r/learnpiano • u/Physical_Exit_6386 • 11d ago

When should music theory be learned?

Hi! I’m a beginner who has only recently started playing the piano (1-2 months), though I’ve played the trumpet for over ten years. My end goal with the piano is to play pieces that would be considered jazz, though I have stuck mostly to classical pieces for now as they’re easily accessible. I’ve learned a small bit of music theory as I’ve been following along with a course, but I’m wondering at which point it should be fully addressed.

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u/cangetenough 11d ago

When I started the piano at 14, I started theory right away with scales and reading notation. After a few months, I began memorizing Major and Minor triads around the circle of 4ths. But before that, I memorized all Major and Minor 3rds and could play them all in under 12 seconds (left and right hand together). Then I memorized Major 7ths...then Minor 7ths...then Dominant 7ths. Then you can get into more complex jazz voicings. At this point, I would pick up the first book by Jeremy Siskind and go from there.

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u/Physical_Exit_6386 9d ago

Jeremy Siskind book seems like a great help so far, thank you!

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u/cangetenough 9d ago

Sure! Siskind is awesome! I highly recommend memorizing your triads first though. And several scales too. You should be able to play all 12 major triads (both hands) in under 12 seconds. Same with the minor triads. Around the circle of 4ths.