There’s a belief amongst some that having knowledge of music theory is unnecessary, or even detrimental, for a modern pop or rock musician. Some of this belief is rooted in legend surrounding several members of the infamous "27 Club": Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain.
The belief here is that these three were completely unfamiliar with even the basics of music theory. While this may be true for Jim Morrison, it’s far from accurate when it comes to Hendrix and Cobain. (The fact that Cobain intentionally and often misled the public with contradictory and provocative interviews certainly didn’t help clear things up!)
Many firmly believe that music can come "from the heart," bypassing the brain entirely. They argue that natural talent alone is enough to create chart-topping hits that will leave a lasting mark on the history of popular music.
It’s time to put these misconceptions to rest, and we’ll do so by examining the cases of Morrison, Hendrix, and Cobain. Kurt Cobain, in particular, stands out as a figure in these debates, but we’ll get to him shortly.
Let’s start at the beginning…
According to Jim Cherry, a respected researcher of The Doors' legacy, James Douglas Morrison never aimed to become a rock star. At that time, it wasn't yet a viable business or career path. In the early to mid-1960s, only a few rock 'n' roll artists—like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard—managed to make a living from it.
The idea of having a "career" in rock music was near unthinkable for anyone in their right mind—only the most wildly optimistic dreamers would entertain such a thing. Jim Cherry argues that Jim Morrison's true ambition was to be recognized as a poet in the literary sense. Morrison believed that his role as a songwriter and frontman in a rock band could help him cut corners in his pursuit of a poetic career, speeding up its progress. He also saw working in film as another potential springboard to poetic fame.
Morrison indeed didn’t know how to read music and couldn’t play any musical instruments, aside from the fairly simple diatonic harmonica (no offense to diatonic harmonica players out there). It's believed that he did play a part on a Moog synthesizer for the recording of the song "Strange Days" but that’s really the extent of his instrumental prowess.
So what’s the story behind the story here? Was Morrison the sole author of all The Doors' significant songs? No. The smash hit "Light My Fire" was largely written by the band's guitarist, Robby Krieger. The same goes for songs like "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."
The Doors' phenomenal keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, was a constant collaborator in the songwriting process. Additionally, drummer John Densmore is credited as an official co-writer on many tracks.
The way Jim Morrison contributed to composing The Doors' famous hits typically went something like this: Jim would sing the vocal melody to his lyrics without any harmony, and if the idea seemed promising, Ray Manzarek and the other musicians would jump in and join the creative process.
This method of collaborative work was how many of The Doors' songs were created. Take "Moonlight Drive," for example. Morrison essentially "sang his lyrics" into a musically "vacuumed" space, while Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore shaped them into song form, creating harmonies and arrangements.
Those who argue that basic music theory isn't important for a talented musician shouldn’t be pointing towards Jim Morrison’s musical influence on The Doors. They should be trying to prove that Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger lacked music theory knowledge!
And a quick look at Ray Manzarek’s stories about crafting "Light My Fire" makes it clear: these guys knew their basic music theory inside out. Before joining The Doors, Manzarek and Densmore were jazz musicians, and jazz in the 1960s was no simple affair. And let’s not forget Robby Krieger, who was taking private flamenco guitar lessons.
No doubt, Jimi Hendrix was a determined self-taught musician. He learned his favorite songs by ear from the radio and played along with them. But he also spent time with other Seattle musicians, learning guitar licks and chords from them. His skills grew rapidly, with the young guitarist dedicating 8 to 12 hours a day to practice.
There were just nine years between the moment young Jimi first picked up a guitar at age 15 and the release of his first solo hits. But what did Hendrix do between his brief service in the U.S. Army and the start of his solo career? He worked as a session guitarist for several touring bands, including Ike and Tina Turner, the Isley Brothers, and eventually, Little Richard's band.
It’s incredibly hard to imagine a session guitarist in this industry who didn’t understand concepts like musical keys, didn’t know the notes on the guitar fretboard, or how basic chords are constructed. How could a musician without basic knowledge coordinate with other band members about the key of a song, its hooks and riffs, or its harmony? In the real world of live performance, someone lacking these skills would be fired.
In some concert footage of Jimi Hendrix from his peak years, an attentive viewer can spot moments where the musician is seen discussing the key of a song with his band members – a clear indication that Hendrix was indeed familiar with basic music theory.
The legend that Hendrix was so immensely talented that he didn’t need any knowledge to create groundbreaking music and play the guitar like a god is certainly romantic—but it’s far from realistic.
