

Understandably, this may seem weird or unnecessary, but it truly goes a long way to helping you quickly identify elements, spot errors, and come up with stronger ideas (like in the Amadeus clip linked above). Likewise, some programs may also teach sight-singing, which has you sing a few notes (not an entire song), which helps you improve your accuracy of pitch and rhythm, which in turn improves your understanding of music theory. In this process, you’ll learn to identify things like intervals, chord types, modulations, and cadences by ear, just from hearing them be played and without looking at your notes. Ear Training: This is exactly what it sounds like, training your musical ear, and it’s a crucial part of learning music theory.Excellent courses might also cover compositional ideas and techniques used by Impressionist and modern-era composers, orchestration, and other tangential yet still relevant concepts. Good theory courses study proper (and more … creative) composition elements like common progressions and cadences, form, creating a melody and harmonizing it, moving to a different key, and so on. Composition: This builds on both notes and rhythm, putting them together and making music.

Some programs may even teach you rhythm symbols and values, and have you practice tapping out rhythms and polyrhythms on your own to build your proficiency with them. Every program should teach you about all of the durations, rhythmic structures, and tempos, as well as the time signatures that keep things organized. Rhythm Training: Rhythm helps give shape to notes and determines how long each one lasts.Pitch Training: The best music theory teaching apps and websites should explain what a pitch is, and thoroughly build upon that with topics like scales, intervals, chords, inversions, keys, harmony, modes, and progress naturally towards more advanced pitch elements like seventh chords and Neapolitan chords.Here are the main things you should expect to see in any music theory teaching resource: The best courses for learning music theory cover fundamental and advanced concepts alike and use plain language and helpful diagrams or audio examples to teach. Learning how these concepts work and build upon themselves is critical to mastering theory. What to Look for in Online Music Theory LessonsĮssentially, every piece of music consists of two fundamental things: pitch and rhythm. Narrative Infographic-Based Lessons: Music Theory for Musicians and Normal PeopleĪ Complete Course: Music Theory Basics & Music Theory Advanced Some Knowledge Required: Theory Illustratedįor Well-Rounded Musicianship: EarMaster 7 What to Look for in Online Music Theory Lessons
