1Understanding Music Theory¶
Music theory gives names to patterns that musicians already hear, perform, and create. This open textbook begins with the written language of music, connects notation to the physics of sound, and then develops the ideas of scales, intervals, harmony, form, and practical musicianship.
1.1Choose a path¶
| If you want to… | Begin with… |
|---|---|
| learn to read a score | The Staff |
| understand rhythm and meter | Duration |
| connect sound with musical pitch | Acoustics for Music Theory |
| build scales and identify intervals | Half Steps and Whole Steps |
| name chords and analyze progressions | Triads |
| develop your ear and practical fluency | Ear Training |
1.2What you will find¶
The lessons combine explanation, score examples, short listening files, worked examples, and practice with solutions. The final part extends the fundamentals through tuning systems, modes and ragas, and transposition.
This web edition adapts Catherine Schmidt-Jones’s Understanding Basic Music Theory and its shorter predecessor, Introduction to Music Theory. The source material is available under Creative Commons Attribution licenses; details and conversion notes are recorded in Sources and Attribution.