In Kurt Cobain's case, we know exactly what fueled the persistent myth about his lack of music theory knowledge. It was a 1993 interview with German journalist Edgar Klüsener.
In this interview, Cobain appears to be overly eager to portray himself as a complete novice in music theory.
"I don’t even know what a major or minor chord is. I never learned that. I don’t know how to play a chord properly,” he said.
Kurt’s really giving away the game here. He’s just a self-taught guy with no musical knowledge dropping terms like "arpeggio" and "Dorian mode"? Seriously?
If you go back and watch Nirvana's famous MTV Unplugged performance, you might notice Cobain thinking about whether to play 'Pennyroyal Tea' in a different key before performing it.In 2023, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic mentioned in an interview with American music producer and educator Rick Beato that not everything Kurt said on any given topic should be taken at face value. He could express opposite views on the same subject within just a few days.
And Kurt's aunt, Mari Earl, played guitar, sang, and performed with several bands in Washington state. According to Earl, Kurt first sat down at a piano when he was four years old. Incidentally, her house and home studio were used by one of Cobain's early bands, Fecal Matter, for demo recordings.
Earl had frequent interactions with Kurt, helping him with demos when he was 15-17 years old. She even kept cassettes of his childhood singing. Do we really think that in all that time, Earl didn't mention a word about major and minor keys?
Last one. Earnie Bailey (former guitar tech for Kurt Cobain & Dave Grohl) revealed that the Nirvana musicians had some understanding of music theory and even studied songwriting using The Beatles as an example. Here is his direct quote:
“…while they [may] not have had technical music theory training, they certainly had a strong working knowledge of it.
“David knew time signatures, had the stronger musical vocabulary, and also the wisdom not to use it competitively. And like many self taught artists, they cultivated the persona of being primitive musicians but truthfully they studied songwriting, the Beatles in particular."
“If Kurt publicly shunned music theory, here is what I can offer. As teenagers in the 70s & 80s, I recall musicians being divided into groups learning via the classroom, and those of us attracted to music that appeals to loss of control. We naïvely viewed music theory as a set of rules rather than a musical language, and bashing it was a mode of defense because we lacked the confidence or technical knowledge of the terminology…”
So, Kurt Cobain, ever the provocateur, managed to confuse everyone on the topic. In reality, he was at least sufficiently knowledgeable in basic music theory to confidently write some of the best songs in the entire history of popular music.
Imagine you’re trying to start a project with some foreign friends, but they don't understand your language, and you don't understand theirs. Young artists who are unfamiliar with the basics of music theory face similar challenges when trying to make music. How can you hope to master something if you can’t speak the language? It’s an uphill battle.
If a budding musician really wants to make a career, they really ought to start studying the basics of music theory. (Part of the problem is that it has “theory” in the title. It feels like heavy lifting. But rest assured, you’re not quite tackling the theory of relativity here. It’s definitely more fun, at least. No offense to the physicists out there.)
At the beginning of your journey, all you need is a good textbook and a piano (an electronic one will do, or even a virtual piano roll in your DAW). And, if the textbook starts to make your eyes glaze over, there’s always YouTube and Wikipedia.
Wikipedia, of course, has articles on almost all aspects of music theory. Some of them are written in a dry manner, while others are very simple. With just a little effort, you can figure out in one evening what a major scale and the main minor scales are.
With another evening of learning you can grasp enough to understand the concept of musical intervals. Another evening can get you to understand the concept of triads. And if you have trouble processing the text, there are always free educational videos on YouTube that will help you perceive theoretical knowledge through both sound and vision. (And, honestly, watching well made YouTube videos might just be a more enjoyable way to learn music theory anyway.)
When you start to feel that you're beginning to understand the patterns, and then when you start applying them in practice, the quality of your songwriting, music production, and playing of your favorite instrument will begin growing rapidly. Speaking the language just a little bit can go a long way.
And if you’re willing to put in just a little more work, there are some superb textbooks out there on the subject. We would recommend the most popular book on music theory: "Tonal Harmony," by Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne, and Byron Almen. It has been published at least seven times. Incredibly thorough. In addition to basic knowledge, the book introduces the reader to 20th-century music and even talks a little bit about electronic music.
Look, let’s just put it like this: getting on social media and talking about how a real musical genius can just intuit a hit song without any working knowledge of music theory is not the same thing as actually sitting in a home studio and making brilliant music. It’s harder. A lot harder. You can try it, but you might just find out that attempting to do something you have no knowledge of can make you realize in a hurry that you have no idea what you’re doing.
