The gym

MusicTheoryGym is a free place to learn and practise music theory from your very first note to jazz harmony. Theory sticks when you drill it, not when you only read about it, so everything here is built around short, repeatable reps with an explanation after every answer.

What you will find

• The training plan. 33 guided programs (192 short sessions) in 4 stages: Foundations, Building, Strength, Performance. Each session is shaped like a workout: warm-up, a short lesson with figures you can tap and hear, working sets, a pass-mark finisher and a cool-down. It covers the keyboard, reading music, rhythm, scales, intervals, key signatures, ear training, chords and chord symbols, progressions, voice leading, melody and form, modulation, and extended chords and chord scales. You can skip what you know, test out of a program, and pick a daily, easy or own-pace schedule.
• 41 drills. Quick multiple-choice and build-it practice with three levels (warm-up, working set, heavy lift), focus options, and timed sets of 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes.
• 23 tools and charts. Chord and scale finders, a key-change helper, an overtone explorer, a chord transposer and capo calculator, guitar and ukulele chord libraries, a tuner that listens through your microphone, key signature and circle-of-fifths charts, and more.
• Search and browse. Search understands concepts, so you can type "same note different name" or "what scale over a dominant chord" and be taken to the right drill. You can also browse every applet by topic.
• Routines. Chain drills into your own daily workout.

How the lessons are made

Lessons are written so you can learn theory from them alone, with no prior knowledge. Every drill is checked automatically against the lessons: no drill may ask for something that an earlier lesson has not explained first. Short "rusty on this?" boxes link back to the lesson that taught a prerequisite, so you can dip in anywhere.

Principles

• Free, no sign-up. Open a workout and start.
• Private. Your streaks, stats and training plan progress are saved in your own browser and never sent anywhere. Search runs on your device. The tuner's microphone audio is analysed on your device and never recorded or uploaded.
• Correct. Notes are spelled the way a score would spell them: G♯ and A♭ are different notes, and F♯ major has an E♯.
• Supported by ads. Advertising may appear in future to cover hosting and development. It will stay out of the way of the drills.

Credits

Piano sounds: samples from the Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. See the full credits and licences. Music notation shapes: the Noto Music font (SIL Open Font License). Everything else is made for this site.

Feedback

Found a mistake, or want a particular workout or lesson? Email content@musictheorygym.com. Questions and suggestions are welcome too.