Can you name the key this piece of music is in? This music theory lesson explains how to look at a short extract of music and figure out the key without hearing it. This types of exercises are often met in theory exams, where you are...

How good are you at naming and identifying chords in a piece of music? This music theory lesson explains how to determine the key of a given piece of music and how to work out the chords that belong to that key. It then invites you to...

Identifying music intervals can be one of the more confusing things about learning music theory for the first time. In this video we will look at an easier way to find the names of intervals using the major scale as a reference point....

ANNOUNCEMENT: As of May 14, 2019, there is a NEW Music History series starting on this channel called "Music In History: The Story of Music". NOTE: This video was created as a bit of a joke on how music history classes and how little...

Learn how to work out the key of a piece of sheet music. In this music theory lesson we take a look at four extracts of music and practice working out their keys. You'll learn how to make sure you get the correct key by looking at the...

Just by looking at a melody can you work out which key it is in? How can you tell just by looking at the notes which key a melody is in, especially when there is no key signature? Even if you can work it out how do you know if it’s in a...

There are two conventions used across the world for naming the rhythmic values of notes. This music theory lesson explains the two systems used either side of the pond. In both systems there is an element of logic that helps to grasp how...

How to work out intervals and develop the ability to hear and pitch them. Many people struggle to pitch notes accurately from a score, whether you’re a singer or someone needing to sight sing in an instrumental exam. In this video you'll...

Get better at sight reading with these expert tips and techniques, suitable for candidates preparing for ABRSM exams. How good are you at Sight Reading? It’s an area that many musicians worry about. In music exams, quite often it turns...

What is doubling the major third? How do you know if its a major third? Can you double thirds? Why is doubling a major third bad? This music composition lesson explains one of the rules of writing four-part harmony, namely the advice to...

Just like the names of products and companies, animals' names can affect how we feel about them...and changing the name of a species might actually help us save...

I've gotten a lot of questions over the last 5 years. Some of them more than others, so today I'm starting an FAQ series. The note names in Western Music seem to be a little off? Why is the key with no sharps or flats C major and not A...

How to recognize written chords in sheet music. This music theory lesson will help you understand how to look at a chord and know what chord is written. By the end of this lesson, you will have a good understanding of how to identify...

When you look at a melody how do you know in which key it is composed? This music theory lesson presents a short piece and explains how to determine the key of a given melody. It also talks about modulation to a different key. How good...

Solfege and Tonic Sol Fa. What is it, and how is it used? Many musicians use sol fa. Others have heard about it but are not sure how it works. In this music performance lesson, we explain the sol fa system and how it can transfer from...

Today we are going to write a harmony using mostly seventh chords and we will look at a strategy to deal with non-chord notes when we are writing music. This combines a couple of our past lessons so be sure you watched those videos...

Shonda Rhimes, the titan behind Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, is responsible for some 70 hours of television per season, and she loves to work. "When I am hard at work, when I am deep in it, there is no other...

Identifying music intervals can be one of the more confusing things about learning music theory for the first time. In this video we will look at an easier way to find the names of intervals using the major scale as a reference point....

Solresol, Esperanto, Karinthy, Swift, & Defoe -- some extra linguistic tidbits about constructed languages, connected to our video about Music ( Thank you to all...

Learn the layout and the names of the keys on the piano in this lesson. From here, you can learn how to read notes on the staff and then find them on the piano. This is a perfect lesson for those looking to play the piano and consider...

For centuries, composers have been hiding a secret tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach in their works. From Schumann and Brahms to Schoenberger and Honegger, there's over four hundred documented cases of the same motif popping up in honor...

Note names are weird. Depending on where you studied, you probably refer to notes either with letters or a series of arbitrary-seeming nonsense syllables, but, like, why? Where does that come from, and why do we still use it? Well, I...

Theorists love naming things. There's nothing quite like the feeling you get from evocative titles like the Petrushka Chord, the Prometheus Scale, or... 4-Z15B? Well, ok, not all of them can be glamorous. There's just too many sets of...

I'm joined by 12Tone to talk about the origins of music, the brain, language, and more. ' Please check out 12Tone's video "Why Do Notes Have Names?"='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBbhfRfQIMM&feature=youtu.be' target='_blank'...