Note Names
Practice Tips
Theory Videos
My Journey
Music Roots
This passion grew into teaching others the language of music.
Early Teaching
Local School
2010 – 2014
This passion grew into teaching others the language of music.
Advanced Studies
Music College
2015 – 2018
Deepened theory knowledge and developed methods for clear, step-by-step teaching.
See the distance. Build the scale. Hear the chord.
A piano-first introduction to the small patterns behind every melody, chord, and progression.
Half steps & whole steps
An interval is simply the distance between two notes. On a piano, the keyboard makes that distance visible.
A half step
Move to the very next key—white or black—with no key in between.
C → C♯ is a half step. So are E → F and B → C—even though both keys are white.
A whole step
Move two half steps. One key is passed on the way.
C → D is a whole step: C → C♯ → D. E → F♯ is also a whole step.
C → C♯
No key is skipped. C♯ is the very next key above C.
E → F♯
E → F is the first half step; F → F♯ is the second.
C♯ → D♯
The white D sits between the two black-key endpoints.
Build a major scale
Scales are the building blocks of chords & harmony, And, every major (and minor) scale follows the same sequence of whole and half steps no matter what note or key you start on. Change the starting note; keep the pattern.
C major: C · D · E · F · G · A · B · C
No black keys are needed because the natural half steps E–F and B–C fall exactly where the formula needs them.
Give every note a job
Scales and their sequential pattern of notes let us describe musical relationships in any key*. The note names change; the numbers keep their meaning.
* “Key” will be explained further in a future lesson.
Stack 1–3–5 to make a triad
A triad is a three-note chord. Start on a root, skip a scale note, take the next note, skip again, and take the next.
1–3–5 = C–E–G
The root names the chord. The third tells us whether it feels *major or *minor. The fifth gives stability—or changes the chord when lowered or raised, and in many chords is the weakest note and, in certain circumstances, may sometimes be eliminated altogether.
Try it
In F major, notes 1–3–5 are F–A–C. That creates an F-major triad.
Four essential triad qualities or types
These types form the basis for almost every other chord. Keep C as the root and change just one or two notes. Listen to how a tiny change transforms the chord’s color.
C–E–G
clear · stableC–E♭–G
dark · reflectiveC–E♭–G♭
tense · unstableC–E–G♯
bright · unsettledCompare them on the keyboard
C major: C–E–G · 1–3–5
This is only the beginning
Each later module will reuse the visual language you learned here: distance, degree, formula, sound.
Diatonic harmony
Build a triad on every scale degree: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°.
Seventh chords & ii–V–I
Add the seventh and hear tension resolve.
Circle progressions
See why roots moving by fourths feel inevitable.
Secondary dominants
Temporarily make any chord sound like home.
Substitutions & styles
Compare jazz, pop, and classical harmonic choices.
Voice leading
Move each note smoothly from chord to chord.
See the distance. Build the scale. Hear the chord.
A piano-first introduction to the small patterns behind every melody, chord, and progression.
Half steps & whole steps
An interval is simply the distance between two notes. On a piano, the keyboard makes that distance visible.
A half step
Move to the very next key—white or black—with no key in between.
C → C♯ is a half step. So are E → F and B → C—even though both keys are white.
A whole step
Move two half steps. One key is passed on the way.
C → D is a whole step: C → C♯ → D. E → F♯ is also a whole step.
C → C♯
No key is skipped. C♯ is the very next key above C.
E → F♯
E → F is the first half step; F → F♯ is the second.
C♯ → D♯
The white D sits between the two black-key endpoints.
Build a major scale
Scales are the building blocks of chords & harmony, And, every major (and minor) scale follows the same sequence of whole and half steps no matter what note or key you start on. Change the starting note; keep the pattern.
C major: C · D · E · F · G · A · B · C
No black keys are needed because the natural half steps E–F and B–C fall exactly where the formula needs them. It is VERY important to memorize this pattern of whole and half steps; This pattern never changes for any major scale; All 12 (13) of them!
Give every note a job
Scales and their sequential pattern of notes let us describe musical relationships in any key*. The note names change; the numbers keep their meaning.
