Practical Music Theory

What is Music Theory?

A simple introduction to music theory — what it is, and how it can be helpful when learning guitar.

Video7:58

The 12 Musical Notes, Explained

An overview of the 12 notes in Western music. These are the building blocks of everything!

Video13:58 PDF2 pages

Major Scale & Notes in Each Key

There are 7 notes in each major key, which melodies and chords in that key are built with – and there's a simple pattern that each key follows.

Video8:48 PDF3 pages

Scale Degrees & Intervals

A quick primer on scale degrees, which are the building block of scales, chords, and melodies within any key. I'll also touch on intervals, a related concept that describes the distance between any two notes.

Video10:46 PDF1 page

Chords in Each Major Key

An overview of the 7 chords built upon the notes in each major key. Again, it's all based on one simple pattern!

Video7:36 PDF1 page

Roman Numeral Chord Notation

An explanation of the Roman numeral numbering system often used to refer to the chords in each key.

Video5:05 PDF1 page

Major vs. Minor Chords

A quick overview of major chords (1-3-5) vs. minor chords (1-b3-5) — including a simple explanation of how they're built.

Video10:38 PDF1 page

Circle of Fifths

Of all the music theory charts & diagrams you may encounter, the Circle of Fifths is perhaps the most useful! Here's how it works.

Video9:38 PDF1 page

The Most Common Chords in Each Key

Video7:04 PDF2 pages

Chord Formula Cheat Sheet

Video9:50 PDF2 pages

Chord Tones Cheat Sheet

Video9:45 PDF1 page

Chord Builder (Paper Cut-Out Kit)

Video5:37 PDF2 pages

Building Chords with Stacked Thirds

Video11:21 PDF3 pages