--- title: Chords & Harmony description: Chords and harmony involve the study of simultaneous musical pitches and how they progress over time. Learners will understand chord construction, voice leading, harmonic functions, and how to build emotional tension and resolution in their musical compositions. category: music-audio subcategory: music-theory difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/chords-and-harmony --- # Chords & Harmony Chords and harmony involve the study of simultaneous musical pitches and how they progress over time. Learners will understand chord construction, voice leading, harmonic functions, and how to build emotional tension and resolution in their musical compositions. ## Available Resources 5 Books • 1 Courses • 5 Websites ## Websites ### 1. musictheory.net Interactive lessons covering notation, intervals, scales, triads and seventh chords, Roman numeral analysis, and cadences, each with animated examples. Paired drills let you test interval and chord recognition until identification becomes fast and automatic. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.musictheory.net/lessons **Tags:** music-theory, chords, intervals, notation, ear-training ### 2. Hooktheory A crowd-sourced database of pop, rock, and film songs transcribed as chord progressions and melodies in scale-degree notation. Browsing and searching it shows how common progressions recur across songs and how melody sits against harmony. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab **Tags:** chord-progressions, harmony, melody, songwriting, music-analysis ### 3. hooktheory.com Hooktheory is an interactive music-theory platform for learning chords and harmony. It offers theory lessons, chord-function explanations, and an extensive library of pop-song progressions with interactive diagrams to analyze and create progressions. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://hooktheory.com **Tags:** websites, music-performing-arts, music-theory ### 4. musictheory.net Musictheory.net is a free, interactive platform for learning music theory, offering concise lessons on intervals, chords, scales, rhythm, and notation. It also provides hands-on practice with ear training and theory tools to test and reinforce your understanding. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://musictheory.net **Tags:** websites, arts-design, creative-arts ### 5. teoria.com Teoria is an online music theory resource offering interactive lessons, ear-training exercises, and reference materials on scales, intervals, chords, rhythm, and harmony, with musical examples and analyses. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://teoria.com **Tags:** websites, arts-design, creative-arts ## Courses ### 1. Fundamentals of Music Theory This course, revised in 2022, will introduce you to the theory of music, providing you with the skills needed to read and write Western music notation, as well as to understand, analyse, and listen informedly. It will cover material such as pitches and scales, intervals, clefs, rhythm, form, metre and time signatures, phrases and cadences, and basic harmony. This course covers the fundamentals of Western music theory, from the absolute basics to some more advanced concepts. As such, it delivers material for beginners and offers much to experienced musicians alike. Learners can apply for Financial Aid directly with Coursera to assist with the cost of accessing the full course and gaining a certificate for successfully completing the course. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/edinburgh-music-theory **Tags:** music-theory, free, online-course ## Youtubes ### 1. Charles Cornell Purchase College jazz piano graduate combining comedy with genuine music education. His '5 Versions' series makes reharmonisation and chord substitution surprisingly accessible. ~1.4M subscribers. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@CharlesCornellStudios **Tags:** jazz, piano, harmony, youtube, reharmonisation ### 2. Jazz Tutorial with Julian Bradley The most comprehensive free jazz piano education on YouTube — voicings, improvisation, and jazz scales with a structured step-by-step approach. Master's in music composition. ~418K subscribers. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/user/jazztutorial **Tags:** jazz, piano, chords, youtube, improvisation ## Books ### 1. Jazz Keyboard Harmony by Phil DeGreg **Author:** Phil DeGreg Systematic voicing practice for jazz pianists — the essential companion to Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book for developing harmonic vocabulary at the keyboard. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1562240692?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** jazz, piano, harmony, voicings ### 2. The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine **Author:** Mark Levine The bible of jazz piano — voicings, comping, stride, block chords, and improvisation in 300+ pages (Sher Music). Required at universities worldwide. Jazz piano demands its own curriculum; start here. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961470151?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** jazz, piano, chords, improvisation ### 3. Harmony and Voice Leading **Author:** Edward Aldwell, Carl Schachter A Schenkerian-influenced undergraduate text treating harmony and counterpoint as one subject, from species counterpoint through chromatic harmony and modulation. Working through it builds the ability to analyze tonal repertoire and write convincing four-part progressions. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0155315196?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, music-performing-arts, music-theory ### 4. The Chord Wheel **Author:** Jim Fleser A rotating cardboard tool with a short manual mapping keys, diatonic chords, and the circle of fifths. Using it, players can transpose songs, find the key of a progression, and pick chords that fit for improvisation. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634021427?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, music-performing-arts, music-theory ### 5. The Jazz Harmony Book **Author:** David Berkman Pianist David Berkman works through jazz chord construction, voicings, substitutions, reharmonization and voice leading, with play-along recordings. Readers finish able to analyze standards harmonically and build their own voicings at the keyboard. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1883217792?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, music-performing-arts, music-theory --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/chords-and-harmony