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)
Music for the 21st Century Classroom
Free music theory website by Robert Hutchinson Music for the 21st Century Classroom is a free music theory site that covers most of the topics
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
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
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
Expanding the Music Theory Canon
Expanding the Music Theory Canon is home to musical examples by women and people of color, a historically underrepresented group in the canon studied by
Music Theory Examples in Video Game Music
Music Theory Examples in Video Game Music goes from basic music intervals to functional chords, modalities, substitutions, and more. Visit Music Theory Examples in Video
Musical Interval Examples
Musical interval examples are one of two helpful ways to remember musical intervals: using solfeggio or by remembering them through popular (or at least familiar)
How to Use a ♭VII Chord in Your Music
♭VII Chords are a type of borrowed chord (a.k.a. modal mixture) that falls under a larger umbrella of chromatic harmony. Chromatic harmony refers…
Write Better Chord Progressions 4 Different Ways
Write better chord progressions: if you feel like your chord progressions are boring or aren’t expressing exactly what you want them to, try approaching harmonies
Neapolitan Chord in “Enterprising Young Men” from Star Trek 2009
Neapolitan chords are a popular way to add some chromatic harmony flavor to your (most-often) minor chord progressions. They convey a sense of hopeful melancholy,
Common-Tone Modulation in “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams
Common-tone modulation is the name of a specific way of changing keys in music, and if you want to change keys in a super dramatic
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
Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven
Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven William E. Caplin Description Building on ideas first advanced
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
On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind
Description Winner of the Wallace Berry Award, Society for Music Theory Winner of the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award, ASCAP What is it about the music
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
Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation
Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation David Huron Description The psychological theory of expectation that David Huron proposes in Sweet Anticipation grew out of
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
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
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
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
