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Music Theory

Jonathan Peters

Why should I learn music theory? Isn't it just "theoretical" knowledge that I won't really use? Nothing could be further from the truth. Music theory also has many practical applications. A musician who has studied music theory has a huge advantage over a musician who has not. Not only will they read music more fluently, their performances will be more musical because they will understand the various elements of music and how all the parts work together. Song writers and composers with a background in music theory will also have a huge advantage over those without such a background. In fact, for those who want to write music, there is nothing more important than having a firm understanding of music theory.

Read more

Why should I learn music theory? Isn't it just "theoretical" knowledge that I won't really use? Nothing could be further from the truth. Music theory also has many practical applications. A musician who has studied music theory has a huge advantage over a musician who has not. Not only will they read music more fluently, their performances will be more musical because they will understand the various elements of music and how all the parts work together. Song writers and composers with a background in music theory will also have a huge advantage over those without such a background. In fact, for those who want to write music, there is nothing more important than having a firm understanding of music theory.

Why You Should Take This Course:

  • you will be learning from a professional musician and award-winning composer

  • the course is in-depth and covers all levels

  • the material is presented in a straight forward and easy to understand approach

  • the videos and PDFs get right to the point, and do not ramble on for lengthy amounts of time saying very little and leaving you confused

  • you will go beyond just definitions and terms and get the added benefit of learning the "why" behind the subject matter

Includes:

