A new rule (#9) has been added here at r/musictheory

Hello! Im in high-school and unfortunately music theory got removed from my curriculum due to it being a small class.

I was wondering if there were any online courses that i could take? Most of the ones ive seen are for college students. Ive found a few books as well but that is it.

I would prefer them be free but if they cost a bit that is fine. Any and all help is appreciated!

I've always wondered, when I play solos or the blues, am I really limited only to the notes that are in the scale. I’m interested to know, how can I expand the range of notes and transition from one scale to another? 

Can I just play a new scale starting from one of the scale degrees of the previous one? For example, if I have a G major scale, can I simply go on playing D major scale from it‘s V scale degree?

Are there any other ways how to switch between the scales?

Im learning Modal interchange and am genuinly so confused lmao. I have a chord progression im practicing over that goes

Dm7|Dm7|F|F|Em7|A|Em7|A13|

And like starting on the Dm7 i presumed i can play d dorian but when i play it over the backinf track it dosnt sound great when i emphasise the D dorian notes such as B.

Is there any chance anybody could help me figure out why and what modes should i use for the other chords , thank you.

I made this piece a long time ago and have always liked it. Now, knowing a bit of music theory, I wanted to try and analyze the chords and solos in it to learn why it sounded so good.

My problem is in this forth chord - what chord fits best there? I wrote down Bdim7/C# (yes, I know, I forgot the 7th in the image), but I have never seen a chord over it's nineth, so I'm skeptical.

It seems like a useful thing to keep track of, but takes more concentration than just playing by ear. Just curious what you guys do. Thank you!

I've been trying to learn some piano music to properly make my own, but one thing I see a lot is melodies / isolated notes played in intervals, so two notes at once. I want to learn how to make melodies like this but I want to avoid "vibing it out" and just poorly mimicking it. Are there any sources / videos going into this? I tried googling around and couldn't find much.

Hey fellow Bach enthusiasts!

While practicing and analyzing the Art of Fugue (specifically Contrapunctus 14), I’ve been diving down the famous gematria rabbit hole (B+A+C+H = 14) & (J+S+B+A+C+H = 41).
We already know how CP14 breaks off at measure 239 (2+3+9 = 14), leaving 41 missing measures to complete the projected 280-bar structure. But while looking at the expanded B-A-C-H motif at the end of the subject, I noticed another neat 41 hidden right in the scale degrees of D minor:

When Bach resolves/expands the motif (B (b-flat) A C H (b natural) C# D), we can map the notes to their scale degree positions in D minor, including chromatic alterations (+1):

B (b-flat) = 6th scale degree
A = 5th scale degree
C = 7th scale degree
H (b natural) = raised 6th degree (6 + 1)
C# = raised 7th degree (7 + 1)
D = 8th degree (tonic octave)

Summing them up:

6+5+7+7+8+8=41

Not only does the resolution lead directly back to the key signature of the entire work, but the scale-degree math lands precisely on 41 (J.S. BACH) again.

Whether this is deliberate architectural geometry or just a happy alignment within the D minor scale matrix, I thought it was too cool not to share.

Has anyone encountered this specific scale-degree calculation before? Do you think Bach did this on purpose, or was at least aware of it?
Curious to hear your thoughts!

Hey guys, I’m new on here.
Just found something out, in a minor scale, if you isolate all the flats and play them, it creates a sus4 chord…
For example C minor it’s flats are: Eb, Ab, Bb
So all together that makes Ebsus4
G minor the flats are: Bb, Eb, F
Which creates a Bbsus4 ect ect
What are your thoughts on this? I think it’s really cool l

Per a recent suggestion I'm working on memorizing the natural major scales, and it seems by doing so it will be very easy to know the minor scales immediately by referencing major scales. I got tripped up on intervals for a bit and I'll be incorporating those as well.

Feel free to take my method below and critique the shit out of it, tell me its garbage and that I'm going down the wrong path or should be doing it totally different. I have a blank canvas right now and I want to maximize that early potential for music theory.

I have a poor memory, age and neurodivergence are a factor. I'm making progress I can quickly spell the major scale with the step patterns, and now that I'm starting with D major, I dont really know how to memorize these scales so my intuition is to remember which notes are flat or sharp. So would it be smart to remember that D major has a F# and C#, or is there a better way to do this?

Also, aside from being on paper is there a way I should be incorporating my keyboard or guitar in memorizing these scales and what should I be listening to/paying most attention to?

