MUSIC THEORY CURRICULUM

Table of Contents

Thirteen books build from the foundations of music to advanced theory,
counterpoint, and composition.

BOOK I — Sound

  1. 1. What Is Sound?
  2. 2. How Instruments Make Sound
  3. 3. How Sound Travels
  4. 4. How We Hear Sound
  5. 5. Frequency
  6. 6. Amplitude
  7. 7. Timbre
  8. 8. Overtones & Harmonics
  9. 9. Resonance
  10. 10. Echoes & Acoustics
  11. 11. Sound + Sound
  12. 12. From Sound to Music

BOOK II — Pitch

  1. 13. What Is Pitch?
  2. 14. Exploring the Piano
  3. 15. The Musical Alphabet
  4. 16. Octaves
  5. 17. The 12 Tones
  6. 18. Half Steps & Whole Steps
  7. 19. Tuning Musical Pitch
  8. 20. Tuning Systems & Temperament
  9. 21. Pitch in Practice

BOOK III — Reading Music

  1. 22. The Staff
  2. 23. Treble Clef
  3. 24. Bass Clef
  4. 25. Grand Staff
  5. 26. Ledger Lines
  6. 27. Reading Notes on the Piano
  7. 28. Reading Melodies

BOOK IV — Rhythm

  1. 29. Beat and Pulse
  2. 30. Note Values
  3. 31. Rests
  4. 32. Measures
  5. 33. Time Signatures
  6. 34. Simple Meter
  7. 35. Compound Meter
  8. 36. Dotted Notes
  9. 37. Ties
  10. 38. Syncopation
  11. 39. Rhythm Reading

BOOK V — Scales & Tonality

  1. 40. What Is a Scale?
  2. 41. The Major Scale
  3. 42. Scale Degrees
  4. 43. Major Keys
  5. 44. Key Signatures
  6. 45. Circle of Fifths
  7. 46. Minor Scales
  8. 47. Relative Major & Minor
  9. 48. Parallel Major & Minor

BOOK VI — Intervals

  1. 49. What Is an Interval?
  2. 50. Seconds
  3. 51. Thirds
  4. 52. Fourths
  5. 53. Fifths
  6. 54. Sixths
  7. 55. Sevenths
  8. 56. Octaves
  9. 57. Major & Minor Intervals
  10. 58. Perfect Intervals
  11. 59. Augmented & Diminished Intervals
  12. 60. Interval Inversion

BOOK VII — Chords

  1. 61. What Is a Chord?
  2. 62. Triads
  3. 63. Major Triads
  4. 64. Minor Triads
  5. 65. Diminished Triads
  6. 66. Augmented Triads
  7. 67. Root Position
  8. 68. First Inversion
  9. 69. Second Inversion
  10. 70. Seventh Chords
  11. 71. Chord Symbols

BOOK VIII — Harmony

  1. 72. Diatonic Chords
  2. 73. Roman Numerals
  3. 74. Harmonic Function
  4. 75. I — IV — V
  5. 76. I — V — vi — IV
  6. 77. ii — V — I
  7. 78. Cadences
  8. 79. Chord Progressions
  9. 80. Chord Progression Analysis

BOOK IX — Melody

  1. 81. What Makes a Melody?
  2. 82. Motifs
  3. 83. Musical Phrases
  4. 84. Antecedent & Consequent
  5. 85. Melodic Contour
  6. 86. Repetition
  7. 87. Sequence
  8. 88. Tension & Release
  9. 89. Melodic Direction
  10. 90. Writing a Melody

BOOK X — Voice Leading

  1. 91. What Is Voice Leading?
  2. 92. Four Voices
  3. 93. Common Tones
  4. 94. Stepwise Motion
  5. 95. Parallel Fifths
  6. 96. Parallel Octaves
  7. 97. Hidden Fifths & Octaves
  8. 98. Voice Crossing
  9. 99. Spacing
  10. 100. Writing Four-Part Harmony

BOOK XI — Form & Musical Structure

  1. 101. Motif
  2. 102. Phrase
  3. 103. Period
  4. 104. Binary Form
  5. 105. Ternary Form
  6. 106. Rondo
  7. 107. Theme & Variation
  8. 108. Sonata Form
  9. 109. Musical Development
  10. 110. Form Analysis

BOOK XII — Counterpoint

  1. 111. What Is Counterpoint?
  2. 112. Species Counterpoint
  3. 113. Consonance & Dissonance
  4. 114. Passing Tones
  5. 115. Neighbor Tones
  6. 116. Suspensions
  7. 117. Imitation
  8. 118. Canon
  9. 119. Contrapuntal Development
  10. 120. Writing a Two-Voice Invention
  11. 121. Counterpoint Analysis

BOOK XIII — Composition

  1. 122. Starting a Composition
  2. 123. Creating a Motif
  3. 124. Developing a Motif
  4. 125. Writing a Melody
  5. 126. Choosing Harmony
  6. 127. Bass Lines
  7. 128. Accompaniment Patterns
  8. 129. Cadences
  9. 130. Modulation
  10. 131. Writing an 8-Bar Phrase
  11. 132. Writing a Complete Period
  12. 133. Developing a Theme
  13. 134. Writing a Short Piano Piece