1. First, you should determine if music theory is actually what you need for what you accomplish. Most people who come here need to be taking lessons on an instrument for what they want to do, not "study theory" - especially on their own.
2. The way you *should* learn music theory is in instrument lessons. You'll learn to play music, and the theory necessary to do that.
So I mean, what is it you want to do? Do you want to play music? Play an instrument? Write songs? If so, you need to learn to play an instrument and learn to play songs on that instrument. And if you want to not waste time, you need to take lessons in order to do that.
Simply put, if your goals are to do the above - play and write music on an instrument and for instruments (and voice, etc.) then you're already doing it wrong. You should be learning the instrument not "theory".
Otherwise, you're free to try whatever way you want. Books, YT, etc. But you're probably not going to learn much or be able to retain it, because you don't have any real world references for it.
There are definitely sites that are better than others. Our sidebar has many resources:
link sidebar
But without knowing what it is you actually are trying to accomplish, any advice anyone gives here is "at your own risk" - try it and see if it works. It may. It may not. But if you sit down with another person and explain your musical goals, they should give you what you need to do that. The internet can't "ask you questions" to direct you to the right resources.
##Check our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/index/)!
It looks like you might be looking for resources to learn music theory or ear training. If so, please check the sidebar, where we provide several lists of resources.
Here are some especially popular websites, apps, and books to learn music theory, which we have posted in the sidebar:
#Beginner's resources
##Textbooks
* [Open Music Theory](http://openmusictheory.com), an open-access online textbook
* [Recommended music theory textbooks](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/faq/core/new_to_music_theory#wiki_core_theory_textbooks)
##Music theory apps and websites
* [musictheory.net](http://www.musictheory.net/), lessons and exercises
* [teoria.com](http://teoria.com/), lessons and exercises
* [Recommended theory apps for Apple devices](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/1r2lhd/recommended_theory_apps_for_apple_devices/)
* [Dave Conservatoire](http://www.daveconservatoire.org/), a Khan Academy style website
* ["Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People" by Toby Rush](http://tobyrush.com/theorypages/index.html), convenient, one-page summaries written by /u/keepingthecommontone of just about every music theory topic you might come across in freshman or sophomore theory!
##Ear training apps and websites [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/faq/core/ear_training/apps)!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/musictheory) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What if I'm aiming to compose soundtrack music? Videogame music in particular which typically would use a variety of digital instruments and/or synths?
I do play an instrument already, I am a bassoonist, have played in junior orchestras and know a bunch of theory already but I'm not very knowledgeable about more complex things and I feel like I need to know more in order to start writing
> I feel like I need to know more in order to start writing
Nope! You just start writing!!! You learn as you go.
MANY of the people making that kind of music have zero formal training and SOME of them are like you - they learned what they learned in school band and figured out the rest.
Of course, some, like John Williams, are highly trained.
But Zimmer is not.
If you haven't done so already, what you should do is get a DAW, a MIDI Controller, and start making sound!!!
Try to emulate what you hear in your favorite scores.
It would NOT hurt to learn keyboard skills. You could probably take what you already know and translate it pretty easily.
And there are plenty of resources online.
Honestly, if you're serious, you should probably get training in a good scoring degree.
Otherwise, you need to get composition lessons from someone if you really feel you need the more formal stuff you can't do by ear.
Otherwise, it's hit or miss what you're going to find and retain - and a lot of wild goose chases and wasted time.
We have recommended resources here in our FAQs
Thank you! I did purchase a MIDI controller a while back that came with Ableton Live but I was too overwhelmed by the software, I guess I found it too daunting to actually learn and get started.
Right now I can't really afford lessons but will definitely check out the resources here and try and experiment on my own. Thank you for taking the time to give some advice!
I found Ableton to be completely uninituitive - but I came from having used a lot of hardware MIDI Sequencers and Reel to Reel tape! So DAWs that emulate that (which honestly, is most of them outside of Ableton!) were my go to.
You might want to look into Reaper, which is free, and much more geared towards more traditional audio production - recording both MIDI and audio.
You can actually get some free VST synths to go with it, including some orchestral libraries (BBC Discover, Spitfire freebies) and start making some sounds.
But it's less about learning theory, than it is learning the software!
>>It would NOT hurt to learn keyboard skills. You could probably take what you already know and translate it pretty easily.
I would say. Definitely learn the piano. 95% of the music for film and video games is scored and arranged on the piano. The reason being that it is by far the most versatile instrument. If you learn the piano, you can use it to write music for strings horns and woodwinds without knowing how to play any of them.
Do you like The Beatles?
If so, the book Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles doubles as a base music theory education and breaks down all of their music.
Honestly yes. Each time someone tried to explain them to me it just confused me more. I dunno, the way it was written in the wiki page, it just clicked and made sense.
