If taken one element at a time and given the proper attention, music theory is a very achievable subject to understand. Like nearly all subjects, you can learn music theory to varying levels of complexity. Most of what a musician needs to know to gain a working knowledge of their instrument can be learned within several months. Music theory also contains more complex subjects like counterpoint and negative harmony, but you do not need to master these concepts to be an intermediate or even expert musician. Once you’ve learned the basic building blocks, you can pursue more challenging theory as you wish. There are also many different approaches to music theory, so you can understand it in a way that’s intuitive to you.