Theory
A structured course in music theory and harmony — pitch, intervals, scales and modes, chords, harmonic progression, counterpoint, rhythm, melody, form, notation and performance practice. Every entry pairs playable examples with hand-drawn diagrams, all originally written in Chinese and English.
Sound and Pitch
- Concert PitchA4 at 440 Hz is a recent agreement; pitch standards used to float from place to place
- TimbreAt the same pitch, timbre comes from how strong each partial is and how the attack is shaped
- Harmonic SeriesA single tone is not one frequency but a stack of integer multiples of one
- RegisterRange is how far an instrument can go; register is where the music is sitting right now
- OctaveTwo tones a frequency doubling apart are heard as the same class of note, one level higher
- Note NameCutting continuous pitch into nameable points — letters, solfège syllables and Chinese pitch names
- PitchFrequency sets the pitch, but the ear hears ratios, not hertz
- What Is a Musical SoundSound is vibrating air; a musical tone is the kind whose pitch can be named and repeated
Intervals
- Intervals in MelodySteps and leaps set a melody's breathing; interval width is its tone of voice
- Interval Ear TrainingFrom anchor melodies to thinking in semitones — a training order you can keep running alone
- EnharmonicOne key can carry several spellings — and the spelling, not the sound, carries the function
- Consonance and DissonanceConsonance comes in degrees, and dissonance is what drives music forward — harmony rests on this ladder
- Interval InversionRaise the lower note an octave and the degrees add to nine while the quality flips
- Simple and Compound IntervalsIntervals within an octave are simple; anything wider than an octave is compound
- Augmented and Diminished IntervalsWhat a perfect or major interval becomes when widened or narrowed by one more semitone
- Perfect IntervalsUnisons, fourths, fifths and octaves are perfect rather than major or minor — their ratios are the simplest
- Major and Minor IntervalsSame degree, one semitone apart in size — that is all that separates major from minor
- Semitone and Whole ToneInterval size is the second ruler — it measures how many semitones lie between two notes
- Interval NumberDegree counts letter names only, ignoring semitones — the first ruler for any interval
- IntervalThe distance between two notes — decided by degree and by semitones
Scales and Modes
- Scales as HarmonyA scale is not just melodic material — stack thirds on it and a family of chords appears
- Artificial ScaleNot grown from tradition but built from an idea
- Japanese ScalesPentatonic but with semitones — insen and ryukyu build their colour from where the semitones fall
- Octatonic ScaleWhole and half steps alternating — eight notes, two diminished sevenths stacked
- Chromatic ScaleAll twelve semitones, none omitted — a material rather than a key
- Whole Tone ScaleAll whole tones, no semitones, six notes — and therefore no tonic
- Blues ScaleMinor pentatonic plus a lowered fifth — one note that turns smooth into gritty
- Chinese Pentatonic ModesGong, shang, jiao, zhi, yu — five notes, and any one of them can be the tonic
- Melodic Minor ScaleRaise the sixth and seventh going up, restore them coming down — a scale that differs by direction
- Harmonic Minor ScaleNatural minor with a raised seventh — restoring the leading tone at the price of an augmented second
- Locrian ModeA semitone above the tonic and a diminished fifth above it — the one mode that cannot stand still
- Aeolian ModeStructurally identical to natural minor — the minor slot among the six modes
- Mixolydian ModeMajor with a lowered seventh — major brightness, but without that compulsion to go home
- Lydian ModeMajor with a raised fourth — the most suspended of the modes, with a tritone sitting above the tonic
- Phrygian ModeNatural minor with a lowered second — a semitone sits right above the tonic, the most "exotic" colour of the modes
- Dorian ModeNatural minor with a raised sixth — a minor colour, one shade brighter
- Pentatonic ScaleA scale with no semitones at all — cut it anywhere and you never hit a minor second
- Natural Minor ScaleWhole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole — a major scale with the 3rd, 6th and 7th lowered
- Major ScaleWhole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half — seven notes and two semitone gaps, the default ground of tonal music
- ScaleA scale is a selection of pitches out of twelve, put in order — the choices shape the style
Chords
- Chord ColourWhy one chord can sound bright here and murky there — register, voicing and doubling all play a part
- Chord VoicingThe same notes, packed close or spread wide — and they can sound like different chords
- Non-Chord ToneA note outside the current chord — which lets melody and harmony stop being one-to-one
- Chord Inversion and Figured BassPut a different chord tone in the bass — the name holds, the sound and function change
- Ninth, Eleventh and Thirteenth ChordsKeep stacking thirds — the fifth goes first, then the eleventh and thirteenth arrive
- Sixth ChordA triad plus a sixth — one register away from a seventh chord, yet a different function
- Added-Tone ChordAdd a note to an intact triad — without replacing anything and without stacking another third
