About Our Course
A complete music theory course for
all ages and skill levels.
For everyone. Our Music Theory course is designed for all ages (10-100) and skill levels. Whether you are completely new to music, an amataur musician, or a music student, you’ll find yourself at home with Music Theory Tutor.
Complete. The course consists of 9 grades, divided into three major subjects: Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony. There are over 450+ lessons in total.
Audiovisual. Music theory concepts are explained with pictures, audio, and lots of examples, not with pages of text.
Step by step. The course follows a “spiral learning” approach. We introduce concepts in simple terms and then gradually fill in the details. This is an exceptionally effective way to learn, which allows you to focus on what’s important and build a solid foundation without ever getting lost.
Learn by doing. Interactive examples, exercises, reviews, and tests. You’ll learn music by experiencing it, not by reading about it.
Measure your progress. A quiz at the end of every module and a test at the end of every grade to make sure you’re keeping up.
Our course was designed by Greg Simon, a composer and jazz trumpeter. He holds a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.M. from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound. Greg is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; he had also taught at Concordia University Ann Arbor, the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the University of Colorado.
Screenshots
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Here are a few of the 450+ music theory lessons!
Grade 1: Introduction to Rhythm
Grade 1: Beat Counting
Grade 2: 16th notes
Grade 2: Using Solfege
Grade 3: Major and Minor Triads
Grade 4: Simple and Compound Time
Grade 4: Rhythm Review
Grade 5: Melody Workshop
Grade 6: Order of Flats and Sharps
Grade 6: Half Cadence
Grade 8: Rondo Form
Grade 9: Harmonic Flowchart
Full Lesson Plan
Curious what you’ll learn in each grade?
Here’s the scoop!
GRADE 1
Rhythm
Learn about beats, note values, time signatures, and counting.
Practice counting and imitating rhythms.
Melody
Learn about beats, note values, time signatures, and counting.
Practice counting and imitating rhythms.
Harmony
Nothing yet…
GRADE 2
Rhythm
Learn more complex note durations, more time signatures, ties, and rests.
Practice imitating rhythms and identifying different time signatures.
Melody
Learn about more intervals and the major scale.
Practice hearing different interval types and begin singing the major scale.
Harmony
Nothing yet…
GRADE 3
Rhythm
Learn more dotted rhythms, pickup notes, and 8th note time signatures.
Practice imitating more complex rhythms.
Melody
Learn more complex intervals and note tendencies.
Practice singing short melodies and hearing intervals.
Harmony
Learn about major and minor triads, the building blocks of harmony.
Practice building and hearing major and minor triads.
GRADE 4
Rhythm
Learn smaller notes / rest values, compound time & more complex rhythms.
Practice counting compound time & tackle harder rhythms in simple time.
Melody
Review resolution and stability, and learn more about note direction.
Practice singing short melodies and patterns without seeing the score.
Harmony
Review different types of triads and learn about the basics of harmony.
Practice hearing simple chord progressions and different chord functions.
GRADE 5
Rhythm
Learn more time signatures & 16th-based patterns in compound time.
Practice rhythm patterns in compound and simple time.
Melody
Learn about the minor scale and more intervals.
Practice different intervals and singing patterns in major and minor.
Harmony
Learn about more harmonic functions and cadences of different types.
Practice dictating harmonic progressions and identifying cadences.
GRADE 6
Rhythm
Learn about new time signatures and triplets in simple time.
Practice more complex rhythms and new meters.
Melody
Learn about new key signatures and harmonic intervals.
Practice new keys, and challenge your interval recognition.
Harmony
Learn about new harmonic functions, cadence types, and inversions.
Practice dictating harmonies and telling apart cadence types.
GRADE 7
Rhythm
Learn about odd-meter time signatures in simple time.
Practice complex rhythms, including syncopation and triplets.
Melody
Learn about the different types of minor scale, in different keys.
Practice singing chromatic intervals, singing melodies in major and minor, and telling intervals apart.
Harmony
Learn about first inversion chords in harmonic progressions and more about functions.
Practice telling chord inversions and qualities apart, and dictate 4-6-chord progressions.
GRADE 8
Rhythm
Learn about new types of odd meter and new simple-time triplets.
Practice rhythms in odd meters and using complex rhythmic patterns.
Melody
Learn about new key signatures and more about the minor scale.
Practice singing patterns in major and minor, and work on more harmonic intervals.
Harmony
Learn about seventh chords and the three types of second inversion chords.
Practice identifying triads and seventh chords and dictate longer chord progressions.
GRADE 9
Rhythm
Learn more about triplets and even more time signatures.
Practice complex rhythms.
Melody
Learn new key signatures, modes, and the basics of dictating two-voice melodies.
Practice intervals and melody playback in one and two voices.
Harmony
Learn about new types of seventh chord and meet the harmonic flowchart.
Practice dictating longer chord progressions and telling apart different types of chords.
Ready to start learning?
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