Theory studio
Music Theory for Guitarists
A grounded, editorial tour through harmony, rhythm and composition. Twelve chapters with examples on the fretboard.
01How this course works
Read, play, repeat
Each chapter mixes a short concept with hands on examples and exercises you can do today.
- 01
Read the concept
Plain language, no jargon. Five minutes to grasp the idea.
- 02
Try on the guitar
Every chapter shows the idea on a real fretboard so it sticks.
- 03
Do the exercises
Three to five short drills that turn the concept into a skill.
- 04
Build a habit
Listen, play, create. The chapter ends with a small creative prompt.
02Table of contents
Twelve chapters, from first principles
Every chapter stands on its own. Read in order or jump to what you need today.
- 01Fundamentals7 min readBeginner
The Musical Alphabet on the Guitar
Learn the seven natural notes, the five accidentals between them, and how this twelve note alphabet repeats across the fretboard.
- 02Fundamentals9 min readBeginner
Intervals You Can Actually Hear
Recognise the twelve intervals inside an octave by sound, by song reference, and by shape on the guitar.
- 03Harmony11 min readBeginner
Building Triads from Scratch
Understand major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads as combinations of two thirds, and find them anywhere on the fretboard.
- 04Harmony8 min readBeginner
Diatonic Chords in a Major Key
Stack triads on every degree of a major scale and you get the seven chords that power most popular music.
- 05Harmony10 min readIntermediate
Cadences and How Music Breathes
Recognise authentic, plagal, half, and deceptive cadences, and use them to shape phrases.
- 06Harmony12 min readIntermediate
Seventh Chords and Colour
Major seventh, dominant seventh, minor seventh, half diminished, and diminished seventh, the five flavours that take you from folk into jazz.
- 07Modes14 min readIntermediate
Modes: One Scale, Seven Worlds
Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, Locrian. Learn each mode by character, not by formula.
- 08Rhythm8 min readBeginner
Time Signatures and the Pulse
Read time signatures, feel the pulse behind them, and understand how groove emerges from grouping beats.
- 09Rhythm9 min readIntermediate
Syncopation and Swing
Syncopation places accents off the beat. Swing reshapes pairs of eighth notes into a triplet feel. Both turn straight time into something alive.
- 10Harmony11 min readAdvanced
Voice Leading Without the Mystery
Move each voice the shortest distance to the next chord and harmony stops sounding like a sequence and starts sounding like a story.
- 11Harmony10 min readAdvanced
Borrowed Chords and Modal Mixture
Borrow chords from the parallel minor (or major) to add unexpected colour while staying in your key.
- 12Composition13 min readIntermediate
Writing Your First Real Song
A simple workflow for assembling a verse, a chorus, a bridge, and a coda, then deciding what to cut.
03Learning path
Four roads through the course
Read in order if you are starting out, or pick the lane that matches what you want to play next.
- 01
Foundations
Notes, intervals, the alphabet of music.
- 02
Harmony
Triads, diatonic chords, cadences, seventh chords, voice leading, modal mixture.
- 03
Modes
Seven moods of the same scale and how to actually use them.
- 04
Rhythm
Meter, syncopation and swing. The pulse behind every song.
- 05
Composition
Putting it all together into a song you can finish.
Continue from where you left off
We saved your place in the chapter you were reading last. Pick up the thread when the moment is right.