Recommendations for music theory explained well?

iternabe

I came across these videos that explained music theory really well. What others have you found?

This one for chords:

And these for circle of fifth:

BicBic

I’ve recently been looking at the Seth Monahan Basics of Classical Harmony and Counterpoint on YouTube, which someone on this forum recommended. It’s been good so far, tho I’m still early in the series. I’ve slowed down as on lesson 6 I’ve already moved beyond my prior knowledge so it’s taking me time to try and think about and understand it!

hebele

I can recommend Seth Monahan too. I watched some (not all) of his playlist. I think it is partly too advanced for complete beginners like me. However everything started make sense after watching them. I started to recognise little patterns. Previously I was going through different theory resources. But most of them was too dry with little examples. Seth Monahan gives many musical examples for the concepts he is introducing. I found it quite useful.

SouthPark

Intervals

With intervals - at that youtube link, I posted the following comment (below)

Choose the lower note (of the pair of notes) to be the root note (tonic) of a MAJOR scale. Eg E to G, choose E as the reference, as it is the lower note. Then - in the E major scale, goes E, F#, G#. So E to G# spans THREE notes (ie. E, F# and G#), so E to G# would be a major THIRD. But because we want E to G, which is 1 semi-tone less than E to G#, then it's just going to be a minor third. That's one way. And then another way is just by brute force remembering how many notes (including black-coloured ones) are spanning the pair of notes. E to G spans four notes (including black coloured notes), and we just remember the definition - that a span of four raw notes (whatever colour they are) is going to be a minor third interval. A span of 5 raw notes would be a major third interval.

I had to arrive at the above method (in the quotes) myself because those 'geniuses' that write the theory books and most teachers do not explain intervals in a coherent way.

TC3

It's been a while since I looked (and I think they may have changed to an online-only format recently), but I thought the RCM materials were quite good. They start at the beginning, go slow, and -- this is the most important thing -- use it to complement ear-training and actually playing piano. Too many other sources treat theory as though it's something separate from everything else, so no wonder it seems so abstract and confusing.

MandM

I use udemy courses quite a bit. I searched through my courses that I got over the years, and here is an overview for "theory" courses:

A course typically costs in the range of $12-15, a coupon is often available. Before purchasing a course, you can preview the syllabus. An example of a preview looks like as shown below. You can click on the underlined links and see in the preview videos if the teaching style works for you. You can expand all sections to see what the course all entails and how long the instructor spends on a specific topic. The video course below is, for example, 12+ hours long.

Sometime I use one of the courses for just having a guided glass. Other times I use them to look up a specific question that I have. Much of the info is also available on youtube, however I just like how the info is nicely compiled and presented in these udemy courses. You can also contact the instructor and ask a question. The only challenge is once you purchased a course then to actually study it 😃 But I like that udemy occasionally sends reminders that "the course is not going to learn itself." 😃

Hope some of this is useful. All the best.

SouthPark

This here is theory explained a bit - or as best as I can - to myself.

LINK

I know that some people do keep logs or notes etc. So the idea is to - whenever we encounter stuff that appears to be explained in their way by somebody else (or in books) - we do our best to understand it in the best way we can, and write our interpretation, so that if we need to come back to something, and keep refining or improving our own 'understanding' of what it is we're trying to understand - we always have the notes for refreshers etc.

There are various bits of theory etc out there - where books or some people are teaching it. And - as we know, there are lots of cases of poor explanation and/or lack of examples for getting the picture 'clear' for others -- that's the life story of many books and so-called 'teachings'. In lots of cases - it's not because 'we' can't understand it -- it's those 'geniuses' (once again) that can't convey it in ways that all/most people can understand - because they leave details out, and they don't provide any or adequate 'examples'.

LINK

Above (same link again) is a list which I hadn't updated for a while - but I will keep updating later - and others can skim through - and make their own list if they want their own list etc.

ZigZagStory

Music theory is a wide subject.
Prof. Seth Monahan’s series (which I also recommend) is focused on the classical period.

I felt that it was also good to compose music - using music theory in practice really helped securing the knowledge.
Two nice Coursera courses that combine theory and composition skills:

Write like Mozart
Approaching music theory

lilypad

Here is a good one. I've taken 3 classes from him at out local community college. He explains things very well.

Breaking Barlines

SouthPark

lilypad Here is a good one. I've taken 3 classes from him at out local community college. He explains things very well.

Breaking Barlines

Generally very good. Thanks for posting that lilypad. There was one thing I detected in the Intervals Part 2 lessons after going to that link -- is a mistake/error in the lesson. At 53 seconds, the interval C# and E-flat is a 'second' (major second). The teacher told people that it is still a third. Also noticed that the Part 1 intervals lessons doesn't cover black coloured notes. This was the exact reason I had to arrive for myself at LINK for intervals.

I think it's great that he attempted to explain intervals though!

One method I use is ... know what the lower note is. Eg. C#. And then know the C# major scale. The first two notes of that scale is C#, D# (aka E-flat). C# and E-flat spans two notes in the C# major scale. So ... major second is the interval.

Another method is to just know that C# to E-flat spans three raw notes (any colour ... black and/or white) -- which is a condition associated with a major second interval. That is ... a span of three raw notes will mean a major second interval. A span of 5 raw notes would mean major third.

Alternatively ... another approach is to know that the number of raw notes (black or white) in-between C# and E-flat is one note ... which is another optional method for detecting or knowing a major second.

For comparison ... a major third will have three raw (black and/or white) notes in-between the two notes being compared ... eg. C and E has 3 raw notes in-between them (major third). Also, a 'perfect fifth' has 6 raw notes in-between .... eg. C and G has 6 raw notes in-between ... perfect fifth condition.

Often ... it doesn't matter if one doesn't understand intervals or how to identify them etc. Those methods are just ones to consider for those that want to understand without getting taken down the wrong or vague path by lots of 'teachers'.

ShiroKuro

Hey y'all, I'm closing this thread for now. If you think it should be re-opened, feel free to send me a message and I may reconsider.

rsl12

After discussion with the other mods, I am unlocking this thread. Please keep it civil. Thank you!

rsl12

Many posts in this thread have been reorganized! Check out:

Intervals
Diminished 3rds

iternabe

In my search for keyboard harmony text book, I found a pdf scan of Walter Piston’s Harmony. I read through the first two chapters on intervals and triads. It is written in quite dense and dry language. But I did find the way it define/explain things very precise and unambiguous. The quiz at the end of each chapter is really helpful, too.