Music Theory · 33 Chapters
Music Theory from Zero
You do not need to read sheet music, and you do not need to know a single technical term. One idea per chapter, with a sound you can play right there to check it. When you finish a chapter, you can generate a melody with the same settings.
All 33 chapters are published. Start anywhere.
Part 1 — The whole picture first
Notes, length, meter, scales. The raw materials, by name.
- Chapter 1What music theory is (and what it is not)Music theory is not a rulebook — it is a map drawn afterwards. Take that one idea and six words away with you.
- Chapter 2Pitch and note names — Do-Re-Mi and C-D-E are the same thingDo-Re-Mi and C-D-E-F-G-A-B are two names for one set of notes. Play the keyboard and tie the names to the sound.
- Chapter 3Note length and rhythmThe same pitch, at different lengths and densities, becomes a different piece of music. Note values and the beat, checked by ear.
- Chapter 4Time signatures — what actually differs between 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8A time signature is how beats group up. Play 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8 side by side and hear that equal length is not the same music.
- Chapter 5Scales — where "bright" and "dark" actually come fromMajor and minor scales differ only in how the steps are spaced. Play them back to back and learn it by ear.
Part 2 — How chords work
What happens when notes are stacked, taken apart step by step.
- Chapter 6What a chord is — what happens when you stack notesA chord is stacked notes. Build one up from one note to three and hear where it starts having a name.
- Chapter 7Major and minor differ by one noteMajor and minor differ only in whether the middle note (the third) is lowered by a semitone.
- Chapter 8Diatonic chords — the seven inside a keyStack a triad on each of the seven scale notes and you get the seven chords available in that key.
- Chapter 9Roman numerals — how to read I, V and viRoman numerals name a position inside the key, so a progression keeps its name when the key changes.
- Chapter 10Seventh chords — adding colourA seventh chord is a triad with one more note added. The sound gets richer and more grown-up.
- Chapter 11Inversions — the same chord with a different faceAn inversion reorders the notes of a chord. Change the bottom note and the impression changes.
Part 3 — Chord progressions
The order you put chords in decides the feeling. Why the standards are standard.
- Chapter 12Chords have jobs — leaving, opening out, wanting homeChords divide into three jobs: home, opening out, and tension. The order you put the jobs in creates the flow.
- Chapter 13Why the standard progressions are standardMost standard progressions are built from the same four chords. Where you start and how you order them changes the feeling.
- Chapter 14Two J-pop staples — the "royal road" and the Komuro progressionPlay the royal road (IV-V-iii-vi) and the Komuro progression (vi-IV-V-I) and hear what makes J-pop harmony sound the way it does.
- Chapter 15Cadences — how to make something sound finishedCadences are the patterns of ending. Compare a full stop against an ending that promises more.
- Chapter 16Secondary dominants — borrowing one note from outside the keyTo strengthen the pull towards a chord, borrow a chord containing a note from outside the key.
- Chapter 17Modulation — moving the key mid-songNeighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share most of their notes, which makes them easy to move to. One bridging chord is enough.
Part 4 — Melody
How a line has to move over chords before it feels good to sing.
- Chapter 18Chord tones and everything elseThe notes of the sounding chord are the most stable choices. Every other note depends on where you put it.
- Chapter 19How melody moves — steps and leapsRepeat, step, leap. The ratio between those three decides how singable a melody feels.
- Chapter 20Motifs and repetition — where memorability comes fromRepeating a short shape (a motif) makes a melody memorable. Compare two amounts of repetition.
- Chapter 21Sections change the job — verse against chorusEach section asks for a different melody. Generate three sections over one progression and compare.
- Chapter 22Singable melodies against guitar-shaped melodiesVoices and instruments differ in range and in how they move. Generate both over one progression and compare.
Part 5 — Beyond
Odd meters, other musical systems in the world, and what to learn next.
- Chapter 23Odd meters — how to count five and sevenFives and sevens are counted in uneven groups. Learn the division and they become countable immediately.
- Chapter 24Other musical systems existThis series has covered Western twelve-tone-equal theory. Other traditions are equally systematic and built on different premises.
- Chapter 25Where you are now — the end of the theory halfA summary of the theory half (parts 1–5) and a bridge into the programming chapters of part six.
Part 6 — Putting it to work in a DAW
The places programming actually goes wrong: clashing notes, voicing, velocity.
- Chapter 26Intervals — measuring distance in semitonesDistance is counted in semitones. The same distance sounds the same wherever you move it, which is what makes transposing and programming possible.
- Chapter 27Clashing notes (avoid notes)A note a semitone above a chord tone clashes when held. Change where and how long it sits and it becomes usable.
- Chapter 28sus4, add9 and 6th — the practical colourssus4 replaces the third; add9 and 6th add a note on top. One note is the difference between plain and current.
- Chapter 29Voicing — why the same chord turns muddyThe same chord muddies depending on placement. Wide spacing low down, close spacing higher up.
- Chapter 30Velocity and timing — why programming sounds mechanicalBreak up the strength and the placement slightly and identical notes start sounding like a performance.
- Chapter 31Diminished chords and the tritoneA distance of six semitones — the tritone — is what refuses to settle. Diminished chords stack it, and get used as a passageway.
- Chapter 32There are three minor scalesNatural, harmonic and melodic. The only difference is whether the sixth and seventh notes get raised.
- Chapter 33Structure and length — arranging sections into a songHow to order sections and how long to make them: the last step from fragments to a finished song.