Does anyone have recommendations for music theory from complete basics? Like I don't even know what a pitch is, what a tone is?
Any recommendations would be much appreciated - books, videos, tutorials?
Any recommendations would be much appreciated - books, videos, tutorials?
If you really know nothing you might enjoy this attempt at explaining harmony at five different levels from a child to Herbie Hancock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRkgK4jfi6M
An other useful channel I can recommend is https://www.youtube.com/@DavidBennettPiano
Probably not the worst way to spend ~$100!
* "Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People": https://tobyrush.com/theorypages/index.html
It's an ongoing series of illustrated one page "posters" in PDF form each on a specific Music Theory-related topic. Nice bite-sized content written in a non-dry style. (All licensed CC-BY-NC-ND.)
Also available to download as a (currently) 63-page single file PDF.
It's a great resource if that medium of communication is effective for you--I just learned/got clarification on some things from a skim of 63-page PDF.
* Interactive version: https://openmusictheory.github.io (v1) or https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/front-matter/int... (v2)
* Non-interactive downloads (e.g. PDF, EPUB): https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/ (via http://www.openmusictheory.com/) (v2)
The PDF I downloaded is ~1100 pages and it's the second revision of an originally crowd-funded project
I've only briefly skimmed it but it certainly seems very comprehensive & way more than I'm ever likely to need. :D
But just now I've just noticed that they describe (on https://openmusictheory.github.io/about.html) their use of the textbook for "...“inverted” or “flipped” courses, often following an inquiry-based model" and the "..text is meant to take a back seat to student music making (and breaking)".
Which matches what's motivated me to learn more about the theory side: it was after playing around & creating tracks (using the FLOSS LMMS / Carla / Surge XT music creation software) that I hit a point where I wanted to learn how to make my music have more of a melodic component to it.
And it turned out, for me, at least, creating rather than playing/reproducing music is way more motivating for me to learn the theory which I kinda wish someone had shown me during the short period multiple decades ago when my parents were paying for piano lessons until it was suggested that if I wasn't going to practice perhaps it wasn't the best investment... :)
But, you know, better late than never, I guess!
Edit #1:
* Added direct link to v2 interactive version.
* Re: your specific question re: pitch & tone, this seems like a reasonable starting point: https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/chapter/aspn/ though it also refers back to an earlier chapter: https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/chapter/clefs/
Edit #2:
If video is more your thing, here's some videos I watched early on & found informative:
* "Learn music theory in 29 minutes" (Underdog Electronic Music School): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjSYzac_nfk
* "Learn music theory in half an hour." (Andrew Huang): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaTLrZGlk0
The respective associated channels may also be of interest depending on your specific genre/style interests.
Early on I also watched many of the videos on the "Hack Music Theory" channel (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEElzai3tIo) but over time they seemed to tip the ratio of "informative content" to "promo"/"filler" too far in the "wrong" direction, so I mostly stopped watching.
(I understand why they did--I can't imagine music teaching is an easy YouTube "niche" to succeed in.)
More recently I've also discovered these channels which might have unique aspects that also appeal to you:
* 8-bit Music Theory: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZLO2VgbZHeDcongKzzfOw
* Pianote: https://www.youtube.com/@PianoteOfficial/videos
* Signals Music Studio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDDHLvQb8HjE2r7_ZuNtWA
* Aimee Nolte: https://www.youtube.com/@AimeeNolte/videos
* "Two Minute Music Theory": https://www.youtube.com/user/the1564studios
It can be...challenging... to "sift the wheat from the chaff " with YouTube music education and quite apart from personal taste there's also the effect of the pressure to "please the algorithm" in terms of presentation that can also make some channels hit/miss.
But hopefully you'll find something that works for you! :)