Music Theory From Nothing
Eighteen 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. Start at lesson one, or go straight to the thing you came for.
- 18 lessons
- any order you like
- no account
if you already play
Start with sound
Scales and keys
Putting it together
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 ten and ignore the rest. This page remembers which lessons you opened, so you can always find your way back to where you stopped.
After the eighteen
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
The other sections
Everything on this site sits in one of these, in the order they are meant to be learned.