Web resources
*NEW*
Create by Dr. Matthew Heap at the University of West Virginia, the Music Theory Vault is comprised of instructional videos that cover 4 semesters of music theory instruction. This a great resource for anyone looking to refresh their theory knowledge, or for instructors looking to introduce flipped classroom instruction. There are also cheat sheets for some of the lessons.
- Listen! : a NAXOS Aural TrainingListen! is designed as an aid for those involved in teaching aural perception skills, either to school classes or individual students.
The exercises that follow are graduated in difficulty, from an initial level of simple recognition of individual musical elements, to the more sophisticated demand of synthesising these in order to deduce in which period of music history a composition may have been written.
At most of the levels in this course, teachers will find three sets of exercises: A, B and C. Students are given fewer seconds to arrive at their answers as the tests proceed from set to set. The aim is to encourage and develop a rapid aural acuity in students, so that they do not simply hear music, but Listen! intently to it.
A free web source for theory lessons, exercises and tools. They also have apps for iOS and Android for purchase.
- Lessons
- Basics (staff, note duration, rests, steps, accidentals, dots and ties, measures and key signatures)
- Rhythm and Meter
- Scales and Key Signatures
- Intervals
- Chords (Introduction and building, diatonic, progressions, Neopolitan)
- Exercises
- Staff Identification (Notes, Key Signatures, Intervals, Scales, Chords)
- Staff Construction (Notes, Key Signatures, Intervals Scales, Chords)
- Keyboard Identification (Notes, Intervals, Scales, Chords)
- Fretboard Identification (Notes, Intervals, Scales, Chords)
- Ear Training (Notes, Intervals, Scales, Chords)
- For Teachers - Exercise Customizer
- Tools
- Accidental, interval, scale, chord, analysis, and matrix calculators
- Utilities
- Tempo Tap
- Staff Paper
- Digital Keyboard
teoria.com is a web site dedicated to the study and practice of music theory. teoria.com has been developed by José Rodríguez Alvira as a complement for his courses at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.
Exercises and tutorials are part of the first and second edition of the book From Sound To Symbols by Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka published by Oxford University Press as well as the book Stradivari by Salvatore Accardo, Luigi Fiorentini, Gabriele Giacomelli and Paola Lenzi published in Italy by Bompiani.
The site is divided into four sections: tutorials, exercises, reference, and articles.
- Tutorials - interactive short lessons on reading music, intervals, scales, chords, harmonic functions, and musical forms.
- Exercises - interactive exercise to help develop written and aural theory skills
- Reference - a glossary of theory terms and techniques
- Articles - articles written by the site's authors, including musical analyses
Tom Pankhurst's Guide to Schenkerian Analysis
SchenkerGUIDE.com is a companion website to Tom Pankhurt's book ShenkerGUIDE: A Brief Handbook and Website for Shenkerian Analysis. The website includes resources for both students and instructors:
- Exercises
- A survey of Pankhurst's method from the book
- A glossary of terms
- Bibliography
- Tips for presenting Schenkerian graph, including using music composition software
Teaching resources, including Powerpoints and worksheet require registration.
EarMaster.comA downloaded program that has limited access with a free download and a much broader access with paid versions across multiple platforms.
The downloadable free version includes 4 beginner modules, interval and chord identification exercises, and 21 lessons.
Online free content consists of Interval song chart generator and a 6 chapter music theory course.
Available for Windows, Mac, and iOS.