  • 112 lectures

  • over 350 diagrams

  • over 90 audio examples

  • 369 memory questions

  • 45 on-line quizzes

  • nearly 1,000 quiz questions

  • exercises, experiments and downloadable music apps

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • The definition of music
  • The elements of music (rhythm & pitch)
  • Division of pitch into melody and harmony
  • Rhythmic notation
  • Understanding relative durations of sound
  • The whole, half, quarter, 8th and 16th notes
  • Why notes are named the way they are
  • Relative durations vs. assigning numerical values
  • The unit of measurement
  • Beat
  • Tempo
  • Meter
  • Distinguishing between rhythm and meter
  • Bar lines and measures
  • Time signatures
  • 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meters
  • Determining the meter without a time signature
  • Natural division of rhythms
  • Strong and weak pulses
  • Rests
  • Assigning numerical values to rests
  • The whole rest and meter
  • Dotted notes
  • Numerical values of dotted notes
  • History of dotted notes
  • Dotted rhythms
  • The 3:1 ratio in dotted rhythms
  • The tie
  • Ties vs. dotted notes
  • Advantages and disadvantages of notating with ties vs. dots
  • Re-designation of the unit
  • 3/8 and 6/8 meters
  • New numerical values of notes
  • Understand relative durations with regard to a new unit of measurement
  • Strength of pulses
  • Designating the half note as the unit
  • Notating 2/2 meter or “cut” time
  • Numerical values of note durations in 2/2 meter
  • Comparison of 4/4 meter and 2/2 meter
  • Reasons for 2/2 meter
  • Classifying meters
  • Simple meter and compound meter
  • Duple, triple, and quadruple meter
  • Complex meter
  • Artificial divisions of the beat or beats
  • Artificial division of parts of the beat
  • Common types of tuplets
  • Definition of triplets & duplets
  • Identifying triplets & duplets
  • Ratio of triplets & duplets
  • Numerical value of triplets & duplets
  • Artificial divisions in relation to simple and compound meters
  • Sound waves
  • Frequency
  • Indefinite vs. definite pitch
  • Modern vs. ancient definition of pitch
  • Pitch experiments
  • Introduction to the staff
  • How the mind sees number
  • Ledger lines
  • Clefs
  • Movement on the staff (step, skip, repeat)
  • The musical alphabet
  • Letter names on the staff
  • The grand staff
  • Direction of note stems (and rationale)
  • Introduction to the keyboard
  • Groups of black keys
  • Letter names of keys
  • Correlation of staff to the keyboard
  • Half steps and whole steps
  • Sharps and flats on the keyboard
  • Enharmonic equivalents
  • Enharmonic keyboard notes
  • Reading sharps and flats on the staff
  • Sharps and flats within measures
  • The natural sign
  • The definition of interval
  • Melodic vs. harmonic intervals
  • Identifying intervals on the keyboard
  • Identifying intervals on the staff
  • Ratios and intervals
  • Pythagoras and the monochord
  • Consonance and dissonance
  • Definition and history of the modern scale
  • The major scale
  • Intervals and the major scale
  • Basis of the scale
  • Basis of the whole tone
  • Greek tetrachords
  • Greek semi tone and whole tone
  • Constructing scales on the keyboard
  • Constructing scales on the staff
  • Definition of "key"
  • The key signature
  • The circle of 5ths
  • The order of sharps
  • The order of flats
  • How to determine the key from the sharps/flats
  • How to determine how many and which sharps/flats are in a given key
  • Enharmonic keys
  • Interval number vs. interval quality
  • Major, minor and perfect interval qualities
  • Determining an intervals’ number and quality
  • Connection of interval qualities to the major scale
  • Augmented and diminished interval qualities
  • How augmented and diminished intervals are formed
  • The double sharp
  • Why the double sharp is necessary
  • The double flat
  • Why the double flat is necessary
  • The tritone
  • Abbreviations for interval qualities
  • Enharmonic intervals
  • Complementary intervals
  • Which qualities, when inverted, become which qualities
  • Simple intervals
  • Compound intervals
  • Reducing compound intervals
  • How to determine the quality of compound intervals
  • Open and close harmony
  • The difference between intervals and chords
  • Major and minor chords
  • Deriving the ratio of the major and minor 3rds using the monochord
  • The pythagoras experiment and the major chord
  • Block and broken chords
  • Augmented and diminished chords
  • Music’s move from the horizontal to the vertical
  • Mathematical proportions of the major, minor, augmented and diminished triads
  • Understanding the harmonic mean
  • The harmonic mean and the major chord
  • Understanding the arithmetic mean
  • The arithmetic mean and the minor chord
  • The geometric mean and the augmented and diminished chords
  • Relation of chords to the major scale
  • The number of possible triads constructed from the pitches of the major scale
  • Order and quantity of triad qualities formed from the major scale
  • Roots of chords, scales, and keys
  • Comparison of the major and minor scales
  • Tetrachords in minor scales
  • The natural minor scale
  • Constructing natural minor scales on the keyboard & staff
  • The harmonic minor scale
  • The melodic minor scale
  • Ascending vs. descending melodic minor scale
  • Constructing harmonic minor scales on the keyboard & staff
  • Constructing melodic minor scales on the keyboard & staff
  • Relative keys
  • Determining the relative minor
  • Determining the relative major
  • Determining the key of music with shared key signatures
  • Parallel keys
  • Difference between parallel and relative keys
  • Relation of chords to the natural minor scale
  • Order and quantity of triad qualities formed from the natural minor scale
  • Relation of chords to the harmonic minor scale
  • Order and quantity of triad qualities formed from the harmonic minor scale
  • The major scale degrees
  • Naming the scale degree using roman numerals
  • Naming triads using roman numerals
  • Benefit to using degree vs. letter name
  • Primary chords and their importance
  • Relationship between chords
  • Chord inversions
  • Root position, 1st inversion and 2nd inversion
  • Intervals in chord inversions
  • The root rule
  • How to identify chord inversions by name, quality and inversion
  • Voices of a chord
  • Voice leading
  • Inversions and the primary chords
  • Chord progressions
  • Use of inversions to improve transition between chords
  • Introduction to function
  • Function names of the scale degrees
  • Extending the triad
  • Dominant seventh chords
  • Other names and notation of the dominant seventh chord
  • Why the dominant seventh chord is named the way it is
  • Inversion of the dominant seventh chord
  • 3rd inversion
  • Finding the root in a dominant seventh chord
  • How to identify a dominant seventh chord
  • Dominant seventh chords with missing notes
  • Major 7th chords
  • Minor 7th chords
  • Diminished 7th chords
  • Musical punctuation
  • Perfect authentic cadence
  • Imperfect authentic cadence
  • Half cadence
  • Plagal cadence
  • Deceptive cadence
  • Hexatonic scale
  • Whole tone scale
  • Chromatic scale
  • Pentatonic scale
  • Tonal music
  • Tonal centers
  • Polytonal music
  • Atonal music
  • Free atonal
  • Strict atonal
  • Twelve-tone technique
  • Tone rows
  • The ancient greek modes
  • History of the church modes
  • Modern modes
  • The harmonic series
  • Overtones
  • Fundamental of a pitch
  • Complex vibration of a string
  • What the numbers of the harmonic series express
  • Hearing overtones (and experiment)
  • Timbre
  • Nature’s hierarchy of harmonic sound
  • Objective measurement of consonance and dissonance
  • History of consonance and dissonance
  • Tuning pitches
  • Brief history of tuning systems
  • Pythagorean tuning
  • Just intonation
  • Equal temperament
  • Definition of cents
  • Tuning of the modern piano
  • Benefits and shortcomings of the different tuning systems
  • Apps that demonstrate and compare some of the tuning systems
  • Overview of the four main periods of western art music
  • Show more
  • Show less

Syllabus

A brief overview of how the course is structured

A brief overview of how the course is structured.