- Suspended ChordReplace the third with a second or a fourth — neither major nor minor, so it hangs
- Half-Diminished SeventhA diminished triad plus a minor seventh — half diminished, and therefore milder than a full diminished seventh
- Minor SeventhA minor triad plus a minor seventh — the gentlest and most widely used seventh chord
- Major SeventhA major triad plus a major seventh — the seventh sits a semitone below the octave, which makes it the sharpest
- Diminished SeventhFour equal minor thirds — only three forms exist, and each holds two tritones
- Dominant SeventhA major triad plus a minor seventh — it hides a tritone, and that is the strongest push in tonal music
- Seventh ChordOne more third on top of a triad — four notes, and the added seventh supplies the push
- Augmented TriadTwo major thirds stacked — symmetrical, unanchored, and absent from every diatonic scale
- Diminished TriadTwo minor thirds stacked — its fifth is squeezed flat, so it must resolve
- Minor TriadA minor third under a major third — a major triad with its third dropped a semitone
- Major TriadA major third under a minor third — the most stable chord in tonality
- TriadTwo thirds stacked into three notes — four qualities that carry all of harmony
- ChordThree or more notes sounding together — and stacked in thirds, which is the part that matters
Harmonic Progression
- Treating Non-Chord TonesThe note is easy; making it sound intentional is not — four rules of treatment
- Chromatic HarmonyWhen every semitone can be read as somebody's leading tone, the tonal centre starts to slip
- Pedal PointOne note refuses to move while the harmony churns above it — that is how tension accumulates
- Figured Bass and ContinuoOne bass line with figures telling you what to play above it — the Baroque turned accompaniment into readable code
- Harmonic RhythmHow fast the chords change — it shapes momentum more than the chords themselves do
- Leading-Tone SeventhA seventh chord built on the leading tone — the strongest push, with no modulation required
- SequenceRepeat one figure at different pitch levels — the simplest way to keep music moving
- TonicizationTreat another degree as the tonic for a moment — borrow a centre, then hand it back
- Secondary DominantGive any degree its own temporary dominant — freshness without modulating
- Circle of FifthsTwelve keys arranged by perfect fifths — signatures, close relations and functional chains all live on this one diagram
- ModulationMoving the tonal centre — smooth between close keys, abrupt between distant ones, and it all depends on the transition
- Parallel Fifths and OctavesThey are avoided not because they sound bad, but because they make two voices sound like one
- Voice LeadingChords do not get swapped — each voice travels to the next one on its own
- CadenceThe punctuation of harmony — authentic, plagal, half and deceptive, four ways to close
- Degrees and Harmonic FunctionSeven degrees collapse into three functions — tonic, dominant, subdominant — the most economical way to organise tonal music
- Tonal CentreOne pitch acts as home, and everything else is measured against it — that is tonality
Counterpoint
- Cantus FirmusOne given melody as the frame, with everything else growing around it
- Contrapuntal DevicesMirror, retrograde, augmentation, diminution — four transformations that each change one dimension
- FugueOne subject enters in voice after voice, and then carries the whole piece
- CanonOne melody followed faithfully to the end by another voice — imitation taken to its limit
- Fifth SpeciesFlorid counterpoint — the first four mixed freely, fewest rules, hardest judgement
- ImitationOne line says something, another says it back — the most economical device in polyphony
- Fourth SpeciesSyncopated counterpoint — suspensions displace the accents, and the suspended chord comes from here
- Third SpeciesFour notes against one — within a single beat, dissonances may now come in runs
- Second SpeciesTwo notes against one — the weak beat may now be dissonant
- First SpeciesThe strict one-to-one exercise — first get every single interval right
- Note Against NoteOne note to one note — the most basic form of counterpoint, and the easiest to check
- CounterpointSeveral melodies at once, each one a melody on its own, together making harmony
Rhythm and Metre
- Rhythm TrainingBuild an internal pulse first, then handle complexity — reversing the order is painful
- Notating RhythmNote shapes show proportions, not seconds — the premise for reading any score
- Metronome and BPMTurning speed from feeling into number — a calibration tool, not a performance standard
- Free Metre and SanbanNo even pulse, yet rhythm remains — phrasing and tension simply live elsewhere
- Rhythmic PatternA recurring combination of durations — the cheapest tool for character
- Dance RhythmsThe dance shapes the rhythm, because the rhythm has to fit the feet
- Polyrhythm and Cross RhythmTwo divisions running at once — the difference from syncopation is how many cycles there are
- Tempo Terms and MarkingsFrom feeling words to beats per minute — the history of tempo terms is a history of performance practice
- Simple, Compound and Irregular MetreOne question decides it — can each beat be split into two?
