Path

What to study before Figured bass

Numbers under the bass line indicating the intervals to be played above it. 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.

Notes and semitones
The seven letter names, the accidentals that alter them, and the semitone as the system's smallest step.
Level 0lesson Notes have names, and the names have a rule (First steps in theory)
Intervals
The distance between two notes, measured by a number taken from the letter names and a quality taken from the semitones.
Level 1has practicelesson The distance between two notes (First steps in theory)
Triads
Three-note chords stacked in thirds, and the four qualities that result.
Level 2has practicelesson Three notes, four chords (First steps in theory)
Chord inversions
The same notes over a different bass: the same identity with a different weight and a different voice leading.
Level 3lesson The letter after the slash (Functional harmony for people who play)
Major scale
Seven degrees built on a fixed sequence of tones and semitones, and the reference everything else is measured against.
Level 1has practicelesson The major scale, from any note (First steps in theory)
Diatonic harmony
The chords that arise from stacking thirds on each degree of a scale, and why each quality lands where it does.
Level 3has practicelesson The seven chords of a key (First steps in theory)
Harmonic function
The role each degree plays — tonic, subdominant, or dominant — and the tension that moves one to the next.
Level 4lesson Seven chords, three roles (Functional harmony for people who play)
Roman numeral analysis
The notation that describes a chord by the position it occupies in the key rather than by the note it sits on.
Level 4lesson The chord symbol in numerals (Analysing a song)
Figured bass
Numbers under the bass line indicating the intervals to be played above it.
Level 4lesson The numbers under the bass (Writing and analysis)