Interactive course
Music theory for piano
Learn the language of music from the keys up. Ten short lessons, each with a hands-on tool you can play, taking you from reading notes to building chords and understanding keys.
1
Reading music
1Staff, clefs & note namesHow music sits on the staff, the treble and bass clefs, ledger lines, and the seven note names.▸ Interactive piano2Note & rest durationsWhole, half, quarter and eighth notes, and the rests that mark silence.▸ Metronome3Dots & tiesHow a dot lengthens a note by half its value, and how ties join notes across the beat.▸ Notation4Measures & time signaturesHow beats group into bars, and what the two numbers of a time signature mean.▸ Metronome5Simple & compound meterThe difference between beats that divide into two (simple) and into three (compound).▸ Metronome6Odd meterMeters like 5/4 and 7/8 that group beats in uneven, asymmetrical patterns.▸ Metronome
2
Scales & keys
7Steps & accidentalsThe smallest distances on the keyboard, and how sharps and flats work.▸ Interactive piano8The major scaleThe whole-and-half-step pattern that builds every major scale, in any key.▸ Scale explorer9Minor scalesNatural, harmonic and melodic minor, and why minor sounds darker than major.▸ Scale explorer10Scale degreesThe name and role of each note in a scale, from the tonic to the leading tone.▸ Scale explorer11Key signatures & the circleHow key signatures work and how the circle of fifths ties all the keys together.▸ Circle of fifths12Calculating key signaturesQuick tricks to find a key from its signature, and a signature from its key.▸ Circle of fifths
3
Intervals
4
Chords & harmony
15Triads & chordsHow three notes stack into a chord, and the four triad qualities.▸ Chord explorer16Chord inversionsRearranging a chord so a different note is on the bottom, and figured-bass names.▸ Chord explorer17Seventh chordsAdding a fourth note to a triad to create major 7th, dominant 7th, minor 7th and more.▸ Chord explorer18Chord progressionsThe diatonic chords of a key, roman numerals, and the progressions behind songs.▸ Chord progression player19Roman numeral analysisReading harmony at a glance by labelling each chord with its roman numeral.▸ Chord progression player
Reference
Theory makes sense when you play it
Take what you learn here to a real piano. Harmono listens to your playing and shows you exactly what to work on next.