Music Theory Comprehensive: Part 2 - Chords, Scales, & Keys
J. Anthony Allen · Music Producer, Composer, PhD, Professor
A theory professor rebuilds chords, scales, and keys from first principles, so you never have to memorize a scale again.
What it actually teaches
This is the second installment of J. Anthony Allen's multi-part music theory curriculum, and it picks up assuming the viewer can already read notation from part one. The spine of the course is a single idea repeated in different contexts: a scale is a pattern, a key is a scale applied to a piece, and a chord is a scale with notes removed. Allen builds the major scale from the whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half interval pattern, shows that the pattern holds regardless of starting pitch, and then reuses that same pattern-over-memorization logic when he gets to triads, teaching students to find a third by counting two whole steps up (major) or a whole step plus a half step (minor). It is a genuinely good pedagogical throughline, and it is the reason the course earns its "minimize memorization" promise rather than just stating it.
The back half shifts from construction to analysis. Students work through chord identification in real notated pieces, using strong-beat placement to separate chord tones from passing tones, then apply that skill across two full analyses: Canon in D and Bach's Minuet in G. The Minuet analysis is the more instructive of the two because Bach's harmonic detours give the student practice recognizing when a passage briefly steps outside the home key. The course closes with dominant seventh chords, their pull toward resolution, and a quick but effective contrast with blues progressions, which take that same dominant seventh and deliberately leave it hanging.
Where it holds up and where it doesn't
The explanatory style is unhurried to a fault. Concepts like ordered pitch class collections or the diatonic versus chromatic distinction get defined, restated, and then illustrated two or three times before the course moves on. For a first pass through this material that repetition is arguably a feature, since it gives the ideas time to stick. For anyone with even a semester of prior theory, it will feel padded.
The practical infrastructure is thin. Software setup is limited to a recommendation of MuseScore with no real walkthrough of notation entry beyond typing letters on a keyboard, and the eight worksheets promised in the syllabus exist mostly as an implied companion rather than something built into the lesson flow shown on screen. Guitar-specific chord material, listed in the syllabus, gets far less attention than the piano-based scale and chord construction that dominates the runtime.
What the course does not attempt is just as telling as what it covers. Minor keys are explicitly deferred to a future installment, the circle of fifths gets only a passing mention despite being named in the marketing copy, and inversions and diatonic chord progressions are introduced but not pushed very far before the class ends. That is a reasonable scope decision for a five-hour beginner class, but it means the "comprehensive" framing oversells what any single part delivers. Treated as one chapter in a longer sequence rather than a self-contained theory education, the pacing and boundaries make sense, and the core teaching device of deriving rather than memorizing is worth the time for anyone starting from zero.
The standout
The lesson on finding a chord's third by counting two whole steps (major) versus a whole step plus a half step (minor) turns chord-spelling from memorization into arithmetic anyone can redo on the spot.
What you will learn
- Construct any major scale from the whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half pattern rather than memorizing note lists
- Identify key signatures and use scale degrees, solfege, and the circle of fifths to orient within a key
- Build triads by stacking thirds and tell major from minor chords by testing the third alone
- Spot non-chord tones in a melody by checking strong beats against chord tones
- Read popular songs and classical excerpts (Canon in D, Minuet in G) for chord changes and Roman numeral function
- Recognize seventh chords, including how a dominant seventh resolves and why blues chords deliberately avoid resolving
Best for: A total beginner with some ability to read notation who wants to understand why chords and keys work rather than just memorizing shapes.
Skip it if: Anyone who already knows how triads, key signatures, and Roman numeral analysis work, since the pacing and repetition are built for a first encounter with the material.