Harmony
The Tonnetz Explained: Euler's Lattice and Chord Moves
The Tonnetz is a lattice of fifths and major thirds whose triangles are triads. Leonhard Euler described it in 1739, and this is how to read it.
The archive
Articles
100 pieces on how music is built and how it is written down — with playable examples, tables you can check, and no filler.
♮ intro · ♯♯ intermediate · ♯♯♯♯ advanced — like key signatures, more marks means more to hold in mind
Music History
Word Painting in the Madrigal: Music That Depicts Its Text
Word painting sets a single word to a melodic shape that mirrors its meaning. Late sixteenth-century madrigalists made it central, and critics objected.
Fundamentals
Dynamics and Articulation Markings Explained
Dynamics set how loud a passage is, relative to its surroundings. Articulations set how each note starts and ends. This guide defines the common marks.
Fundamentals
Enharmonic Equivalents and Double Accidentals Explained
Enharmonic notes share one pitch under two names, such as C♯ and D♭. Learn why the spelling matters, what double sharps and flats do, and where they appear.
Guitar & Fretboard
Barre Chords Explained: The E Shape and the A Shape
A barre chord is an open chord moved up the neck. The E shape and the A shape are the two to learn first, and each one is built from its open chord by a simple rule of offsets.
Guitar & Fretboard
CAGED System Explained: Five Shapes That Cover the Neck
CAGED turns five open chords into movable shapes. This explains how the shapes connect, how to name a moved chord from its root string, and how to find one chord in several places.
Guitar & Fretboard
Capo and Transposition: How a Capo Changes the Key
A capo raises every open string by one semitone per fret, so a G shape played at fret 2 sounds in A. This shows how to find the sounding key and how to choose a capo position.
Jazz & Popular Harmony
Chord Extensions Explained: Ninths, Elevenths and Thirteenths
Ninths, elevenths and thirteenths are chord tones stacked above the seventh. Which of them fit a chord depends on its quality, and some clash with the third.
Jazz & Popular Harmony
Chord-Scale Theory Explained: Which Scale Fits Which Chord
Chord-scale theory pairs each chord quality with a scale whose notes fit it. This article gives the pairings, the spellings in C, and the notes to avoid.
Harmony
Chord Symbols Explained: Major, Minor, Seventh and Slash Chords
A chord symbol names the root, the quality, the extra notes and the bass. Here is how to read Cmaj7, C7, Cm7, C/E and C7b9, and the notes each one contains.
Songwriting & Composition
Common Chord Progressions: Loops, Numerals and Why They Work
The chord loops that songwriters reuse most, in Roman numerals and in the keys of C and G, with the reasons they work and how to vary them.
Rhythm & Meter
Compound Meter: 6/8 vs 3/4 and How to Hear the Difference
Six eighth notes per bar can group as 3+3 in 6/8 or 2+2+2 in 3/4. Accent, contour, hemiola and conducting show which grouping you are hearing.
The ebook
Music Theory: the site as a book
The site's working library as a structured ebook: intervals, keys, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, form, tuning, orchestration and the history behind them.
- 78 pages
- PDF format
- $2.87
- By The musics.name project
The Gumroad link opens the seller’s listing and checkout. Review the current total and purchase terms there; the free site does not require a purchase.
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