RELATIVE DURATIONS OF SOUND

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • The elements of music (rhythm & pitch)

  • Division of pitch into melody and harmony

Read more

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Rhythmic notation (parts of a note)

  • Discussion on relative durations of sound

  • Notes - whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth

  • Why notes are named the way they are

Memory Questions (sec.2)
Lesson 2 Quiz
ASSIGNING VALUES TO NOTE DURATIONS

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Relative durations vs. assigning numerical values

  • The unit of measurement

  • Beat

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The relation between beat and tempo

  • Metronome markings

  • Common tempo markings

Memory Questions (sec.3)
Lesson 3 Quiz
METER

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The definition of meter

  • Distinguishing between rhythm and meter

  • Bar lines and measures

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Time signatures

  • 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meters

  • Origin of "C" for common time

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Natural division of rhythms

  • Strong and weak pulses

Memory Questions (sec.4)
Lesson 4 Quiz
RESTS

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Rests: whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth

  • Assigning numerical values to rests

  • The whole rest and meter

Memory Questions (sec.5)
Lesson 5 Quiz
DOTTED NOTES

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Dotted notes

  • Numerical values of dotted notes

  • History of dotted notes

  • The divisiblity by 3 of all dotted notes

Memory Questions (sec.6)
Lesson 6 Quiz
THE TIE

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The definition of a tie

  • The playing of tied notes

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Ties vs. dotted notes

  • Advantages and disadvantages of notating with ties vs. dots

Memory Questions (sec.7)
Lesson 7 Quiz
REDESIGNATING THE UNIT

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Re-designation of the unit

  • 3/8 and 6/8 meters

  • New numerical values of notes

  • Understanding relative durations with regard to a new unit of measurement

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The location of the strongest pulses in 3/8 & 6/8 meters

Memory Questions (sec.8)
Lesson 8 Quiz
CUT TIME

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Designating the half note as the unit

  • Notating 2/2 meter or “cut” time

  • Numerical values of note durations in 2/2 meter

  • Comparison of 4/4 meter and 2/2 meter

  • Reasons for 2/2 meter

Memory Questions (sec.9)
Lesson 9 Quiz
CLASSIFYING METERS

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Defining simple meter

  • Simple duple

  • Simple triple

  • Simple quadruple

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Defining compound meter

  • compound duple

  • compound triple

  • compound quadruple

  • pulse vs. beat

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Defining complex meter

  • Some common complex meters

  • Problems with complex meters

Memory Questions (sec.10)
Lesson 10 Quiz
TRIPLETS

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Artificial divisions of the beat or beats

  • Artificial division of parts of the beat

  • Common types of tuplets

  • Definition of triplets

  • Identifying triplets

  • Ratio of triplets

  • Numerical value of triplets

Memory Questions (sec.11)
Lesson 11 Quiz
DUPLETS

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Definition of duplets

  • Identifying duplets

  • Ratio of duplets

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Artificial divisions in relation to simple and compound meters

Memory Questions (sec.12)
Lesson 12 Quiz
PITCH

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Sound waves

  • Frequency

  • Indefinite vs. definite pitch

  • Modern vs. ancient definition of pitch

  • Complete a pitch experiment

Memory Questions (sec.13)
Lesson 13 Quiz
INTRODUCTION TO THE STAFF

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Staff lines and spaces

  • Placement of notes on the staff

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Ledger lines

  • How the mind sees number

  • Reasons for the number of staff and ledger lines

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Treble clef

  • Bass clef

  • The reason for clefs

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Movement on the staff (step, skip, & repeat)

Memory Questions (sec.14)
Lesson 14 Quiz
LETTER NAMES OF THE STAFF

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The musical alphabet

  • Letter names on the treble staff

  • Letter names on the bass staff

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The grand staff

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The note stem rule (and rationale)

Memory Questions (sec.15)
Exercises (sec.15)
Lesson 15 Quiz
INTRODUCTION TO THE KEYBOARD

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Introduction to the keyboard

  • Groups of black keys

  • Letter names of keys

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Correlation of staff to the keyboard

  • Difference in movement (horizontal vs vertical)

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The definition of a half step