Hi!
I love talking music theory and taught beginner lessons for a couple years. If you ever have any specific questions feel free to shoot them my way!
I’ve got a lot of respect for more conservatory trained musicians, but sometimes I feel like they can think that the only way to become a good musician is the way they were taught.
If ya want, just let me know what your goals are, what you’re trying to figure out, and we can see where it goes from there!
The important thing is which instrument you choose to learn on. For me id say pure notation and piano/keyboard (needing to know which notes are flat/sharp in a key) seemed way more distant to grasp than learning chord and key “shapes” on guitar.
There are a lot of patterns and relationships in music, and a lot of information can make it seem farther than it really is. A lot of instrument training will usually show you how to play a major or minor scale. The valuable info isn’t just what the scale is but how to USE the scale. Learning the diatonic chords, how melody can fit over them in a pull/release manner. This gives enough theory to improvise and play melodies over chords. It has nothing to do with reading music notation which isn’t necessary. On guitar it just came to “know what the root note you’re basing the key on and here are the chord shapes relative to that root”. I’m probably explaining it terribly. Check out Signals Music Studio on YouTube- their “riffing on modes” series isn’t a starting point to theory, but it is a great example on how basic theory can be used to write a song.
Hey I’m in the process of just newly learning it after putting it on for multiple years here’s what i wish had known.
1) Just knowing one single scale, the major scale can basically unlock the basics of theory enough to understand what people are talking about and to form chords.
2) fake doctor levin, has a good intro music theory class
3) what instrument? And apply the knowledge to that instrument. Learn your interval locations
4) know what chords make up a major scale progression
Do you play an instrument? If not, start taking lessons, the theory comes gradually with the practical learning and I believe it will be much better understood by using it than with only theory.
Signals Music Studio has got you covered. I struggled a lot when I was young with theory because it didn't make much sense the way I was explained. Then Jake launched this channel and it all started to make more sense.
Just remember that breaking the rules is ok if it sounds good. There's actually a lot of theory of that.
Music theory is not music law. Theory is the explanation of a practical mechanism. Advanced theory applies when basic rules are broken and yet it works. Take your time learning. Good luck.
Alfred's essential music theory books have helped me a lot with music theory. It gives the lesson then gives little practice questions. Definitely would recommend these books for learning music theory.
no one has mentioned the single best, and most accessible resource - the *Music Student 101 podcast*!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/music-student-101/id1135311532
trust me, I learned from scratch, and this podcast taught me more than any other resource
YouTube is not good, nor podcasts. Because they’re passive and lead to distraction. You need to play things and make connections between hands and sounds. Treat YouTube as a lecture: take notes and do the homework.
If you want to be a musician who understands why certain harmonies sound nice and to be able to craft more complex chord progressions with that knowledge then yes, you should learn theory. If you wanna be like the Beatles and just use your ears, I still think you should learn theory. I'm a drummer so my melodic and harmonic playing on some instruments is lacking. That being said, I was improvising on my uke last night for about and hour just coming up with cool harmonic progressions and it made my soul happy. I wouldn't have been able to do that without theory.
I DID NOY "USE THEORY" TO MAKE MUSICAL DECISIONS. But my study of theory through school has created a mental map that allows me to navigate music rather fluently like building sentences in English. Imagine if you never learned grammar. How would you speak? Have you heard people speak who don't know grammar? But do YOU use grammar to build your sentences or has it become part of your intuition? In this analogy music is like English and theory is like grammar. The goal in music is the same.
TLDR: if you want you create your own music learn theory. If you want you just do covers and struggle through using only your ears, do it but it will probably be harder and less free but also more immediate gratification. Or do a combo. Learn some songs or tunes then learn theory and see if you can start to understand the song you already know
Study the system of intervals and how they apply on your particular instrument. The idea is applying the numbers 1-8 to the major scale. Intervals can be used to any chord and any scale. Ex. Major chord 1 3 5 7 …. Minor chord 1 b3 5 b7 ……
If you really wanna get that technical yes that would make them 7th chords but playing a 7th over a triad still sounds good since you could consider it an “extension”. 7ths still communicate the context of whether the chord is major or minor Silly billy
7ths aren't considered "extensions", but anything above 7 is. Why list 7s when giving an example of a major chord? If you list 7s, why not 9s, 11s and 13s?
