5 Benefits of Using Visual in Learning Music Theory

Music theory is a part where most beginners neglect and drop out.

Because it involves thinking logically and memorizing facts, which use up a lot of willpower.

However, if armed with no music theory, ones can never be good at the musical journey. So, how can we stay motivated in learning music theory?

One of the most effective solutions is to use visuals in learning music theory.

So, today, we will discuss the 5 benefits of using visual in learning music theory.

1. Gather Information Quicker

Our eyes are the most complex cameras in the world.

According to Dr. Lynell Burmark:

• 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visuals.
• Our eyes can see the images which last for just 13 milliseconds
• Gathering information from visuals is 60,000x faster than texts.

So, learning with visuals and texts are so much better than just text alone.

2. Simplify Complex Music Theory

An image is worth thousands of words.

And the illustration below is an example of how visual simplifies the concept of note names and their corresponding piano keys:

https://sublimelody.com/octave-structure/

(To see the full infographic on how to read piano notes and keys, click here to visit the original guide from Sublimelody)

3. Remember longer

Stated from Dr. Lynell, images are the best ways to store information directly to our long-term memory.

Whenever you feel that you nearly forget a music theory concept, just take 5 minutes to look at the images. All information will come to your mind right off the bat. And these concepts will go deeply into your mind.

4. Comprehend better

Below is another example on how to read music note and its corresponding piano key with the metal flip strategy.

https://sublimelody.com/metal-flip-strategy/

As you can see, just by flipping the original music sheet 90-degree clockwise, the notes on the sheet music and piano keys are really reflected.

Normally, it would take an A4 paper full of texts just to explain how to read pitch name of notes. And even if you read the full-text version, it still costs you more time and effort to actually understand and get the concepts.

On the other hand, with the diagram above, you can easily check the notes and their positions on the keyboard.

5. Generate motivation

This solves the main problem with learning music theory discussed in the beginning:

Most beginners just find music theory boring then put fewer efforts than needed. In such cases, Visuals are the best solutions.

They are so attractive which help the learners overcome the boredom of music theory text concepts and motivate them to learn better.

This is especially helpful when it comes to teaching music theory to children because they’re super responsive to visuals (you can see that kids can spend days and nights to see youtube videos and play computer games).

Conclusion

Now, I bet you have a sense on how better it is to use visuals with learning music theory.

Combine visuals with any complex or heavy-text problems, you will create friendly and attractive documents which enhance user experience (UX), which lead to many other benefits.