Music Theory for Songwriters: The Fundamentals [Updated: 11/29/2021]

Music theory is fundamental to making and playing music. However, no one has taught it in such a user-friendly and songwriting-focused way as we do here, using both keyboard and guitar to demonstrate the techniques.

Professional musician Julian Velard starts the course with the building blocks of harmony: notes, scales, intervals, chords, inversions, and basic chord progressions. He then goes into voice leading—showing how to move from one chord to another by changing just one or two notes—and reviews common song forms, from the familiar verse/chorus/verse of pop to the simple verse of the blues. At the end of each chapter, Julian explains the songwriting techniques shown in the chapter within the context of his own original commercially released songs.

Learning objectives

• Understanding scales, intervals, and keys
• Triads or three-note chords
• Triad inversions
• Common major-scale chord progressions and cadences
• Voice leading
• Song form elements such as verse, chorus, bridge, hook, and more
• Using common song forms in songwriting