Music Theory Comprehensive: Part 1 – The Symbols of Music

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For years I’ve been teaching Music Theory in the college classroom. These classes use the same syllabus I’ve used in my college classes for years, at a fraction of the cost. I believe anyone can learn Music Theory – and cost shouldn’t be a barrier.

Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I’m taking those classes to Udemy in an online format in order to reach more students, and give them the joy of Music Theory.

This class is a Comprehensive class – it will have many parts, going through my entire annual curriculum.

This class is Part 1: Reading Music & The Symbols of Music Notation.

What will I learn in this Course?

  • My approach to Music Theory
  • Tools you will need to learn Music Theory quickly and efficiently
  • Music software: Notation programs
  • The elements of the Score
  • Pitch Names
  • Pitch Classes
  • Octaves
  • The White Keys
  • The Black Keys (not the band!)
  • Half-Steps and Whole-Steps
  • Clefs
  • Intervals
  • Naming Octaves
  • Identifying Notes on the Staff
  • Identifying Notes on the Keyboard
  • Beat and Beat Divisions
  • Tempo
  • Downbeats and Upbeats
  • Dotted Rhythms
  • Time Signatures
  • Ties
  • Accidentals
  • Form in Music Notation
  • …and much, much more!

About the Instructor

J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater.

He currently is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and is the CEO and co-founder of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

Praise for classes by J. Anthony Allen

“Without a doubt the best explanation and east of use that one can get. It leaves you enough room to go explore. The classes go by quick, so you can be on your way at being proficient. What are you wait for!”

“Amazing – Seriously Loved It! I took all his courses and have to say I’m so happy! Learnt loads! Jason is an awesome teacher!”

“I have never had any formal training in music at all. Trying to learn all the notes and how everything translated was a serious challenge. After going through this class, Dr. J has totally brought down the barriers. The content was very useful and was easy to grasp for me.”

“I like these courses because you can get up and running quickly without having to spend hours of time wading through TMI (too much information!). Jason hits the high points but shows you what you need to know. Thanks!”

“I’ve watched many other videos on scales and chords before, however, this one has been the best. I now understand minor scales and chords and even how to analyze songs. It really gave me the confidence to start producing music because I feel like I have some structure and guidelines to follow. AWESOME!”

“Clear and Informative – Jason has a clear uncluttered style (with the important dashes of humor) of presentation that is focused on the important key aspects of this course. Recommended for those starting out!”

“Dr. Allen does it again with his music theory series. This course really opened up everything I learned from the 1st section, and now I understand more about the composition side of things for music. I highly highly recommend this course to anyone!!! Really opened my eyes to many things I wasn’t aware of.”

“The Best Teacher Ever, who makes you understand the ins & outs of Music Theory by all means without giving what you don’t want to know.”

Course Information

Estimated Time: 3.5 Hours

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Course Instructor

Jay Allen Author

J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater. He currently is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and is the CEO and co-founder of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

 

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Getting Started

Introduction

Welcome to the class! In this lecture we will do a quick overview of the course.
My Approach to Music Theory

I approach music theory from a composer and songwriters perspective. In this lecture I’ll walk you through how I think about Music Theory and how I approach teaching (and learning) it.
Tools You Will Need for this Course

I’m going to teach this class using a really cool (and FREE) software program. You don’t need to get it, but I think it will help you learn more, and learn faster.
[Download] Staff Paper

Download this file so that you have some staff paper to work with.
About Notation Software Programs 

All The Little Dots

The Elements of the Score

To get started, I want to just walk through a score and point out the different elements that we are seeing. We will learn what all of these mean soon.
Pitch Names

Here we go: The names of the pitches.
Pitch Classes

We have pitch names, which we just learned. We also have pitch classes – slightly different (but important) than pitch names.
Octaves

A lot of music theory comes down to intervals – the distance between notes. Our first interval that we will learn is the Octave.
Worksheet No. 1

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

The Keyboard

Why We Use a Keyboard

We won’t be learning how to play the piano in this class. But the piano is useful to us because it gives us a really nice visual of the notes.
The White Keys

We’ve learned the names of the notes, so next let’s learn how to find them on the keyboard.
The Black Keys (Not the band…)

The black keys present a little bit of a problem. They have 2 different names, and this can be confusing. But hold tight – it will all make sense after this video.
Half-Steps and Whole-Steps

We’ve learned about Octaves – our first interval. Now we need to learn 2 more intervals, and these are much smaller than an octave.
A Little Review of What We’ve Learned So Far

Up next: A little recap. We need to connect a few dots to make sense of how this all works together.
Worksheet No. 2

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

Pitch Notation on the Staff

Staff Overview

Let’s go a little deeper on how the staff works, and how we read notes from it.
Clefs

A new wrinkle! The Clef can show us what range of notes we are talking about. There are many clefs, and everything changes if we are on a different clef.
Treble Clef Refresher

Let’s focus just on the treble clef for now, and get back to what we already know.
Naming Notes and Intervals

Now that we can see notes on the staff, we should try to get comfortable naming the notes and the intervals.
Octave Names

Sometimes we use numbers to indicate the octave, like C3, C4, C5, etc. You might see these numbers so I want you to know what they mean.
Naturals

Before you dive into the first worksheet, let’s go over the Natural symbol.
Worksheet No. 3

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

Organizing Time in Music Notation

Beat and Beat Divisions

Beats! Finding the beat, feeling the beat, and notating the beat are fairly difficult concepts. But with a little guidance, I can get it sorted out for you.
Duple Vs. Triple

We have, mainly, two different types of meters (time) in music: Duple and Triple.
Tempo, Downbeats, and Upbeats

Three new terms: Tempo (speed), Downbeats, and upbeats.
Worksheet No. 4

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

Notating Time on a Musical Staff

Rhythmic Subdivisions

In order to notate rhythms, we need to be able to quantify them by their relationship to each other.
Dots

We can add a dot to any rhythm (or rest) to elongate it.
Rests

What about a rhythm that indicates a certain amount of silence? That is called a rest, and there is one for every rhythmic symbol.
Time Signatures

So far we have looked mostly only at the time signature of 4/4. But there are many others, and things work a little differently in each one.
Ties

So far we have a whole note (4 beats long) as the longest possible rhythmic symbol. But we can make longer symbols by connecting a few together using ties.
Languages

A brief side note: I’ve been giving you a lot of terms in this class that are specific to the way we talk about music in the United States. In this lecture I’ll talk a bit about some things you should know if you are outside of the U.S.
Worksheet No. 5

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

Score Symbols and Conventions

Dynamics and Repeats

So far we have talked about notes on the score, and rhythms on the score. What about volume? We call volume “Dynamics” and this is how we notate them.
Accidental Behavior and Naturals

There is a little more to accidentals that we haven’t learned yet. Let’s tie up some loose ends about accidentals in this video.
Form

Form is the order of events in music. It is also notated on the score using repeats, DS sections, and other tricks.
Worksheet No. 6

Here is a downloadable PDF worksheet for you to practice on. Page 2 of this worksheet has the answers on it so you can check your work. Practice, practice, practice!

Putting it all Together

Places to Find Scores Online

There is a secret website that publishes thousands and thousands of scores that we can download and practice with.
Tips for Practicing Notes and Rhythms

Here are my tips for practicing!
A Bunch of Practice Music

Here are a bunch of files for you to practice with. This is actually a complete book of (fairly) simple music compositions to practice with.

Wrap Up

Thanks and Bye (for now!)

That’s it for part 1! We’ve only scratched the surface!

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