Basic Music Theory: Handouts & Worksheets: Notation, Pitch, Rhythm, Scales, Intervals, Chords

Learn the language of music: notation, pitch, rhythm, scales, intervals, chords, and more!

This is not your ordinary music theory textbook! It was designed as a set of handouts and worksheets (with answers) that can function independently or complement and support live or online instruction. The handouts use a simple bullet-points-with-notated-examples format that makes them concise, direct, and easy to read. The worksheets allow you to put the concepts into practice, and you can check your answers against those provided as well.

The material covers the fundamentals of music - notation, pitch, rhythm, scales, intervals, and chords - and is suited for an introductory college theory course. These handouts and worksheets were developed to accompany the online course Basic Music Theory, from the Mastering MuseScore School, so they make the perfect accompaniment to that course. But they also work well in a live classroom situation. Compared to traditional and often overly-wordy textbooks, the handouts are ideal for educators to build lectures and organize class discussion around, and for students to consult later for reference. They can also be used as self-study material to help prepare for a more advanced theory course.

These handouts and worksheets are also available individually online, and they can be used interactively within MuseScore, where they are also fully accessible to blind and visually impaired musicians.