Music Theory Classes

Learn musical notation on a five line staff with treble clef, 168 beats per minute, and measures, and compare notation to guitar tablature for pitches, time, and fingerings.

Learn helmholtz pitch notation, locate middle C as C-4, explore C-3 and C-2 octaves, and compare octave marks and apostrophes to staff notation.

Explore scientific pitch notation and its relation to Helmholtz notation, learn octave naming from c4 to c6, and compare staff and tablature representations.

Explore how to write music on a staff with five lines, where each line or space represents a pitch and notes appear as circles, introducing ledger lines.

Explore the treble clef, the G-clef on the five-line staff, and how each line and space maps to notes to read music.

Learn how the bass clef marks lower pitches and middle c on a different staff, while the treble clef marks higher pitches, clarifying note ranges for bass and treble.

Explore how the grand staff combines treble and bass clefs to cover the full piano range, using middle C as the connecting note and avoiding excessive ledger lines.

learn to read treble and bass clef quickly by memorizing key mnemonics—every good boy does fine and face for treble, all cows eat grass for bass—on the grand staff.

Learn how accidentals alter pitch with flats, sharps, and naturals, and explore double flats and double sharps, including harmonic versus inharmonic relationships among notes.

Learn how to write accidentals on a staff properly, including sharp, flat, natural, double flat, and double sharp, with proper placement before notes and measure resets.

Explore scales and scale degrees, learn how notes and intervals shape pitch and mood, with C major and G major scale examples, and introduce seventh chords.

Explore interval size, the distance between two notes, using scale degrees from unison to octave, and practice determining intervals while ignoring accidentals.

Learn to measure interval sizes on a five-line staff using treble clef, counting lines and spaces from G to determine sizes like fifths and ninths, distinguishing harmonic from melodic intervals.

Explore compound intervals and how interval size extends beyond an octave, counting from the note to identify octaves and ninths, with examples from C4 to C5 and D4 to D5.

Explore adding intervals in music theory, using practical counting and an interval equation to sum thirds, seconds, fourths, fifths, and octaves with real examples.

Learn half steps (semitones) and whole steps (tones) on the piano, count movements using scale degrees and interval size, and understand how octaves and sharps affect pitch.

Discover how perfect and major intervals shape music from unison to octave using half steps. Learn to create major and minor sounds and develop ear training for emotional impact.

Explore major, minor, and perfect intervals, learn how a half step changes quality, and see interval sizes and step counts with examples like major third and major seventh.

Discover diminished intervals, formed by lowering a minor or a perfect interval by a half step, creating a tense, darker color from a perfect fifth like C to G.

Learn how augmented intervals are formed by raising perfect or major intervals by a half step, with examples like augmented fifth. Explore their distinctive sound and resolving tendency in music.

Build a visual chart of intervals from unison to octave to memorize perfect, major, minor, diminished, and augmented qualities, highlighting half-step patterns and harmonic foundations of music theory.

Explore the March 12 system for labeling each half-step interval, and contrast it with traditional interval size and quality (augmented, diminished, perfect, major, minor) to build music theory skills.

Learn to figure interval sizes and qualities on the treble staff by counting semitones and scale degrees. Explore major and minor seventh intervals, octaves, and practical examples from the caption.

Learn how flipping a musical interval by moving one note up an octave changes minor to major and major to minor, while perfect intervals stay perfect and augmented become diminished.

Learn the major scale pattern of whole and half steps and apply it across keys, with C major and G major examples showing diatonic and chromatic notes.

Figure out interval sizes and qualities via C major scale, using the pattern of whole and half steps to map unison through octave and derive minor, diminished, and augmented forms.

Explore how to play in the major scale by transposing melodies from C to D, preserving intervals and half-step distances. Learn about chromatic notes and staying within the scale.

Cover the natural minor scale, its pattern, and how it differs from the C major scale; compare three minor scales and hear how minor tones create a sadder mood.

Explore the harmonic minor scale and how raising the seventh degree differs from the natural minor, with scales shown on the treble staff and sharps considered on ascent and descent.

Learn the melodic minor scale, raising the sixth and seventh notes by a half step when ascending, then returning them to the natural state on descent.