* “Key” will be explained further in a future lesson.
Stack 1–3–5 to make a triad
A triad is a three-note chord. Start on a root, skip a scale note, take the next note, skip again, and take the next.
1–3–5 = C–E–G
The root names the chord. The third tells us whether it feels *major or *minor. The fifth gives stability—or changes the chord when lowered or raised, and in many chords is the weakest note and, in certain circumstances, may sometimes be eliminated altogether.
Try it
In F major, notes 1–3–5 are F–A–C. That creates an F-major triad.
Four essential triad qualities or types
These types form the basis for almost every other chord. Keep C as the root and change just one or two notes. Listen to how a tiny change transforms the chord’s color.
C–E–G
clear · stableC–E♭–G
dark · reflectiveC–E♭–G♭
tense · unstableC–E–G♯
bright · unsettledCompare them on the keyboard
C major: C–E–G · 1–3–5
This is only the beginning
Each later module will reuse the visual language you learned here: distance, degree, formula, sound.
Diatonic harmony
Build a triad on every scale degree: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°.
Seventh chords & ii–V–I
Add the seventh and hear tension resolve.
Circle progressions
See why roots moving by fourths feel inevitable.
Secondary dominants
Temporarily make any chord sound like home.
Substitutions & styles
Compare jazz, pop, and classical harmonic choices.
Voice leading
Move each note smoothly from chord to chord.
See the distance. Build the scale. Hear the chord.
A piano-first introduction to the small patterns behind every melody, chord, and progression.
Half steps & whole steps
An interval is simply the distance between two notes. On a piano, the keyboard makes that distance visible.
A half step
Move to the very next key—white or black—with no key in between.
C → C♯ is a half step. So are E → F and B → C—even though both keys are white.
A whole step
Move two half steps. One key is passed on the way.
C → D is a whole step: C → C♯ → D. E → F♯ is also a whole step.
C → C♯
No key is skipped. C♯ is the very next key above C.
E → F♯
E → F is the first half step; F → F♯ is the second.
C♯ → D♯
The white D sits between the two black-key endpoints.
Build a major scale
Scales are the building blocks of chords & harmony, And, every major (and minor) scale follows the same sequence of whole and half steps no matter what note or key you start on. Change the starting note; keep the pattern.
C major: C · D · E · F · G · A · B · C
No black keys are needed because the natural half steps E–F and B–C fall exactly where the formula needs them. It is VERY important to memorize this pattern of whole and half steps; This pattern never changes for any major scale; All 12 (13) of them!
Give every note a job
Scales and their sequential pattern of notes let us describe musical relationships in any key*. The note names change; the numbers keep their meaning.
* “Key” will be explained further in a future lesson.
Stack 1–3–5 to make a triad
A triad is a three-note chord. Start on a root, skip a scale note, take the next note, skip again, and take the next.
1–3–5 = C–E–G
The root names the chord. The third tells us whether it feels *major or *minor. The fifth gives stability—or changes the chord when lowered or raised, and in many chords is the weakest note and, in certain circumstances, may sometimes be eliminated altogether.
Try it
In F major, notes 1–3–5 are F–A–C. That creates an F-major triad.
Four essential triad qualities or types
These types form the basis for almost every other chord. Keep C as the root and change just one or two notes. Listen to how a tiny change transforms the chord’s color.
C–E–G
clear · stableC–E♭–G
dark · reflectiveC–E♭–G♭
tense · unstableC–E–G♯
bright · unsettledCompare them on the keyboard
C major: C–E–G · 1–3–5
This is only the beginning
Each later module will reuse the visual language you learned here: distance, degree, formula, sound.
Diatonic harmony
Build a triad on every scale degree: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°.
Seventh chords & ii–V–I
Add the seventh and hear tension resolve.
Circle progressions
See why roots moving by fourths feel inevitable.
Secondary dominants
Temporarily make any chord sound like home.
Substitutions & styles
Compare jazz, pop, and classical harmonic choices.
Voice leading
Move each note smoothly from chord to chord.