Why bother with music theory?
Whether you are a keen amateur pianist or learning to play an instrument, a budding rock musician, a lover
of instrumental chamber and orchestral music, or a singer in a choir or barber
shop harmony group, an understanding of musical theory will add to your
enjoyment of music, and enhance your skill in performing, recognizing, arranging
or composing it.
These theory pages will take you through the essentials of musical theory. Musical terms and constructs are defined, and illustrated where possible by sounding the notes , chords or tunes being discussed. The mathematical and acoustical background to music is also described, bringing a greater depth of understanding as to why some note patterns and chords sound nice, and others sound awful!
These theory pages are
used in conjunction with the screen or
"form" with which they are intended to be used. These contain buttons and sounds and animated graphics that provide the
practical demonstrations of each topic. To get to the integrated theory
screens, click on "Theory" on the main menu, then select a topic from
the drop-down list.
Another approach is to use the Learning Guide. It is reached from the front
screen by simply clicking the big Learning Guide button (with a picture of a
scholar wearing a mortar-board and tassel). This reveals a screen showing a
hierarchical plan of all the theory and practical screens in Musical Discovery.
They are arranged in an order suitable for systematic study, but you
can choose to go through in any desired order. Inside each of these
screens there is a set of buttons for easily navigating to the next
"Lesson", the previous "Lesson", or back to the learning
guide. Of course, you may click on any branch of the tree diagram in the
Learning Guide, in order to go directly to the appropriate screen.
From any screen, you can obtain help on how to best use it by hitting the F1 help button. Or you can select Help from the top menu. This is user help - how to use the facilities on each screen.