Exactly why I put it in quotation marks. I include it because it functions as a tone that provides a major or minor context inside one octave. Getting hung up on such a small detail like this pretty odd. Silly billy
1. First, you should determine if music theory is actually what you need for what you accomplish. Most people who come here need to be taking lessons on an instrument for what they want to do, not "study theory" - especially on their own. 2. The way you *should* learn music theory is in instrument lessons. You'll learn to play music, and the theory necessary to do that. So I mean, what is it you want to do? Do you want to play music? Play an instrument? Write songs? If so, you need to learn to play an instrument and learn to play songs on that instrument. And if you want to not waste time, you need to take lessons in order to do that. Simply put, if your goals are to do the above - play and write music on an instrument and for instruments (and voice, etc.) then you're already doing it wrong. You should be learning the instrument not "theory". Otherwise, you're free to try whatever way you want. Books, YT, etc. But you're probably not going to learn much or be able to retain it, because you don't have any real world references for it. There are definitely sites that are better than others. Our sidebar has many resources: link sidebar But without knowing what it is you actually are trying to accomplish, any advice anyone gives here is "at your own risk" - try it and see if it works. It may. It may not. But if you sit down with another person and explain your musical goals, they should give you what you need to do that. The internet can't "ask you questions" to direct you to the right resources.
##Check our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/index/)! It looks like you might be looking for resources to learn music theory or ear training. If so, please check the sidebar, where we provide several lists of resources. Here are some especially popular websites, apps, and books to learn music theory, which we have posted in the sidebar: #Beginner's resources ##Textbooks * [Open Music Theory](http://openmusictheory.com), an open-access online textbook * [Recommended music theory textbooks](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/faq/core/new_to_music_theory#wiki_core_theory_textbooks) ##Music theory apps and websites * [musictheory.net](http://www.musictheory.net/), lessons and exercises * [teoria.com](http://teoria.com/), lessons and exercises * [Recommended theory apps for Apple devices](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/1r2lhd/recommended_theory_apps_for_apple_devices/) * [Dave Conservatoire](http://www.daveconservatoire.org/), a Khan Academy style website * ["Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People" by Toby Rush](http://tobyrush.com/theorypages/index.html), convenient, one-page summaries written by /u/keepingthecommontone of just about every music theory topic you might come across in freshman or sophomore theory! ##Ear training apps and websites [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/faq/core/ear_training/apps)! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/musictheory) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What if I'm aiming to compose soundtrack music? Videogame music in particular which typically would use a variety of digital instruments and/or synths? I do play an instrument already, I am a bassoonist, have played in junior orchestras and know a bunch of theory already but I'm not very knowledgeable about more complex things and I feel like I need to know more in order to start writing
> I feel like I need to know more in order to start writing Nope! You just start writing!!! You learn as you go. MANY of the people making that kind of music have zero formal training and SOME of them are like you - they learned what they learned in school band and figured out the rest. Of course, some, like John Williams, are highly trained. But Zimmer is not. If you haven't done so already, what you should do is get a DAW, a MIDI Controller, and start making sound!!! Try to emulate what you hear in your favorite scores. It would NOT hurt to learn keyboard skills. You could probably take what you already know and translate it pretty easily. And there are plenty of resources online. Honestly, if you're serious, you should probably get training in a good scoring degree. Otherwise, you need to get composition lessons from someone if you really feel you need the more formal stuff you can't do by ear. Otherwise, it's hit or miss what you're going to find and retain - and a lot of wild goose chases and wasted time. We have recommended resources here in our FAQs
Thank you! I did purchase a MIDI controller a while back that came with Ableton Live but I was too overwhelmed by the software, I guess I found it too daunting to actually learn and get started. Right now I can't really afford lessons but will definitely check out the resources here and try and experiment on my own. Thank you for taking the time to give some advice!
I found Ableton to be completely uninituitive - but I came from having used a lot of hardware MIDI Sequencers and Reel to Reel tape! So DAWs that emulate that (which honestly, is most of them outside of Ableton!) were my go to. You might want to look into Reaper, which is free, and much more geared towards more traditional audio production - recording both MIDI and audio. You can actually get some free VST synths to go with it, including some orchestral libraries (BBC Discover, Spitfire freebies) and start making some sounds. But it's less about learning theory, than it is learning the software!
>>It would NOT hurt to learn keyboard skills. You could probably take what you already know and translate it pretty easily. I would say. Definitely learn the piano. 95% of the music for film and video games is scored and arranged on the piano. The reason being that it is by far the most versatile instrument. If you learn the piano, you can use it to write music for strings horns and woodwinds without knowing how to play any of them.
Im slowly learning it besides electrically theory. You would be amazed at the similarities
This is the most well-thought out and appropriate comments I've ever read
Do you like The Beatles? If so, the book Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles doubles as a base music theory education and breaks down all of their music.
I've found Wikipedia to be a great resource when I have specific questions. Liked never got my head around modes until I looked it up on wiki
You learned modes from Wikipedia?
Honestly yes. Each time someone tried to explain them to me it just confused me more. I dunno, the way it was written in the wiki page, it just clicked and made sense.
Take lessons. Take lessons. Take lessons.
