HippoCampus
Arts & HumanitiesGuidedBeginner15 chapters

Music theory for guitarists who play by ear

HippoCampus
· starter course
I play guitar by ear and want to finally understand what I'm playing: notes on the fretboard, scales, chords and keys, and why certain progressions sound the way they do.

What you'll learn

15 chapters
  1. 1

    From Playing by Ear to Naming What You Hear

    • Describe what music theory does for a guitarist who already plays by ear.
    • Use basic theory terms that will appear throughout the course.
    • Connect sounds on the guitar to note, pitch, rhythm, chord, scale, and key vocabulary.
  2. 2

    The Musical Alphabet and Half Steps on Guitar

    • Name the musical notes used in Western music.
    • Explain how sharps and flats work.
    • Relate frets on the guitar to half-step movement.
  3. 3

    Finding Notes on the Fretboard

    • Identify the open-string notes of standard tuning.
    • Find note names on each string using the fretboard pattern.
    • Recognize octave repetition on the guitar.
  4. 4

    Intervals: The Building Blocks of Sound

    • Define an interval as the distance between two notes.
    • Name the most important basic intervals for beginner guitar theory.
    • Relate interval sounds to fret distances on the guitar.
  5. 5

    The Major Scale: Your Main Map

    • Understand the major scale as a common reference point in music theory.
    • Use the whole-step and half-step formula to build a major scale.
    • Relate major scale notes to guitar-friendly thinking.
  6. 6

    Minor Sound: Natural Minor and Relative Minor

    • Recognize the natural minor scale as a core contrasting sound to major.
    • Build a natural minor scale from its step pattern.
    • Explain the relationship between a major key and its relative minor.
  7. 7

    Scale Degrees and How Notes Behave in a Key

    • Use scale degree numbers to describe notes inside a key.
    • Recognize that some notes feel stable and others feel active.
    • Connect ear-based feelings of tension and release to scale-degree behavior.
  8. 8

    How Chords Are Built: Triads

    • Build a basic triad from stacked thirds.
    • Distinguish major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads at a beginner level.
    • Relate triad quality to the intervals above the root.
  9. 9

    Common Guitar Chords and What They Contain

    • Identify the notes inside familiar open-position guitar chords.
    • Understand that guitar chord shapes may repeat notes.
    • Connect common shapes to their underlying triads.
  10. 10

    Keys and Diatonic Chords

    • Define what it means for a song to be in a key.
    • Build the diatonic triads that belong naturally to a major key.
    • Use Roman numerals to label chord positions in a key.
  11. 11

    Chord Functions: Tonic, Predominant, and Dominant

    • Recognize the main functional groups of chords in a key.
    • Explain simple feelings of rest, movement, and tension in chord progressions.
    • Connect familiar sounds to tonic, predominant, and dominant roles.
  12. 12

    Why Common Progressions Sound the Way They Do

    • Analyze very common chord progressions in simple functional terms.
    • Explain why certain progressions sound complete, circular, uplifting, or wistful.
    • Relate familiar ear-based reactions to key-centered harmony.
  13. 13

    Reading Melody and Chords Together

    • See how melody notes often come from the current chord or the key scale.
    • Recognize chord tones versus passing non-chord tones at a beginner level.
    • Use scale-degree thinking to understand simple vocal or lead lines.
  14. 14

    Using Theory to Learn Songs Faster

    • Apply theory terms to real songs you already know by ear.
    • Identify likely keys and common chord patterns in beginner-friendly music.
    • Use fretboard, scale, and chord knowledge to reduce guesswork.
  15. 15

    Simple Improvisation and Writing with Keys, Scales, and Chords

    • Use basic theory to choose notes that fit a chord progression.
    • Connect major and minor scale sounds to simple melodic choices.
    • Create beginner-level chord progressions and melodies with awareness instead of guessing.

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