Music Theory Resources

Music Theory Resources is your free directory of recommended music theory references. Learn fundamental and core music theory and explore deeper topics like emotion, meaning, and form. Resources include online courses, websites, books, social media, and online interactive tools.

Have fun exploring, and let me know if there’s a topic you’re curious about. I’ll add resources on it to the directory!

Table of Contents

Core Music Theory Resources

(Fundamentals–Core Undergraduate)

Open Music Theory Version 2 book cover

Open Music Theory Version 2

Open Music Theory Version 2 (OMT2) is another free, interactive online text book, the 2nd iteration of Open Music Theory Open Music Theory Version 2 

musictheory.net logo

Music Theory Dot Net

musictheory.net is a completely free and interactive site It has lessons and exercises for learning to read sheet music as well as identifying scales, intervals,

12tone Youtube Logo

12tone

12tone is an online education channel that covers all sorts of musical topics, like harmony, arranging, and composition. He publishes a new video (almost) every

Beyond Core Music Theory Resources

(Emotion, Meaning, Form, and More)

Music by Women

Music by Women is a database of music theory examples by women composers  in history from antiquity to the present. It’s well organized with a

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Sonata Forms by Charles Rosen

Sonata Forms

Sonata Forms Charles Rosen Description “Nobody writes better about music …. again and again, unerring insight into just the features that make the music special

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Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata

Elements of Sonata Theory

Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata James HepokoskiWarren Darcy Description Elements of Sonata Theory is a comprehensive, richly detailed

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2-D Emotion Wheel

A 2-d emotion wheel is a way of categorizing emotions based on their action-tendencies (rest/movement) and their valences (pleasant/unpleasant). Music tends to express emotions by

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r/MusicTheory home page

r/MusicTheory

r/MusicTheory is a subreddit (forum community) on Reddit dedicated to Music Theory discussions r/MusicTheory is a subreddit (community forum) dedicated to music theory discussions. It’s

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Sideways Youtube Logo (a sideways C clef)

Sideways

Sideways is a music analysis Youtube channel, focused mostly on film music. If you love film music and want to dig into how it’s used

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12tone Youtube Logo

12tone

12tone is an online education channel that covers all sorts of musical topics, like harmony, arranging, and composition. He publishes a new video (almost) every

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Adam Neely

Adam Neely is an American YouTuber, bassist, and composer. His YouTube channel is described as containing “music theory, music cognition, jazz improvisation, musical performance technique, musicology and memes.” Some

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5 Popular Chord Progressions and How to Use Them

Start making your own music today with chord progressions from your favorite songs

E G♯ m C♯ m A

1 Progression, 3 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

C♯ m G♯ m B E

1 Progression, 8 Ways3

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

A♯dim C♯m F♯ B

1 Progression, 3 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

A♭ E♭m G♭ D♭

1 Progression, 4 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

C♯ m Bm E A

1 Progression, 3 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

Am Em F C

1 Progression, 8 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.

Am Em F C

1 Progression, 8 Ways

Free

Musescore, Music xml, Midi, and Pdf file types included.