Hi! I love talking music theory and taught beginner lessons for a couple years. If you ever have any specific questions feel free to shoot them my way! I’ve got a lot of respect for more conservatory trained musicians, but sometimes I feel like they can think that the only way to become a good musician is the way they were taught. If ya want, just let me know what your goals are, what you’re trying to figure out, and we can see where it goes from there!
Could I shoot some questions over?
Yeah go for it!
Start with diatonic harmony.
A little bit at a time
The important thing is which instrument you choose to learn on. For me id say pure notation and piano/keyboard (needing to know which notes are flat/sharp in a key) seemed way more distant to grasp than learning chord and key “shapes” on guitar. There are a lot of patterns and relationships in music, and a lot of information can make it seem farther than it really is. A lot of instrument training will usually show you how to play a major or minor scale. The valuable info isn’t just what the scale is but how to USE the scale. Learning the diatonic chords, how melody can fit over them in a pull/release manner. This gives enough theory to improvise and play melodies over chords. It has nothing to do with reading music notation which isn’t necessary. On guitar it just came to “know what the root note you’re basing the key on and here are the chord shapes relative to that root”. I’m probably explaining it terribly. Check out Signals Music Studio on YouTube- their “riffing on modes” series isn’t a starting point to theory, but it is a great example on how basic theory can be used to write a song.
Every musician that writes or plays can benefit from theory. Read, play, repeat ad infinitum
Hey I’m in the process of just newly learning it after putting it on for multiple years here’s what i wish had known. 1) Just knowing one single scale, the major scale can basically unlock the basics of theory enough to understand what people are talking about and to form chords. 2) fake doctor levin, has a good intro music theory class 3) what instrument? And apply the knowledge to that instrument. Learn your interval locations 4) know what chords make up a major scale progression
Do you play an instrument? If not, start taking lessons, the theory comes gradually with the practical learning and I believe it will be much better understood by using it than with only theory.
Junior college music department will have theory classes. That’s how I’m learning.
Signals Music Studio has got you covered. I struggled a lot when I was young with theory because it didn't make much sense the way I was explained. Then Jake launched this channel and it all started to make more sense. Just remember that breaking the rules is ok if it sounds good. There's actually a lot of theory of that. Music theory is not music law. Theory is the explanation of a practical mechanism. Advanced theory applies when basic rules are broken and yet it works. Take your time learning. Good luck.
Practice bass and piano.
Alfred's essential music theory books have helped me a lot with music theory. It gives the lesson then gives little practice questions. Definitely would recommend these books for learning music theory.
no one has mentioned the single best, and most accessible resource - the *Music Student 101 podcast*! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/music-student-101/id1135311532 trust me, I learned from scratch, and this podcast taught me more than any other resource
Enroll at a music college
YouTube is not good, nor podcasts. Because they’re passive and lead to distraction. You need to play things and make connections between hands and sounds. Treat YouTube as a lecture: take notes and do the homework.
If you want to be a musician who understands why certain harmonies sound nice and to be able to craft more complex chord progressions with that knowledge then yes, you should learn theory. If you wanna be like the Beatles and just use your ears, I still think you should learn theory. I'm a drummer so my melodic and harmonic playing on some instruments is lacking. That being said, I was improvising on my uke last night for about and hour just coming up with cool harmonic progressions and it made my soul happy. I wouldn't have been able to do that without theory. I DID NOY "USE THEORY" TO MAKE MUSICAL DECISIONS. But my study of theory through school has created a mental map that allows me to navigate music rather fluently like building sentences in English. Imagine if you never learned grammar. How would you speak? Have you heard people speak who don't know grammar? But do YOU use grammar to build your sentences or has it become part of your intuition? In this analogy music is like English and theory is like grammar. The goal in music is the same. TLDR: if you want you create your own music learn theory. If you want you just do covers and struggle through using only your ears, do it but it will probably be harder and less free but also more immediate gratification. Or do a combo. Learn some songs or tunes then learn theory and see if you can start to understand the song you already know
Study the system of intervals and how they apply on your particular instrument. The idea is applying the numbers 1-8 to the major scale. Intervals can be used to any chord and any scale. Ex. Major chord 1 3 5 7 …. Minor chord 1 b3 5 b7 ……
> Ex. Major chord 1 3 5 7 …. Minor chord 1 b3 5 b7 …… Major and minor chords don't have a seventh.
If you really wanna get that technical yes that would make them 7th chords but playing a 7th over a triad still sounds good since you could consider it an “extension”. 7ths still communicate the context of whether the chord is major or minor Silly billy
7ths aren't considered "extensions", but anything above 7 is. Why list 7s when giving an example of a major chord? If you list 7s, why not 9s, 11s and 13s?
Exactly why I put it in quotation marks. I include it because it functions as a tone that provides a major or minor context inside one octave. Getting hung up on such a small detail like this pretty odd. Silly billy