Grammar of Music

Path

What to study before Chromatic scale

Twelve consecutive semitones, and why it gives rise to no key of its own. Below, the concepts that come before, in the order in which one explains the next. Signed in, you see the same path minus what you already hold: your path.

  1. Properties of sound

    The four properties every musical sound has at once: duration, intensity, pitch and timbre.

    Level 0

  2. Note

    The seven pitch names, and the sign that puts one of them on the page.

    Level 1

  3. Tone and semitone

    The smallest distance Western music uses, and the whole tone built from two of them.

    Level 1lesson Notes have names, and the names have a rule (First steps in theory)

  4. Interval

    The distance between two sounds, counted by note names, melodic or harmonic, simple or compound.

    Level 1lesson The distance between two notes (First steps in theory)

  5. Scale

    A series of successive notes separated by tones and semitones, ascending or descending.

    Level 4

  6. Accidentals

    The five signs that raise or lower a note without changing its name, and how far each one reaches.

    Level 1lesson Notes have names, and the names have a rule (First steps in theory)

  7. Chromatic scale

    Twelve consecutive semitones, and why it gives rise to no key of its own.

    Level 5