Grammar of Music

Path

What to study before Harmonic rhythm

How fast the harmony changes, which is a decision independent of how fast the music goes. 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. Notes and semitones

    The seven letter names, the accidentals that alter them, and the semitone as the system's smallest step.

    Level 0lesson Notes, semitones and the rule of names (Harmony for people who play)

  2. 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 Intervals, in number and quality (Harmony for people who play)

  3. 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 is a formula (Harmony for people who play)

  4. Triads

    Three-note chords stacked in thirds, and the four qualities that result.

    Level 2has practicelesson Four triads, and the third that decides (Harmony for people who play)

  5. 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 major harmonic field (Harmony for people who play)

  6. Rhythm and meter

    Note values, augmentation dots, tuplets, and the division of time into simple and compound meters.

    Level 0has practicelesson Counting time (First steps in theory)

  7. Harmonic rhythm

    How fast the harmony changes, which is a decision independent of how fast the music goes.

    Level 4lesson When the chords change (Analysing a song)