Listen and understand

Hear what's really going on in a sound, and the musical ideas that organise it: pitch, rhythm, harmony and form.

Sound and listening

What you're hearing, how to see it, and how to tell whether a change is really better.

  1. SoundWhat a sound wave is, and why pitch and loudness are stranger than they lookComing soon
  2. Timbre and harmonicsWhy a piano and a violin playing the same note sound differentComing soon
  3. Seeing soundWaveforms, spectrums and spectrograms, and what each one hidesComing soon
  4. Level and loudnessDecibels, peaks, RMS and LUFS, and why louder always sounds betterComing soon
  5. Digital audioSample rate, bit depth and what happens when sound becomes numbersComing soon
  6. Listening and comparingHow to tell whether a change is really betterComing soon

Music theory and musical ideas

Hear it, see it, change it. Keyboard, piano roll and notation side by side, with no staff reading required.

  1. Pitch and intervalsThe distance between two notes, and why some distances feel stableComing soon
  2. Rhythm, meter and groovePulse, subdivision, swing, and why a grid alone doesn't grooveComing soon
  3. Scales, modes and tonal centersWhy the same notes can feel like a different homeComing soon
  4. ChordsHow stacking intervals builds triads, sevenths and colour tonesComing soon
  5. Chords and voicingSame notes, different feelings: how spacing and order change a chordEarly draft
  6. Progressions and harmonic movementCadences, borrowed chords and modulation, and how harmony creates motionComing soon
  7. Melody and motifsContour, repetition and variation, and why some tunes stickComing soon
  8. Bass lines and counterlinesHow a second line supports a phrase without copying itComing soon
  9. Form and arrangementTurning a loop into a piece with sections, contrast and energyComing soon
  10. Ear trainingHearing intervals, chords and rhythm without lookingComing soon
  11. Tuning systemsEqual temperament, just intonation, gamelan and beyondComing soon
  12. Music as dataDistributions, transitions and what a model keeps or throws awayComing soon