! LOL
I have frustrated a few guys over the last number of years when they ask me, 'How do you know what notes to play?' and my answer is usually, 'I just don't play the ones I don't like'. No theory involved in that, just lots of time with my fingers on a fretboard. It's the best description I have for how it works in my brain. I've made enough mistakes, played enough notes in the 'wrong' place that I know to stay away from certain things at certain times. There is no magic bullet, it's time in the saddle... Most folks don't like that reality! LOL
I could use theory to explain it. I could say things like 'stay away from the Major third when playing over minor chords in a Blues song'... But, even that can be done in the correct context and situation. So, it won't help anyone, including me. I know that the major third can sound dissonant, and add tension over a minor chord, and depending on the note before, after and the length of the note held will make all the difference in the world on whether it sounds correct or not.
My thinking now is that any knowledge is better than no knowledge. Theory is not the be-all/end-all, nor is it even a requirement. But, it's another tool I can use, that's all.
