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A scale is a sequence of notes arranged in ascending or descending order that forms the melodic and harmonic foundation of a piece. The most fundamental scale in Western music is t...
An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes, described by a numeric value that indicates how many letter names are spanned, and a quality that specifies the exact number...
A triad is a three-note chord built by stacking two thirds on top of a root note. The four basic triad qualities are major, minor, augmented, and diminished. A major triad contains...
A few foundational chord progressions recur throughout Western music. The I–IV–V–I progression cycles through tonic, subdominant, dominant, and back to tonic and is the bedrock of...
Rhythm is organized through meter, which groups beats into recurring patterns called measures. A time signature, placed at the beginning of a piece, indicates both how many beats a...
A key signature is a set of sharps or flats placed at the beginning of a staff, after the clef, that indicates which notes are consistently raised or lowered throughout a piece. Th...
Musical notation provides the visual framework for communicating pitch and rhythm. The treble clef, also called the G clef, curls around the second line of the staff to indicate th...