Learn Music Theory Online

The web has become an amazing resource for free online educational resources. If you're interested in learning music theory but can't take classes in your community, you can always turn to the internet for help. This can seem a bit daunting at first, since many online music theory programs cost money, but if you know what to search for, you can find plenty of free music theory material for yourself, your children, or the whole family.

Steps

  1. Consider how much you already know. Can you play an instrument already? How long have you been playing? Can you even read music? Your prior experience will have an effect on how much you need to learn, where you need to learn it, and how "simplified" it'll need to be.
  2. Decide if you're willing to pay for this. Some websites offer free music theory lessons, but to get really in-depth, or be able to get a degree out of your learning experience, you'll probably need to pay and provide a good bit of personal information. If you're just learning for fun, you may not want to shell out a couple hundred dollars (or more) to learn the names of the notes.
  3. Do a web search. There are also some links below, but if you're looking for information on a certain aspect of music theory or aren't satisfied with the listed links, search engines like Google can be a huge help.
  4. Find a good website. You'll want to look over the search results, omit ones that cost money, look like a scam to you, or don't suit your learning tastes. A good website to learn music theory from will be geared towards your experience and age level, will be easy for you to read, and will allow you to take things at your own pace.
  5. Learn concepts one step at a time. Many sites will offer self-check quizzes after every lesson or unit of lessons, and you can use these to see how well you're picking this up. You may also wish to practice in real life. You can try transposing a piece of music to a different key, you can take up an instrument like the piano (which is set up in a way that makes it very easy to see the notes and relationships between them) and learn along with your program, or you can even try your hand at composing.
  6. Retake some lessons if necessary. It won't always stick the first time, but that's the beauty of internet learning... you can revisit certain lessons again and again.
  7. Apply your newly found knowledge to your life. Choose an instrument to study, improve your skills at your current one, start composing music, or just enjoy being more Become More Musically Experienced and experienced.



Tips

  • If you have specific questions that you want answered, you can ask them on music forums, which can be found with a simple web search or may be a part of a website that you're already a member of.

Warnings

  • Avoid scam websites and bad software. Sites that ask for a whole bunch of personal information that don't seem very legitimate probably aren't. Don't risk it.

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Sources and Citations