- TupletThree notes where two belong — because the duration system divides by two, and three has no place
- SyncopationMoving the accent off the strong beat — the tension comes from a delayed expectation
- Metric AccentThe accent returns on a fixed cycle — that gives music a pulse, and makes it possible to disrupt
- Metre and Time SignatureHow many beats per bar and which note gets the beat — the notation of the accent cycle
- RhythmThe arrangement of durations — metre is the ruler, rhythm is how you actually walk
Melody
- Hearing MelodyHearing a melody means hearing relations, not absolute pitches — three layers from coarse to fine
- Designing a ClimaxA climax is not the loudest moment but the release after accumulation
- Breathing and PhrasingA melody breathes — which is what separates it from a run of notes
- Thematic DevelopmentTake the subject apart, rework it, reassemble — development is not variation
- Motive and SubjectA motive is material, a subject is a statement — they differ in completeness, not length
- Phrase and PeriodThe melody's sentence and its pair of sentences — judged by the strength of cadences
- The Making of a MelodyA scale is material; a melody is a selection from it arranged in time
Musical Form
- Free FormNo pre-existing pattern — but free does not mean formless
- Concerto FormA dialogue between soloist and orchestra — the only form built on the individual against the collective
- Large-Scale StructuresThe multi-movement layout of symphonies, sonatas and concertos — one long breath
- Song FormVerse and chorus — the chorus returning repeatedly is a close relative of rondo form
- SuiteA set of self-standing pieces arranged by some principle — the movements do not seek wholeness
- Canon FormOrganising canonic writing into a whole piece — the structure is built from changes in the following rule
- Fugue FormThe structure of a fugue: exposition, middle section, final section — it has its own sectional logic
- One-Part FormOne idea standing alone — the baseline against which form itself is judged
- Genre versus FormGenre asks what it is for; form asks how it is built — two questions, constantly confused
- Variation FormA A₁ A₂ A₃ — one theme repeatedly re-dressed, its outline always recognisable
- Compound Ternary FormTernary form scaled up — each section is itself a complete form
- Rondo FormABACA — A keeps coming back while the episodes differ each time
- Binary FormTwo sections, A and B — the basic shape of Baroque dances and the ancestor of sonata form
- Ternary FormABA — out and back, the commonest form of all
- Sonata FormNot merely three sections — its core is a tonality first split, then unified
- Musical FormForm is how repetition, contrast and return are combined — not a mould but an organising principle
Notation
- Writing Time SignaturesWhere it goes, what the C sign means, and how to change metre mid-piece
- Contemporary NotationWhen music stops centring on pitch and duration, the premises of traditional notation fail
- OrnamentsThe signs are fixed; the execution changes with the era — literal reading is often wrong
- Articulation MarksIt decides how notes connect — a different dimension from how loud they are
- Ties and SlursNearly identical in shape, entirely different in meaning — the commonest misreading
- Gongche NotationA system that writes pitch with Chinese characters — and its "ban-yan" idea still lives in modern terminology
- Numbered Notation (Jianpu)Recording degrees with the digits 1–7 — easy to write and read, with its own trade-offs
- Dynamic MarkingsDynamics are relative — there is no absolute volume, only relations
- AccidentalsFive signs, one scope rule, three uses
- RestsA rest is not blank space but part of the music — breath, expectation and clearing
- Note ValuesThe practical reading and writing of note values — stems, flags, dots and beaming
- Key SignatureA key signature sets defaults; it does not name a key — one signature serves several keys
- ClefThe clef decides which line is which note — without it a staff means nothing
- The StaffFive lines give positions, not pitches — a staff means nothing without a clef
Ear Training
- Hearing Intervals in ContextThe same interval means entirely different things in different positions in a key
- Hearing RhythmFind the beat first, then the pattern — reversing the order makes a muddle
- Hearing Key and ScaleThe test is where the centre is, not which notes are used
- Hearing ChordsFunction matters more than quality — hearing "that is the dominant" beats hearing "that is major"
- Sight-SingingSinging from the page — it forces you to pre-hear before you make a sound
- Ear TrainingNot about naming notes, but about building a channel from hearing to knowing
Performance
- ImprovisationImprovisation is not unprepared — it is composing in real time from known material and rules
- Historical PerformanceA score is incomplete information — it records what players of its time needed
- Stage ExperienceExperience changes your ability to work with nerves, not the nerves themselves
- Ensemble ListeningIn an ensemble, hearing others matters more than hearing yourself — yet beginners hear only themselves
- Recording and Self-AssessmentA recording is the most objective teacher — while playing you hear your intention, not the sound
- Posture and RelaxationRelaxation is not slackness but using effort only where it belongs
- Sight-ReadingSight-reading trains one thing above all — not stopping
- Hands SeparateIt reduces the amount to process at once — and combining is a new task in itself
- Slow PracticeThe point of slow practice is not slowness but giving the correct action a chance to repeat
- MemorisationMemory needs multiple backups — relying on one kind collapses the moment it is interrupted
- Performance AnxietyIt cannot be removed, only managed — the goal is not calm but doing it right while nervous
- How to PractiseYou practise the hard places, not the whole piece — repeating what is right, not what is wrong