Music theory

The path

1. 1Reading musicThe five lines, the clef, the names of the notes — the start in six steps.
2. 2Note values and restsHow long a note lasts, how to count, what dot, tie and triplet do.
3. 3Time signatures4/4, 3/4, 6/8 and the others — with stress, sound and metronome.
4. 4ClefsTreble, bass, alto and tenor clef: which note on which line.
5. 5ScalesMajor, minor and the other scales, in every key with fingerings.
6. 6ModesDorian, Lydian, Mixolydian: the same notes, seven starting points — with sound.
7. 7SolfègeDo re mi: singing the degrees instead of spelling them.
8. 8IntervalsThe distance between two notes — with sound, keyboard and a song to remember it by.
9. 9KeysKey signature, relative key and the seven chords of every key.
10. 10TransposingMoving a piece into another key — the chart for chords, notes, capo and wind instruments.
11. 11Circle of fifthsAll 24 keys as a wheel — tap, listen, find the neighbours.
12. 12ChordsTriads and seventh chords: notes, notation, piano and guitar shapes.
13. 13Chord progressionsThe progressions songs are built from, written out in every key.
14. 14CadencesAuthentic, plagal, half, deceptive — how a phrase ends, in four parts with sound.
15. 15TermsEvery symbol and every Italian word in the score, explained.
16. 16Ear trainingHear intervals and chords and guess them — the practice ground for all of the above.

How these pages are made

Not one notation image on these pages is typed in, not one chord shape copied. Everything is computed — from the notes, the rules of notation and the tuning of the instruments — and every page has a check that reads the result back from the image and the sound. Where a song is named as an example, the check has looked the piece up itself.