Music Theory from Zero
Learn how music actually works, by clapping, counting and picturing a keyboard, with no sheet music and no instrument needed.
For anyone who loves music, is picking up an instrument, or has always wondered what musicians mean by "in the key of G". Twelve short lessons take you from the beat under a song to the chords behind it, one idea at a time, using tunes you already know. By the end you can work out a song's tempo, its meter, its key and its chord pattern just by listening.
By the end you can
- Find the beat of any song, measure its tempo in BPM and count it in bars
- Build any major or minor scale from a pattern of whole and half steps
- Name intervals, build major and minor chords, and read a chord progression as I, IV, V
- Work out a song's key and chord pattern by ear, with nothing but a keyboard in your head
Rhythm: counting time
- Beat and tempo
Find the steady pulse under any song, tell it apart from the rhythm on top, and measure how fast it goes in beats per minute.
- Bars and time signatures
Hear which beats are heavier, group them into bars, and read 4/4 and 3/4 so you can count along with a song from the right place.
- Note lengths and subdivision
Measure any rhythm in beats: whole, half, quarter and eighth notes, the rests that match them, and the "1 & 2 &" count that keeps them in place.
Pitch and scales
- Notes, the keyboard and the octave
Name all 12 notes, find any of them on a piano keyboard, read sharps and flats, and explain why a C and the next C sound like the same note.
- Half steps, whole steps and the major scale
Measure distances on the keyboard in half and whole steps, then use one pattern, W W H W W W H, to build a major scale from any note.
- The minor scale and mood
Build a natural minor scale with W H W W H W W, find the relative minor of any major scale, and explain why the same seven notes can feel bright or dark.
Harmony: notes together
- Intervals: the distance between notes
Measure the distance between any two notes in half steps, give it its proper name, and predict whether two notes played together will sound restful or tense.
- Building chords: triads
Build a major or minor triad from any note by counting half steps, read simple chord symbols, and work out the seven chords that live inside C major.
- Chord progressions
Number the chords of a key with Roman numerals, understand why V pulls back to I, and move a progression like I–V–vi–IV from one key to another.
Putting it together
- Keys and the circle of fifths
Say exactly what "in the key of G" means, read a key signature at a glance, and use the circle of fifths to know how many sharps or flats any key has.
- How melody fits over chords
See why some melody notes sit comfortably over a chord and others rub, tell a passing note from a real clash, and fix a sour bar in three different ways.
- Listen like a musician
Put the whole course together into one method: four passes that take any song you hear and give you its tempo, its meter, its key and its chord pattern.
Keep it, don't just read it
Pathwise brings each idea back just before you'd forget it, with a quick question. Free on Android and on the web, in English and Persian.