Understanding Basic Music Theory

by Catherine Schmidt-Jones

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The main purpose of the course, however, is to explore basic music theory so thoroughly that the interested student will then be able to easily pick up whatever further theory is wanted. Music history and the physics of sound are included to the extent that they shed light on music theory. Remember, the main premise of this course is that a better understanding of where the basics come from will lead to better and faster comprehension of more complex ideas.

Description from LibreTexts.

Subjects
Humanities, Music
Licence
CC BY 3.0, as LibreTexts states it
Who can read
Tweens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

LibreTexts writes equations in TeX, and here they show as TeX; the PDF has them typeset.

  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. Preface
  7. 1: Notation - Pitch
  8. 1.1: The Staff
  9. 1.2: Clef
  10. 1.3: Pitch- Sharp, Flat, and Natural Notes
  11. 1.4: Key Signature
  12. 1.5: Enharmonic Spelling
  13. 2: Notation - Time
  14. 2.1: Duration - Note Lengths in Written Music
  15. 2.2: Duration- Rest Length
  16. 2.3: Time Signature
  17. 2.4: Meter
  18. 2.5: Pickup Notes and Measures
  19. 2.6: Dots, Ties, and Borrowed Divisions
  20. 2.7: Syncopation
  21. 2.8: Tempo
  22. 2.9: Repeats and Other Musical Road Map Signs
  23. 3: Notation - Style
  24. 3.1: Dynamics and Accents
  25. 3.2: Articulation
  26. 4: Defintions
  27. 4.1: Rhythm
  28. 4.2: Timbre
  29. 4.3: Melody
  30. 4.4: Texture
  31. 4.5: Harmony
  32. 4.6: Counterpoint
  33. 4.7: Range
  34. 4.8: Classifying Music
  35. 5: The Physical Basis
  36. 5.1: Acoustics for Music Theory
  37. 5.2: Standing Waves and Musical Instruments
  38. 5.3: Harmonic Series I- Timbre and Octaves
  39. 6: Notes and Scales
  40. 6.1: Octaves and the Major-Minor Tonal System
  41. 6.2: Half Steps and Whole Steps
  42. 6.3: Major Keys and Scales
  43. 6.4: Minor Keys and Scales
  44. 6.5: Interval
  45. 6.6: Harmonic Series II- Harmonics, Intervals, and Instruments
  46. 6.7: The Circle of Fifths
  47. 6.8: Scales that are not Major or Minor
  48. 7: Harmony and Form
  49. 7.1: Triads
  50. 7.2: Naming Triads
  51. 7.3: Consonance and Dissonance
  52. 7.4: Beyond Triads- Naming Other Chords
  53. 7.5: Beginning Harmonic Analysis
  54. 7.6: Candence
  55. 7.7: Form
  56. 8: Challenges
  57. 8.1: Ear Training
  58. 8.2: Tuning System
  59. 8.3: Modes and Ragas
  60. 8.4: Transposition- Changing Keys
  61. Back Matter
  62. Index
  63. Glossary
  64. Detailed Licensing