Path

What to study before Musical form

How sections are arranged and repeated: the level at which music is heard as a whole. 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)
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)
Triads
Three-note chords stacked in thirds, and the four qualities that result.
Level 2has practicelesson Three notes, four chords (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)
Cadences
The formulas that close a phrase, and the degree of finality each one delivers.
Level 4lesson How a phrase ends (Functional harmony for people who play)
Musical form
How sections are arranged and repeated: the level at which music is heard as a whole.
Level 5lesson The song in a few letters (Analysing a song)