  • The definition of a whole step

  • Keyboard examples of half and whole steps

Memory Questions (sec.16)
Lesson 16 Quiz
SHARPS & FLATS ON THE KEYBOARD

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Sharps on the keyboard

  • Enharmonic equivalents

  • Enharmonic keyboard notes

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Flats on the keyboard

  • Enharmonic equivalents

  • Enharmonic keyboard notes

Memory Questions (sec.17)
Lesson 17 Quiz
SHARPS & FLATS ON THE STAFF

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Reading sharps on the staff

  • Sharps within measures

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • Reading flats on the staff

  • Flats within measures

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • The natural sign

  • The use of the natural sign within measures

Memory Questions (sec.18)
Lesson 18 Quiz
INTRODUCTION TO INTERVALS

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • The definition of interval

  • Melodic vs. harmonic intervals

  • Identifying intervals on the keyboard

  • Identifying intervals on the staff

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Ratios and intervals

  • Pythagoras and the monochord

  • Consonance and dissonance

Memory Questions (sec.19)
Lesson 19 Quiz
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCALE

This lecture covers the following concepts:


  • Definition of the major scale

  • Constructing major scales on the keyboard

  • Constructing major scales on the staff

This lecture covers the following concepts:

  • A brief history of the modern scale

  • Intervals and the major scale

  • Basis of the scale

  • Basis of the whole tone

  • Greek Tetrachords

  • Greek Semi tone and whole tone

Memory Questions (sec.20)
Exercises (sec.20)

Save this course

Save Music Theory to your list so you can find it easily later:
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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Music Theory with these activities:
Review Rhythmic Notation
Reinforce your understanding of rhythmic notation, including note values, time signatures, and meter, to build a solid foundation for more advanced concepts.
Browse courses on Time Signatures
Show steps
  • Review the definitions of whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes.
  • Practice writing out rhythms in different time signatures.
  • Complete online exercises to test your knowledge of rhythmic notation.
Review 'Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory'
Supplement your learning with a well-regarded music theory textbook that provides clear explanations and exercises.
View Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, Bk 3 on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the chapters covering basic notation and rhythm.
  • Complete the exercises at the end of each chapter.
  • Review any concepts that you find challenging.
Review 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition'
Use a simplified guide to music theory to reinforce concepts learned in the course.
View Music Theory Note by Note: Your Guide to How... on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the chapters related to the current course topics.
  • Work through the examples and exercises provided.
  • Use the book as a reference for any confusing concepts.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Interval Identification Drills
Sharpen your ability to quickly identify intervals by ear and on the staff, a crucial skill for understanding harmony and melody.
Show steps
  • Use an online interval ear training tool.
  • Practice identifying intervals both ascending and descending.
  • Focus on distinguishing between major, minor, perfect, augmented, and diminished intervals.
Compose a Short Melody
Apply your knowledge of scales, intervals, and rhythm by composing a simple melody in a major or minor key.
Show steps
  • Choose a key and time signature.
  • Write a melody using notes from the chosen scale.
  • Incorporate different rhythmic values and rests.
  • Refine your melody until it sounds pleasing.
Create a Chord Voicing Chart
Solidify your knowledge of chord inversions and voicings by creating a chart that visually represents different ways to play common chords.
Show steps
  • Choose a set of common chords (e.g., major, minor, dominant 7th).
  • For each chord, notate different inversions and voicings on the staff.
  • Include fingerings for each voicing (if applicable to your instrument).
  • Organize your chart in a clear and easy-to-read format.
Analyze a Piece of Music
Deepen your understanding of music theory by analyzing the harmony, melody, and rhythm of a piece of music you enjoy.
Show steps
  • Choose a piece of music to analyze.
  • Identify the key, time signature, and form of the piece.
  • Analyze the chords and their progressions.
  • Examine the melodic structure and its relationship to the harmony.
  • Write a report summarizing your findings.

Career center

Learners who complete Music Theory will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Music Theory.
Cover image
Music Theory Note by Note
Save
Provides a very accessible introduction to music theory, covering the basics of rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. It's a great resource for beginners who want a gentle introduction to the subject. The book's clear explanations and numerous examples make it an ideal companion for the course, especially for those with little to no prior musical knowledge. It serves as a useful reference for understanding fundamental concepts.
Music Theory Note by Note: Your Guide to How Music...
Kindle Edition
$$
Cover image
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, Bk 3
Save
Provides a comprehensive overview of music theory fundamentals, making it an excellent resource for beginners. It covers topics such as notation, rhythm, scales, chords, and basic harmony. It is particularly useful for students who need a structured and accessible introduction to the subject. Many find this book to be a helpful reference tool throughout their music theory studies.
Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, Bk 3
Paperback
$

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5 total hours
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Instructor
Jonathan Peters
Language
English
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