Do You Need to Know Music Theory to Write Songs?

Here’s something that surprises people. I’ve never had any formal music training.

And I still co-wrote “It Wasn’t Me,” and wrote with Maxi Priest and Brian & Tony Gold along the way.

So no. You don’t need to know music theory to start writing songs.

But I don’t want to stop there, because that answer gets misread. Theory matters. It just matters somewhere other than where you might expect.

What the question is really asking

When someone asks if they need theory, what they usually mean is “Am I missing something the real songwriters know?”

I get it. I had that feeling too. You watch someone talk about keys and progressions and assume that’s the secret, and that you can’t start until you’ve learned it.

That’s the part I disagree with.

The one thing you can’t skip

There is one caveat, and it’s an important one.

You don’t need theory, but you do need a good ear. Your melodies have to stay in key, and you need to be able to hear when a note is off.

If a note in your melody clashes with the music, listeners hear it even if they couldn’t tell you why. And it’s not something a great lyric can cover up.

If you’re not sure your ear is there yet, sing along with songs you know well and record yourself. Listen back. The notes that don’t sit right will jump out at you. Keep doing that and your ear gets sharper.

Where theory and chords earn their place

Here’s how I think about it. Theory and chords are an essential part of a finished, marketable song. The chords, the arrangement, the way the music lifts into the chorus. All of that matters.

But their real power shows up when they’re built on a chorus that was already well designed. A chorus written for a specific audience, with the marketability baked in from the start.

Put great chords under a forgettable chorus and you get a well-played song nobody remembers. Put them under a strong chorus and they make it hit even harder.

And if you don’t know theory yourself, you can work with people who do. I work with keyboard players and producers to build the music around my melodies. It’s not always easy to explain what I’m hearing without the vocabulary, but when you find a musician who hears what you hear, keep working with them. (More on writing without an instrument here.)

What actually held my songs back

Years ago I put out an independent album. I spent real money on it. Nothing happened.

Looking back, the songs didn’t fit any particular audience, and the choruses were nice but forgettable. Today I struggle to remember them myself.

That’s what to get right first. Who is this song for, and is the chorus strong enough that they’ll remember it? (Here are four tests I use on every chorus.)

Where to put your time

1. Train your ear. Keep your melodies in key and learn to hear the notes that are off.
2. Write the chorus first, with a specific listener in mind. (Here’s why I always start there.)
3. Record every idea. A phone voice memo is all you need to capture a melody.
4. Build the music around a strong chorus, on your own or with musicians who know theory well.

If you want to learn theory, go for it. Just don’t wait for it. Open your voice memo app today and sing the chorus you’ve been sitting on.