Ear training develops the basic listening skills of the music student. Here are some suggestions for developing the various ear training skills, including a downloadable game to play.

The harmonic series is the key to understanding not only harmonics, but also timbre and the basic functioning of many musical instruments.

Musical basics, like octaves and the timbre of a note, come from the harmonic series.

Music relies primarily on repetition to help it make sense to the listener. In popular music and children's songs, the repetition is often very literal and direct, making the music more immediately accessible. In art-music, the repetition is often varied and transformed. This makes the repetition flexible, capable of assuming of many forms and moods.

This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of three broad topics concerning music in relation to time.Music as Architecture: the creation of musical shapes in time;Music as Memory: how musical understanding depends upon memory and reminiscence, with attention to analysis of musical structures; andTime as the Substance of Music: how different disciplines such as philosophy and neuroscience view the temporal dimension of musical processes and/or performances.Classroom discussion of these topics is complemented by three weekend concerts with pre-concert forums, jointly presented by the Boston Chamber Music Society (BCMS) and MIT Music & Theater Arts.

This course introduces the basic concepts and terms needed to discuss melody and harmony. It is intended for teens or adults with no background in music theory but some familiarity with reading common notation and playing an instrument (or singing). Concepts covered include interval, major and minor keys and scales, triads and chords.

This module includes exercises to practice listening for expository and developmental passages.

For the Westerner with some knowledge of Western music theory, but none of Balinese gamelan, an introduction to the basic elements of the music, with some suggestions for informed listening.

What makes music “modern”? This module proposes that heightened ambiguity differentiates experimental 20th-century music from the classical repertoire.

“Sound Reasoning” is a web-based, introductory music appreciation course. It offers a new approach to music appreciation for adults, focusing on style-independent concepts. While the course concentrates primarily on Western classical and modern music, the concepts that are introduced apply to music of any style or era. The goal of “Sound Reasoning” is to equip you with questions that you may ask of any piece of music, thereby creating a richer and more comprehensive understanding of music both familiar and unfamiliar.

Teachers and students may use this test to check general knowledge of music theory, history, and practice.

For teachers of fifth and sixth grade students, a unit on music that encourages active participation while expanding vocabulary and tying musical concepts to math concepts.

An overview of some of the math concepts that are relevant to music. Includes suggestions for classroom activities for grades 3-7 that use music to illustrate a math concept, as well as reviews of the math necessary for older students to understand some music theory and acoustics.

The "Notenscheibe" is a teaching material for music lessons. Currently available in German language and licensed under cc-by-nc-sa.

General knowledge quiz on music theory. Every answer is a number.

Here is a summary of the concepts introduced in "Sound Reasoning." All apply to works of any era or style.

In this module, we attempt to form a foundation in music theory as it applies to our project.

Sound Reasoning is a web-based, introductory music appreciation course. It offers a new approach to music appreciation for adults, focusing on style-independent concepts. While the course concentrates primarily on Western classical and modern music, the concepts that are introduced apply to music of any style or era. The goal of "Sound Reasoning" is to equip you with questions that you may ask of any piece of music, thereby creating a richer and more comprehensive understanding of music both familiar and unfamiliar. Here are some additional features of the course. "Sound Reasoning" is completely listening based. No ability to read music is required. The course assumes little or no musical background. A minimum of terminology is invoked. Musical examples are interpolated directly into the text. The course is interactive. A "listening gallery" with exercises follows each module, so that you may practice and refine your listening skills. The modules may be studied in sequence or individually. You may easily print a .pdf of any module. "Sound Reasoning" is designed as both a stand-alone, self-paced course as well as a supplement to existing university classes.

Meant to follow the Introduction to Music Theory course. For eighth grade and up, some interesting subjects in music theory, with an emphasis on Non-Western music.