Practical Music Theory Masterclass - For Composers/Writers

Explore triads—major, minor, diminished, and augmented—built from the first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale, with D major examples and guidance to chart all 12 scales.

Master the major scale, its formula and root notes, and understand how it underpins chords, then grasp natural, harmonic, melodic minor scales and major and minor pentatonic scales.

Explore major and minor pentatonic scales, major blues and minor blues. Learn the eight-tone diminished scale, its notes and intervals, and its use in jazz and blues improvisation.

Explore intervals, the distance between two notes within the 12-note system, and name each interval using the five categories—major, minor, perfect, augmented, and diminished—relative to a root note.

Explore intervals in a major scale from root to octave, and see how C major illustrates major second, major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, major sixth, and major seventh.

Explore diatonic scales and chords, including major and natural minor scales and modes, and master the diatonic triad building from scale notes and the common 1-6-2-5 progressions.

Discover suspended chords, sus2 and sus4, formed from major-scale notes: 1-2-5 and 1-4-5. Note how C sus2 equals G sus4 and C sus4 equals F sus2 across scales.