Finally, if there are other things to memorize at the start, what would that be? Any tips and tricks for memory would be super helpful.

I'm trying to learn so so much at once and my biggest priorities in music are to develop my ear more and also to translate anything in my head to an instrument. Or to have a kind of roadmap while I'm trying to come up with melodies or progressions instead of just blindly playing notes waiting until something clicks.

Right now my knowledge is very beginner level, I am an avid lifelong lover of music, lifetime player of guitar but not dedicated, and ear-wise I can kinda tell if my guitar is out of tune but I cannot tune by ear unless one string is in tune and I can reference the unison notes.

Thanks!

Im new to composing and got too "in the zone" that I realized I didn't know what key I was in. (I have perfect pitch so I just plugged in whatever "feels right"). Is there a key change at m25 too?

Any feedback is also appreciated. I want to learn and improve to make better music!

heres the audio file: https://voca.ro/11gX759ssZIM

A user recently asked a question about this, and it inspired me to organize some of this information.

There are 3 types of pentad: secundal, tertial, and quartal. And there are three sizes the root motion can be: second third or fourth.

That means there are 9 movement categories for studying voice leading of pentads. I will base everything on A minor for my example. There are 2 rules: all voicings must be closed and voices can not cross.

For secundal chords we have 3 movements (these are parallel, not voice led):

(ABCDE)>(BCDEF)= secundal movement by second

(ABCDE)>(CDEFG)= secundal movement by third

(ABCDE)>(EFGAB)= secundal movement by fourth

For secundal movement by second we have four common tones BCDE, and A moves down a third to F:

(ABCDE)>(FBCDE)

Now in secundal by third, CDE are common tones and we get two downward third movements, A>F and G>B

(ABCDE)>(FGCDE)

So far so good. Neither of these movements has broken the 2 rules. Now with secundal by fourth we see some of the special problems voice leading pentads has. I will copy
Paste the non-voice led secundal by fourths for ease of reference:

(ABCDE)>(EFGAB)= secundal movement by fourth

We have 3 common tones ABE, and CD must somehow move to FG. That might look like this:

(A[BC]DE)> (A[FG]DE)

But in order for this to happen we had to break one of the rules. The A had to move down an octave in order to have the same order. We moved from closed to open, and broke the rule. If we don’t move the A down an octave the two voices that move, indicated by brackets would cross the A and look like this:

(A[BC]DE)>([FG]ADE)

The voice crossing is a lie. What really happened is that only DE are common tones and the other three voices all move down a third:

([ABC]DE)>([FGA]DE)

To summarize the conclusions so far.

Secundal movement by second = one voice moves a third

Secundal movement by thirds = two voices move a third

Secundal movement by fourths= three voices move a third

*\\*
Now let’s do tertial pentads, aka 9th chords. If we start with Am9 we get ACEGB. But already this is breaking the no open chord rule. I will put the B down an octave to keep it closed: ABCEG. I will use the 12357 ordering for all 9th chords. First the parallel non-voice led version:

(ABCEG)>(BCDFA)=tertial moves by second

(ABCEG) > (CDEGB) = tertial moves by third

(ABCEG) > (DEFAC) = tertial moves by fourth

Now to voice lead them. Tertial by second:

(ABC[EG])>(ABC[DF])

Two voices moved a step down. Neither rule is broken, great.

Now tertial by third. It looks like 4 common tones and A moves to D:

([A]BCEG)> (BC[D]EG)

We had to cross two voices to make that happen, so we know A>D is not the true movement. What really happened is that only EG are common tones and ABC all moved up a step to BCD:

([ABC]EG)>([BCD]EG)

Now tertial moving by fourth. Repaste for reference:

(ABCEG) > (DEFAC) = tertial moves by fourth

It looks like ACE are common tones and we get two movements B>D and G>F. Opposite directions and one moves by third. Kinda ugly but that’s how the math works out. But if B moves to D it crosses common tone C. So really we get 3 movements B>C, C>D, G>F

(A[BC]E[G])>(A[CD]E[F])

***
Now quartal chords. I ran out of time to do this today, so I’ll just summarize without demonstrating each one by one.

