ive got a shit ear for music but i can play chords now

that musicianship is a bad thing.

You can only (properly) break the rules after once learning them.

then you actually have to learn how to be good at guitar. It CANNOT come naturally, unless you play another, similar instrument. How could it possibly produce amazing results? By that logic, why not teach yourself how to drive? It could produce AMAZING results! Yeah! Fuck THE MAN!

By bothering to learn a few chord names.

It's like saying I'd be a better writer if I hadn't studied english at school.

or what notes go with what, or what is correct, then you misunderstand music theory.

but when I first started playing guitar, I made up chords all the time. Now it almost feels intuitive to use a regular chord progression. When I'm writing a song, I'll automatically move from C to Em or something. Even when I try to mess about with barre chords I don't know the names of, I end up doing exactly the same thing. So maybe it's nothing to do with knowing the names of chords at all, just a by-product of becoming familiar with your instrument (so to speak).

I am a firm believer in musical theory.
maybe its just the way my brain is wired though. I think you have to understand music properly, otherwise anything you compose is just a fluke.

I think we all can agree that music is a great force and I don't like the idea that people are just mucking around with it willy nilly and still calling themselves musicians.

Am I being too harsh?

Instead of relying on your instinct as to what chord should come next, you've got your mind stuck in the technical "this is a B, from here I can go to (x,y and z)" instead of just trying a few things out to see what catches your attention.

At the end of the day, write something you like the sound of. If you don't want to listen to your songs, why should anyone else? Theory or no theory.

but to think about "B" as a label, as a shorthand, for the sound, so that it's easier to think about what you're doing when you're writing a song, or so that it's easier to explain it to other musicians you're working with.

While you may be building songs using your taught theory, surely your musical ear would pick a chord just because it sounds good as opposed to any 'logical' reasoning behind it?

And if you think about, say, a B flat, who can honestly say they hear that exact note in their head? The identifier
'B flat' is only there to help your mind work around the idea of structured sounds.

I agree that a less structured approach to learning guitar can pay dividends in terms of originality though. But really, it doesn't matter how you've learned, if you can write good tunes, you can write good tunes.

Joe - www.anewbandaday.com

To be frank, you are totally wrong. Music is just like any other language - the more words you know, the better your grammar; the better you will be able to articulate yourself.

And I'd put to you that it's the height of arrogance and delusion to come out and say "you know what, I think I've learnt enough". No-one has ever learnt enough.

theory except for what i couldn't help but pick up (power chords, basic chords, variations) and learnt from the music i grew up with / what i wanted to hear in my head...when i play i am happy with the originality and feel i've got my own sound but when it comes to crafting a song, that theory comes creepin' in and seems a much harder process without that theory as a helping hand. I think it would be a smart idea to learn music theory really late on and tag it on to a self taught way of guitar so you got that originality and ease of construction, if that can even work?