Theory
Everything you need to read and understand the music you love. From the basics of the score to scales and chords.
The Basics
How to read a score. The staff, the notes, note values and accidentals, the symbols you need to get started.
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01The staff and the clefsHow notes are read on the staff, and what the clefs do.Read it →
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02The notes in the treble clefThe 5 lines, the 4 spaces, and two mnemonics to remember the notes easily.Read it →
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03Tones, semitones and accidentalsTone, semitone, the sharp, flat and natural signs, and how they act on notes.Read it →
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04Note valuesWhole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes, and rhythm syllables.Read it →
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05RestsSilence in music has its own symbols too, one for every note value.Read it →
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06Dotted notes and tiesHow we lengthen a note's duration.Read it →
Meter
How time is organised in music. The simple meters, and the mixed 7/8 and 9/8 of Greek popular music.
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01Time signaturesThe fraction at the start of every piece. The most common meters, 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4, and the strong beat.Read it →
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02Simple and compound metersHow each beat subdivides. Simple (2/4, 3/4, 4/4) and compound (6/8, 9/8) meters.Read it →
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03Mixed metersThe asymmetric meters, a combination of simple and compound.Read it →
Intervals
The distance between two notes is the alphabet of scales and chords.
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01What intervals areHow we measure the distance between two notes.Read it →
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02Interval qualitiesPerfect, major, minor, augmented, diminished.Read it →
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03Interval inversionHow an interval flips into its complement, with the rule of 9.Read it →
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04Finding an intervalStep by step: identifying and writing intervals.Read it →
Western scales
Major and minor scales, their degrees, and the key signature that shows the key.
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01The major scaleThe best-known scale of all, and what makes it "major".Read it →
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02The minor scalesNatural, harmonic, melodic. Three variants with different characters.Read it →
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03Scale degreesEvery degree has a name and a role.Read it →
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04Key signaturesSharps and flats at the start of the piece, and how they show the key.Read it →
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05Modes of the major scaleThe same scale from another degree: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian.Read it →
Chords
What a chord is, how it is built, and which chords belong naturally to a scale.
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01Introduction to chordsTriads: major, minor, augmented, diminished.Read it →
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02InversionsHow a chord changes when the root is not the lowest note.Read it →
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03Seventh chordsFive types, with one extra note that changes the colour.Read it →
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04Diatonic chordsWhich chords belong naturally to a scale.Read it →
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05CadencesHow a phrase ends: perfect, plagal, half and deceptive cadences.Read it →