Links to Useful Music Theory Resources
These links will take you to pages for further study. They are not organised by theory grade.
I don’t link to purely commercial websites, just interesting/academic ones.
All links will open in a new window/tab.
This list is managed by a human being.
Acoustics
The Physics of Sound and the Physiology of Hearing
Analysis
Avant Garde Music Techniques
Introduction to Post-Functional Music Analysis: Set Theory, The Matrix, and the Twelve-Tone Method
12 Tone Music – A VERY accessible and interesting video by “recreational mathemusician” Vi Hart. [Video] *Highly Recommended*
Quarter Tone Music [Video]
Counterpoint
An Introduction to Species Counterpoint
Species Counterpoint: A Structural Examination of Tonality, Vocabulary, Texture, Sonorities, and Time Organization in Western Art Music
Definitions
Genres of Music – a list
Genres of Music – audio examples of every genre on the planet (almost!)
Fun
ClassicsForKids Online music games for children
Music Theory Song [Video]
Donald Duck in Math Magic Land – Music (Explains musical ratios and Pythagorus) [Video]
Harmony & Chords
BachCantatas.com Search Bach works/movements matching required instrumentation
Database of examples of music theory harmony concepts Musictheoryexamples.com
https://www.apprendrelesolfege.com/tableau-des-chiffrages-d-accords Figured bass in French
Harmonic Progressions common in tonal classical music
Chord Progressions in Pop Music – an introduction [Video]
Bach Chorale Pedagogic Resource – a list of examples of various techniques found in the chorales
Major to Minor – A Collection of I-III chord progressions
Pop Music Theory – Excellent site illustrating the “classical” techniques in a pop context
Instrument Specific Music Theory Sites
Drums: Drum! Magazine
Jazz
Linguistics and Music
Speaking in Tones: Our ability of communicate is inseparable from our musical sense.
Music Criticism
How to Critique Music Structure
Music Industry
How musicians really make money, in one long graph
Musicology
Critical Musicology A form of musicology which applies aspects of Critical Theory (as practiced within other humanities disciplines) to music
Historical Texts on Music from the 14th-17th centuries (in English)
Historical Texts on Music from the 3rd-17th centuries (in Latin)
The Theoretical Works of Johannes Tinctoris (Renaissance music theorist)
Music & Emotion Through Time (Video) TED talk
Numerous videos of Music Lectures on a variety of topics (from Gresham College)
Orchestration
Instrument Transposition Chart (VERY comprehensive including rare/obscure instruments)
The Orchestra: A User’s Manual [Provided by the Philharmonia Orchestra, Southbank, London UK]
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Academy/Instrumentology “Exploring the Fascinating World of Instrumental Sounds”
Notation/Engraving of Scores: https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/musicengraving/
Organisations
CASS GB: The Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain
EPTA: The European Piano Teachers’ Association (and UK branch)
Phrases
Everything you ever wanted to know about phrases
Psychology of Music
Are classical music competitions judged on looks?
Research
Database of PhD dissertations on music theory, musicology and ethnomusicology
The New York Philharmonic Digital Archives Explore programs, scores, images, and business documents.
The Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals 500 rare music periodicals
RISM: Repertoire International de Sources Musicales “An international, non-profit organization that aims to comprehensively document extant musical sources worldwide: manuscripts, printed music editions, writings on music theory, and libretti that are found in libraries, archives, churches, schools, and private collections.”
Digital Resources for Musicology Links to substantial open-access projects of use to musicians and musicologists.
Wikipedia List of Online Music Document Libraries Access to collections of digitized music documents (typically originating from printed or manuscript musical sources).
Music Techonology
Musescore Free music notation software, highly recommended.
Synthesisers which compose according to the rules of harmony
Video-based Sites
Art Films “Masterclasses, documentaries, interviews, content that can entertain, educate and inform: Artfilms streams thousands of videos from top artists and producers.” [Paid site]
Medici TV “The world’s leading classical music channel” [Paid site]
Video Courses
| Title | Description | By | Price | Level | Link |
| An Introduction to Music Research | Explore the ways in which music may be researched. | Open University | Free | Advanced | View |
| Music and its Media | Examine how the means of communicating a particular piece can change over time; and how the appearance and contents of a source can reflect the circumstances in which it is produced | Open University | Free | Intermediate | View |
| Understanding Musical Scores | Explore what’s involved when musicians create a performance from musical notation. | Open University | Free | Elementary | View |
| Voice Leading Analysis of Music I: The Foreground | Introduction to ‘voice-leading’ or ‘Schenkerian’ analysis. | Open University | Free | Advanced | View |
| Voice Leading Analysis of Music II: The Middleground | Part 2 of the Schenkerian analysis course. | Open University | Free | Advanced | View |
| Voice Leading Analysis of Music III: The Background | Part 3 of the Schenkerian analysis course. | Open University | Free | Advanced | View |
| Music 112: Listening to Music | Develop your aural skills that lead to an understanding of Western music. | Yale University | Free | Elementary | View |
| Orchestration 101: The String Section | Learn the art of composing and orchestrating for strings. | Thomas Goss | $Paid | Intermediate | View |
| Orchestration 101: The Wind Section | Learn all about the woodwind instruments, their techniques and articulations and how to score for them. | Thomas Goss | $Paid | Intermediate | View |
| Jazz Theory Explored | Learn all about the chordal constructs and melodic options that give jazz its signature sound. | Gregg Fine | $Paid | Intermediate | View |
| Defining the String Quartet | Analyse the string quartet with particular attention on Haydn’s towering, history-shaping achievement. | Stanford University | Free | Intermediate | View |
| Reinventing the Piano | This course uses the piano to bring together a range of subjects that are often ignored or under developed in traditional music curricula. | Princeton University | Free | Intermediate | View |
| Various Music Courses | A wide range of free music video courses | Gresham College, London | Free | All | View |
World Music
Bridging Arabic & Western Music
Polyrhythms (Tutsplus article)
If you would like to suggest a page to add to this list, please email info@mymusictheory.com.