Music Theory Online

Diploma in music

• First Steps

  What is music theory and why is it important? What is tonality? This first lesson explores the reasons why we use music theory and notation. Reading notation is the most effective way to understand what is happening in a piece of music but it can also be used to share musical ideas with others and to gain a deeper appreciation of more complex composition.

• Notation and Beginning Scales

  Lesson two introduces the concept of scale degrees and how they can be used to understand the scalar relationship of pitch. This concept will then be used to start exploring scales, beginning with the diatonic major scale - the basis of all western music from classical to jazz, hip hop to heavy metal.

• Intervals and Ear Training

  All musical scales are created with intervals - the construction of minor and major scales depends on the sequence of intervals used and the relationship between them. You will learn the difference between major and minor scales, how to recognise the intervallic organisation of pitch and how this organisation is used in different pieces of music.

• Chords and Chord Changes

  Every major scale can be used to create different chords - this lesson will teach you how to find the relative chords associated with every major scale and what the relationship between them means. Music occurs in time and this lesson will introduce you to the movement of chords horizontally along the staff. As music moves, it’s harmonic foundation changes - we will look at these harmonic changes and how they occur in different musical examples.

• The Structure of Music

  Here we will look at broader structures of music - the development from verse to chorus, the chord changes that are used to create these structures and other kinds of developments in different styles of music will be explored. These structures will be examined and you will learn how to analyse different songs in order to determine the kind of chord changes that are occurring.

• Composition

  All the theoretical and practical skills gained throughout the course will be combined during this lesson. This will enable you to write a basic melody and chord progression that changes from major to minor or develops according to structural changes explored earlier in the course. Concepts used for the analysis and composition of more complex music will also be discussed along with practical examples of this analysis and how it can be used in your own work.

• Keys and the Minor Scale

  Up to this point almost all of the musical notation examples have been in ‘C’ - what does it mean to change key or to write music in another key? This lesson will explain keys and key signatures, how to understand them and how to read them. Lesson 7 also explores minor chords and minor scales in more depth. Major scales and chords tend to sound bright and happy, whereas minor scales and chords tend to be considered serious or melancholic. This lesson explores these differences.

• New Complexity

  In the last lesson we will explore more complex musical examples and how theoretical analysis is used to understand their harmonic structures and overall forms. We will also look at different forms and structures used through the global practice of music beyond the confines of the western world.