Explore triads by combining root, third, and fifth from a major scale to form chords, understanding major and minor triads, intervals, and staff rules about sharps and flats.

Learn how to form major triads by stacking a major third on the root and a minor third on top, using relative measurement to produce the perfect fifth.

Learn how to form minor triads from major triads by lowering a note a half step, revealing the minor and major third relationship with C major and C minor examples.

Learn to form a diminished triad by lowering the fifth of a triad, using two minor thirds to create a 1-b3-b5 structure. Hear and identify diminished chords on the piano.

Learn to form augmented triads by stacking two major thirds and raising the minor third to a major third, with C major and D major examples.

Learn to write triads on the staff with correct spacing and accidentals, and spell major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords using proper root, third, and fifth.

Learn to read triads on a staff by identifying major, minor, and diminished triads and their intervals, using examples like C diminished and E flat to G flat.

Explore forming major seventh chords by adding the seventh to a major triad, using root, third, fifth, and seventh from the major scale to create tension that resolves.

Learn to build dominant seventh chords, or major slash minor, by lowering the seventh of a major triad; see examples like G7 and D major and how tension resolves.

Learn how to form and play the minor seventh chord, built from a minor triad with an added minor seventh, with an example using F minor.

Learn how to play a half diminished seventh chord, built from a minor triad with an added note, using the G example; next, fully diminished chords will be covered.

Learn to convert a half-diminished to a fully diminished seventh chord by lowering the seventh by a half step, using C as the running example.

Review major, minor, diminished triads and the absence of augmented seventh chords, then form major seventh, dominant seventh, minor seventh, and fully diminished chords using C as an example.

Practice building seventh chords, including diminished and dominant sevenths, using minor and major third intervals and note spellings like C flat and E-flat on the staff.

Learn block chords, rhythmic variations, and arpeggios to accompany groups; switch from basic block playing to patterned rhythms and broken-up chords across bass and treble.

Explain how chords are written by root notes and notation for major, minor, augmented, diminished, and seventh chords, including major seventh, dominant seventh, and half-diminished symbols.

Explore the 4/4 common time signature, learn that each measure holds four beats of quarter notes, and see how notes can sound together in harmony to fit the rhythm.

Explains how key signatures indicate the scale by showing which notes are sharpened, how accidentals affect a measure, and how natural signs reset pitch within a measure.

Explore the circle of fifths and how major scales reveal sharps and flats as you move by fifths, noting C major has zero sharps or flats.

Explore the circle of fifths, key signatures, and the pattern of sharps and flats to master major scales and practical playing in different keys, including B major and E-flat.

Explore the circle of fifths, its key signatures, and how sharps and flats define major keys and transpose music.

Explore recreating major scales with the circle of fifths, using flats and sharps to build the E-flat major scale and apply to other keys.

Master the circle of fifths from memory by arranging ascending perfect fifths from c. Apply flats and sharps by following fifths to reconstruct the full circle.

Learn how relative minor keys share the same notes as major scales, using C major and A minor, and explore minor keys on the circle of fifths with ascending fifths.

Discover how to find relative minor scales from major scales by using the sixth degree. See examples in C major, G major, and D major, noting they share notes.

Explore the chromatic scale, which uses half steps to cover every note, and the whole tone scale, built from whole steps, plus the color-based idea behind chroma.

Explore tempo, beats per minute, and metronome concepts in music theory, learning how tempo marks guide quarter note timing in common time and how tempos can change.

Learn how to draw musical notes on a five-line staff, including note heads on lines and spaces, stems that go up or down, filled versus hollow heads, and flags.

Explore note durations in 4/4 time, from whole notes to 32nd notes, including half and quarter notes, and eighth notes with flags, 16ths, and how they fill measures.

Learn how to notate rests on a five-line staff, including whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second rests. See visual representations and counting within measures to synchronize notes and silence.

Learn to count eighths and sixteenths by counting notes and rests, using on beat counts like one and two and three and four, and keep the rhythm in time.

Master subdivision to count rests as carefully as notes, breaking measures into eighth and sixteenth notes. Use 'one and two and three and four' to stay in sync.

