If you’re brand new to music theory, or if you want to brush up on the basics, follow this short series of videos. They will take you step-by-step from the first concepts such as simple intervals and the major scale through to key signatures, triads, chord sequences, the circle of fifths, minor scales and much more.

Here’s a useful introduction to the octave—a fundamental element of music theory—that will give you a glimpse into a few related concepts such as pitch, frequency, intervals, and the way the piano keyboard is laid out.

Following on from The Octave, here’s an introduction to the major scale, the most important scale we use. Whatever instrument, or whatever style of music you play, you’ll come across the major scale. Here’s a quick overview into the way the major scale is built, how to create your own, and how it sounds, along with a discussion on sharps & flats and key signatures.

In this introduction to minor scales, you’ll find out where they come from, what they do, how they sound, and how to make them. If you already know about major scales, this is the perfect next step. You’ll learn about the tonal centre, and how you can move it by creating modes, and how key signatures work in minor keys too.

This video introduces the little tweaks that make all the difference with the Melodic Minor and Harmonic Minor scales. You’ll learn about the way they’re created, and why, and how they sound, and you’ll hear examples of the scales in action.

Here’s a quick look at simple triads, which are the foundation for all the chords we play. We’ll discuss the way they’re formed, the difference between major and minor chords, and what thirds & fifths do, and we’ll finish up by combining these chords in a fool-proof first step to song writing.

Once you’ve got to grips with basic triads, it’s time to look at what happens when we extend chords by adding sevenths. In this video we’ll discuss different types of major chords with sevenths—major seventh and flattened seventh—and minor seventh chords.

The circle of fifths—or cycle of fourths—is a great way to visualise keys and key signatures, chord relationships and all sorts of other useful things. In this video, we’ll look at the way the circle of fifths is organised and what it’s used for. You’ll wonder how you ever did without it!

Pentatonic scales are everywhere in rock, folk, jazz and blues… they’re used for melodies and improvised solos, bass lines, horn parts and all sorts. This video introduces the concept, construction and use of basic pentatonics, including their use in major and minor keys.

In this video, we’ll continue to explore pentatonic scales by looking at how we can change scales while chords in a sequence change; how we can easily tweak one pentatonic to create another; and how we can generate multiple major and minor pentatonics from a single major scale.

Transposition—moving music up or down in pitch—is a very useful skill to have. Here, we’ll look at a few reasons to transpose music and the main methods used to ensure you have an accurate transposition. You even get to hear me failing to sing!

Once you’re familiar with dominant chords, this is the next step. Watch my video on Chords with Sevenths and The Circle of Fifths first, and you’ll be in great shape to explore a sophisticated and effective way to expand your song-writing toolkit.

Understanding intervals will help you to construct chords, harmonies and melodies with confidence; work out keys and their scales; and work music out by ear. This video outlines the important intervals with lots of examples that will come in handy.

It’s time to look at creating subtle expression by bending certain notes in the pentatonic scale. In this video we’ll focus on how flexing the pitch of the major third can help make your improv and performance much more lyrical. And, once we try this on the relative minor, we’ll be playing the blues scale—the most popular and versatile scale for improvising in blues, rock and jazz, and a great starting point for exploring options in improv generally.

Creating a smooth, flowing bass line will give a solid foundation to your chords and melody. In this video, we’re looking at one of the easiest and most useful ways to add sophistication to the bottom end.

Major scales contain seven different modes, almost like hidden sound worlds that allow us to shift the tonal centre and create a variety of expressive melodies. In this video I’ll go through the seven modes, discussing their characteristics, uses, and differences, with example melodies to give you a flavour of each. For a refresher, take a look my videos The Major Scale and The Relative Minor before you watch this one.

If you want to understand triplets—what they mean, what they’re for, how they’re created, and how to write them—this video should clear things up. We’ll look at quarter note and eighth note triplets with simple examples, and then we’ll discuss different kinds of time signatures that can make things much easier.