As a whole, music theory is a set of analytical tools used to examine, describe, or understand music, rather than to create it directly.
These tools enable one to break down a piece of music to see how it works.
For example:
• Harmony: An analytical tool when you label chord progressions to understand tension and resolution.
• Form: You can analyze a sonata by identifying exposition, development, and recapitulation.
• Counterpoint: Used to see how voices move independently and create consonance/dissonance.
• Rhythm & Meter: Analyzed to see patterns, syncopations, or polyrhythms.
So, analytical tools are essentially lenses or methods that let you dissect music’s structure, function, and effect, rather than producing music itself.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the disciplines that collectively make up music theory:
1. Harmony – Study of chords, chord progressions, and their relationships.
2. Counterpoint – Study of how independent melodic lines interact.
3. Melody – Study of pitch sequences, motifs, and phrasing.
4. Rhythm – Study of timing, meter, note values, and rhythmic patterns.
5. Form / Structure – Study of musical architecture (sonata, rondo, fugue, etc.).
6. Tuning & Temperament – Study of scales, intonation, and pitch systems.
7. Scales & Modes – Study of pitch collections and their characteristics.
8. Orchestration / Instrumentation – Study of how instruments function and combine.
9. Voice Leading – Study of smooth movement of individual lines between chords.
10. Texture – Study of how layers of sound interact (monophony, homophony, polyphony).
11. Notation – Study of written musical symbols and conventions.
12. Ear Training / Aural Skills – Study of perceiving and understanding musical elements.
13. Analysis – Study of dissecting compositions to understand structure and techniques.
14. Improvisation – Study of spontaneous composition within musical rules.
15. Ethnomusicology / Cultural Context – Study of music’s cultural, historical, and social aspects.
16. Acoustics / Psychoacoustics – Study of sound physics and perception.
17. Formulas & Compositional Techniques – Study of methods like serialism, set theory, jazz reharmonization.
18. History of Music Theory – Study of evolving theoretical concepts over time.