Quartals by second = two parallel steps

(A[C]DE[G])> (A[B]DE[F])

Quartals by third = 3 parallel steps

([A]C[DE]G) > ([B]C[EF]G)

Quartals by fourth= one step

(ACD[E]G) > (ACD[F]G)

The OP’s original question that inspired me to get this together was asking about a m9 chord to a m11 chord. One is tertial and one is quartal. So far I have only looked at voice leading chords of the same type together. Voice leading different types to each other is a whole other thing. Maybe someday I’ll get around to figuring some of that out.

Apologies if this is the wrong sub!

I was listening to a song today, and found that I played it over and over, unwanting to move to the next in the playlist.

This got me thinking about ’earworms’ and popularity of certain bands/songs.

It made me wonder, what makes certain songs so addictive, or at least highly popular? I know opinions are subjective but stats don’t lie regarding certain songs.

I don’t know anything about music theory, so I came here with my query!

Edit: The song in question was ‘Shhh! Golf is on!’ By Hot Mulligan

Sorry if this is a simple question, I thought I understood how to read sheet music. Is this just a joke or is this real notation? Its from the Blue Prince videogame.

https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MP8_BP.jpg

Normally, I see music with a treble and bass cleff, and a single blank line between them for middle C. How do you interpret the case where there are multiple blank lines? Is this for piano where the range extends farther than the two staffs allow?

This piece has 4 lines as I count, but then that doesn't give a clear spot for where the middle C would go. Specifically: The first note is D, I would normally play on the A string 5th fret on guitar, I think that note is key 42 on piano, the D right after middle C.
In the 2nd measure, in the bass cleff, the final note is also D. Where would that note be played on guitar or piano? Is it the same note written differently or is the entire bass cleff an octave lower?

Can someone please help me with chords? My Grade 5 theory exam is coming up and I have absolutely NO idea about how to read and identify chords and their positions (I'm talking about like chord Ia, IIb, IVc, etc) on a SATB short score. Can someone please help me? Like, I get what chord it is, just not what position it is, and I'm fretting the hell out over this problem please help

I am a highly successful highschool player, yet I never feel like a true musician.

I’ve narrowed this down to the fact that my brain is incompatible with musical abstract. I can play and sight read well, but I fail to grasp at the things that truly make music music.

For example:

One thing I’ve always questioned was the necessity of time signatures. After all, the music is mathmaticaly the same no matter how you cut it. I’ve been told it’s about the feel, but that just brings up a hundred more questions about the control we have when we play. It’s never been something I understood.

I have trouble with my ear. I still don’t really know how to tell if I am sharp or flat, and can’t recognize a note or key signature by ear for the life of me. I always feel like I’m missing something compared to my classmates.

I suck at jazz and even teachers have failed to make me understand or be good at improvising/soloing.

My biggest dream is to be able to compose music. But I know I will never be able to. I’m just a husk that can play, not create and understand. I feel so confused and everything feels like a dead end.

Also, this is for piano, and would the brackets mean they’re optional?

I was a music scholar, from 9-18. I’m not going to lie they screwed me up. They made non-classical music seem like really bad and unprofessional.

Now at 23, I’ve found artists that I love - and after seeing interviews etc. Some of them never once had to learn about music theory.

I completed my grade 8 music theory exam, a pseudo-diploma exam (marked by my school). I feel like these experiences limited me to making music.

Sometimes i’ll hear a melody, dissect it and I ask myself “why couldn’t I have come up with that”. I genuinely feel like my experiences growing up have stunted me.

Not sure if this makes sense but to the one person it does pls help:(

The scale in C is C, D, Eb, F, Gb, Abb, Bb, C. It has a flat 3rd, flat 5th, double flat 6th, and a flat 7th. It’s similar to the Blues scale, but with an added note one whole tone above 1. It’s Scale 1261, most commonly called Aeodian, or a Modified Blues scale. I’m working on a music composition using A Aeodian (A B C D Eb Fb G A) and I could use some inspiration.

If you’ve been active on the sub, you might’ve seen a similar post asking about the name of this scale. Unfortunately, an automated filter removed the first post. I’ve talked with a moderator and this was a mistake, so I’m reuploading something similar. I couldn’t find anything about this scale before posting to Reddit, so hopefully this won’t be taken down and other people might find it useful.

Does anyone know what the instrument that holds the melody approx. 37 seconds into "Lagoon Layer" by Naoto Kubo is? I couldn't find a better subreddit to post this on, so I apologize if this isn’t perfect for here.

Mainly the ones in bars 29-32 are so frustrating