Explore how to insert bar lines in four four time, count measures with quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes, and use rests to segment music into clear beats.

Learn how dotted notes extend rhythm by adding half a note’s value, turning quarter notes into three eighths and half notes into three quarters of a whole note, with examples.

Learn double dotted notes and how two dots extend note values from quarter notes to eighths, sixteenths, and beyond, with step-by-step examples on halves, thirty-seconds, and sixty-fourths.

Learn how ties extend note duration across beats or measures. Discover how slurs connect notes to be played without separation, illustrating articulation basics.

Learn how rhythms subdivide beats beyond two, mastering triplets, sextuplets, and other tuplet patterns, including five-note groupings and nonstandard ratios like seven or 17 to 16.

Explore triplets and sextuplets by replacing two notes with three and counting beats to maintain tempo, including quarter note triplets, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and downbeats.

Explore swing rhythms and how triplets, dotted rhythms, and shifted eighth notes create the feel of jazz timing. Learn counting methods for swing patterns, triplets, rests, and refining rhythm accuracy.

Explore polyrhythm by pairing two offset rhythms, such as seven and eight notes per beat, and learn how they eventually align to create a compelling groove.

Learn how time signatures define beats per measure and note values. Compare 4/4 common time with cut time and practice counting and subdivision.

Explain how cut time shifts the beat from the quarter note to the half note, adjusts tempo from 60 bpm to 30 bpm, and preserves rhythm with two-beat counting.

Learn how compound time uses triplets and dotted quarter notes to subdivide beats, producing 12/8 and 6/8 feels. Count and read these rhythms, distinguishing beats from counts in practice.

Learn how two and four notes fit in compound time, contrasting triplets with two-note subdivisions per beat, and practice subdividing beats, counting downbeats, and identifying time signatures like 24/8.

Master asymmetric time signatures and practical counting using threes or twos, with examples like 5/8, 7/8, and 11/8 to feel the rhythm clearly.

Explore tempo terms and metronome markings that indicate song speed, from largo (40–60 bpm) to presto (169–200 bpm), and understand how these ranges shape the feel of a piece.

Discover dynamic markings from piano to fortissimo and learn how medium dynamics guide musical phrasing. Explore how crescendos and volume changes shape pieces across sections and instruments.

Learn how crescendos mean to get louder and decrescendos mean to get quieter, and compare linear versus exponential volume growth from piano to fortissimo to shape musical expression.

Explore essential tempo terms and their meanings, from beats per minute to tempo changes such as poco, ritardando, tempo primo, and movimento, with a preview of future volume terms.

Explore tempo markings and words like diminuendo and ritardando, showing how changes in speed and volume express musical meaning and how to interpret these terms.

Explore how to read music structure with repeats and signs, including da capo, dc coda, ds al coda, ds al fine, and coda symbols.

Learn to read repeats and rests in music notation. The slash with two dots signals repeating the previous pattern, and a number on a rest marks six measures.

Explore scale degrees and chord progression in the G major scale, building triads and labeling major, minor, and diminished chords with roman numerals to reveal tonal relationships.

Explore how major scales determine chord quality on each degree, using roman numerals to label major, minor, and diminished triads; learn the major scale chord pattern for progressions.

Learn the Nashville numbering system to name chords by scale degree using numbers (1,2,3,…) instead of roman numerals, in any key.

Explore seventh chord progression by building seventh chords on the D major scale, identifying major, minor, dominant, and half-diminished types, and note how the dominant seventh resolves to the tonic.

Transposing raises or lowers the pitch of all notes together to shift keys, using scale degrees and roman numerals (1–5–6–4) to map chord progressions across keys.

Transpose melodies by scale degrees and interval sizes from the tonic, using tone and semitone steps, with examples in D major and C major to align melody with chords.

Learn how to transpose a melody up by half steps, mapping notes to new pitches. Explore three transposition approaches and rewrite the melody accordingly using scale-based methods.

Learn to transpose by intervals between notes, identifying perfect fifths and augmented fifths, and moving by major and augmented seconds to recreate melodies on any starting pitch.