In my quest to be a great guitar player I've studied scales modes chords chord progresions and all kinds of theory but it seems like I stumble upon cool riffs and song possibilitys when I am not thinkin about all that crap. I look back now and wounder how much time I have wasted runnin up and down scales and tryin to learn every chord. I guess my question is, how much theory is enough. I know it does help alot but I think burying yourself in theory books and stuff 24/7 is not the way you become a great guitar player. just my 2 cents.

I think that totally depends on what you plan on writing...

__________________

This is a very odd "thread" doesn't seem to really fit in theory seems more like chit chat. . .. but eh, who cares? As far as theory goes, most of it is just to give you a basic idea of the conventional/normal function of things. . . most everything I do tends to be really unconventional. . . Theory is used in writing when you get really technical. . . or you could just shred and hope it sounds good. . . . Really though theory has helped a lot, how would you know exactly what chords to use in scale harmony with what you do write and how would you communicate it to another musician such as a bassist. I use a lot of theory in my writing but I generally just play a few little dittys then I notice something I like the sound of, figure out what key or scale it is in then I expand it. . . (don't usually use very much natural major or natural minor although Alexi Laiho uses a lot of natural minor in his solos). I like exotic things though, but I also like giving things my feel so they usually end up having very odd time signatures and shit oh well. . . going to go eat, later.

__________________

Theory vs no theory has been done before. Just go with what you feel is natural and best suited to your style of writing.

__________________