Music Theory From Nothing
Twenty short lessons that build music theory from nothing. Every one of them has something you press: count the half steps yourself, play the chord, hear the scale change. Lessons 15 to 17 are yours to build in, and what comes out is a song you wrote.
- 20 lessons
- includes your own song
- no account
if you already play
Start with sound
Scales and keys
Reading music
How this works
The order below is the one that costs you the least effort, because each lesson leans on the one before it. That is a suggestion, not a gate.
Nothing is locked. If you already know what a chord is and came here for keys, open lesson nine and ignore the rest. This page remembers which lessons you opened, so you can always find your way back to where you stopped.
The twenty come in seven blocks. Each block finishes a subject before the next one starts, so you can stop at the end of any of them and still have something whole.
Lessons 15 to 17 are different. Instead of following steps you pick your own chords, your own groove and your own tune, and you keep what comes out. They work on their own too: land on one of them cold and it hands you something to start from.
After the twenty
You will not be finished, and that is the good news. What you will have is enough to read any other page here without being sent back for a definition.
The obvious next step is seventh chords, which is what happens when you keep stacking. After that the knowledge base opens up: modes, jazz harmony, production. And the exercises are where it stops being knowledge and becomes something you can actually do.
Keep going
Everything in music theory
- Chords
- Music Theory Glossary
- Music Theory From Nothing
The other sections
Everything on this site sits in one of these, in the order they are meant to be learned.