Online music tools

Flashcards and assorted little aids to the art and craft of music

Music theory basics

  • Note identification

    Learning to recognize notes in treble and bass clefs

  • Interval quantity

    Start figuring out intervals visually by numbers only. E.g. 3rd, 5th... Developed by Dr. Brian Driscoll.

  • Intervals

    Minor 3rd, major 7th, that sort of stuff. In treble and bass clefs.

  • Intervals on two staves

    Telling the quantity only when given two treble, two bass or a grand stave

  • Intervals strands

    Hear two intervals in a row. That's where the whole "use a famous tune to tell the interval" falls apart and we need to up our game.

  • Key signatures

    Recognizing key signatures. D major has 2 sharps, for example. Bass and treble clefs. This post might help with the theory.

  • Relative key signatures

    No clefs here. "Relative" meaning the minor and the major keys that have the same number of sharps and flats. Dr. Driscoll grilled us on these like it's the second coming of Johann Sebastian.

  • Triads

    Major, minor, augmented, diminished triads in bass and treble clefs. This might help with the theory.

  • 7th chords

    Major, minor, dominant, half-diminished and diminished seventh chords. Recognize them visually, hear them harmonically and broken up.

  • 9th chords

    Jazzy major, minor, dominant, dominant flat and dominant sharp ninth chords.

  • All the chords

    All of the triads, 7ths, 9ths, also 6ths, add2, add4, and sus chords. Pick and choose thes one you want to practice. There are 3 ways to practice: identification, ear training and spelling.

  • Scales

    4 scales (major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor) that you should be able to write out on manuscript paper in treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs. Inspired by Dr. Driscoll's quizes. Which scales and clefs you want to practice is customizable.

  • Church modes

    Formulas and solfège for constructing for Ionian, Mixolydian, etc modes.

  • "Exotic" scales

    Practice spelling out whole tone, pentatonic and octatonic scales, and church modes.

Singing

  • Interval singing prompts

    Given an interval and direction, and the start note, sing the second. Also hear the answer. Modeled after what Dr. David Goodman's taught and quizzed us.

  • Chord singing prompts

    Same as above but sing triads, sevenths and ninths. Up and down. Thanks Dr. Goodman!

  • Drone tone

    A drone tone tool to keep you grounded when working on intonation and/or modes.

Part-writing

  • Cadences

    Given e.g. I to V you have to answer Half Cadence. Quiz-style (as opposed to flashcard-style). Customizable.

  • Doubling

    "Rules" for which chord tone you'd double when writing SATB parts. Based on the TMM book.

  • Voice ranges

    Only four questions - what are the singing ranges of Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass to keep in mind when voicing your chords. Based on the TMM book.

Composition

  • Chords in keys

    For every key see the correctly spelled chords for each scale degree plus Neapolitan and the three augmented 6 chords (Italian, German, French)

  • 12-tone matrix

    Create your own tone rows like a pro.

Guitar

  • Jazz chords

    Use the technique of guide tones to quickly teach yourself a whole bunch of jazzy guitar chords. No more being intimidated when you see A▵7♯5. Includes a friendly explanation of the technique.

SMC

  • Progressions

    The 3 most common chord progressions (x2 because of major and minor) as defined in the Santa Monica College music curriculum. You hear the progression and are given a key signature. You're expected to identify the progression, write out the chords and the Roman Numeral Analysis. Customizable. Thanks Dr. Driscoll!

  • Progressions, take 2

    More chord progressions! Listen, identify and write out Roman Numeral Analysis. Customize which progressions to work on. Thanks to Dr. Goodman for the recordings!

Musical language

Random fun