How to learn music theory

Support, Help & Resources
1

Hello,

I was using the tutorial to learn how ot use Sonic Pi, but I don’t really have a solid background in music theory, during the tutorial we use the cutoff parameters which from my understanding remove the sound after a certain frequency, I can hear a difference when using the cutoff parameter or not, but I don’t really understand why, which makes it hard to be able to use it correctly, of course this is just one example, my point is that I don’t understand the theory behind music and it’s blocking me in the creative process..

I don’t know if I’m overthinking it but I don’t feel like I have the sufficient knowledge to make music right now, and I’d like to know more, I know some basics like what’s a bpm, rythm, stuff like that but as soon as it gets more technical I feel lost like I’m not in the right place.

I found some online lesson which explains some stuff, but since it’s music made by computer I feel like there’s a lot of stuff to learn that you can’t really learn by playing an instrument.

Any help is welcome, thank you

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2

Hi

I feel your pain! It can be a little daunting starting out in sound synthesis and coding music, leaving one with the thought “I don’t know enough”, but please don’t be put off - we all sometimes think that.

These is some difference between music theory and sound synthesis. If you want to explore Sonic Pi in depth then I would argue that you don’t have to have a full grasp of music theory, though you will encounter topics such as tempo, pulse, duration, rhythm, dynamics, keys/scales, chords etc. If you are a musician you will already have a grasp of those topics anyway. And luckily, when it comes to composition and performance of music - particularly with Sonic PI - there are no rules really tbh. Your own ears and experience are the best judges.

As for sound synthesis there is a multitude of online resources, but no better place to start than here:

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/sound-synthesis-part-1#para3

There’s also a wealth of free tools to allow you to practice and learn those concepts through sound design, my personal favourite being Pure Data:

https://puredata.info/downloads

If PD is a little overwhelming, here’s a cool online subtractive synth where you can learn about oscillators, filters and envelopes:

https://subtract.one/

My friends and colleagues in this community have a firm belief in the ethos of learning by doing. Happy coding!

PD-Pi

5 Likes
3

Hello!

Thank you so much for the ressources, I’ll check them out!

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4

I also struggled a lot with this question. Learning music theory is an amazing tool, but it’s not necessary to learn it all in order to create. I follow the motto learning by doing, and if you really want to dive into music theory, there are plenty of apps on the market (both free and paid) that let you play around with it.

I started with the freemium version of Complete Music Trainer, and it was good enough to help me gain momentum. I found value in it, so I decided to pay for the full version. I didn’t explore many other apps—I simply enjoyed that one. They give you virtual instruments to play with (the piano is usually the one suggested for learning music theory). It’s like Duolingo, but for music training: rhythm, music reading, and ear training.

My suggestion is: don’t buy anything right away. Try different options first, and see what works best for you.

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5

I’m not really placed to tell you how to learn music as I’ve been actively learning for many years now. “Just do what sounds good” is terrible advice because what to try if you are stuck? As you have noticed there is a difference between making music and playing an instrument. I see Sonic Pi as an instrument, you need to practice on your instrument to get good and you need to study music to understand what you are doing. There are a ton of resources to be found online (and offline, don’t forget those) that 16 year old me would have killed for. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, try finding people that can guide you and remember this skill does not come for free, you need to put in the work but it will feel like play :wink:

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6

That’s exactly how I feel : stuck, I don’t really know how to start. I’m still following tutorials and when I have a question I write it on notepad, I’ll come back here then :stuck_out_tongue:

7

I’ve downloaded Complete Music Trainer it seems pretty nice, and it’s french (my native language), if you have other ressources on theory please don’t hesitate, thanks!

8

Hello superbot,

You’ve got great advice and leads from people below. But you can rest assured that most traditionally trained musicians (eg someone like me who learned music theory at school) will be unfamiliar with ‘cutoff’, envelopes’ etc - everyday concepts in computer music. To me, they’re different paths (with overlap), and you don’t need to learn ‘music theory’ in the traditional sense.

As well as Sam’s tutorial and new course, I also learned a lot from videos by Mr Bomb and Dave’s Conservatoire on YouTube.

You might like Captain Pikant’s YouTube videos. They show sequencers and drum patterns in action - a good visual for thinking about loops and rhythms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuAG4vAfseY

PS apologies to @brendanmac- I find PureData really tough! But there are many ways in and it’s very satisfying to crack something you’ve worked at. Complete Music Trainer looks great. We’re so lucky to have these tools!

2 Likes
9

Thank you for sharing, I’ll watch the video!

I’ve followed the mehackit tutorial ( Introduction ) it was fun but once I was done I had no idea how to start making my own stuff.

I’m also gonna check this one : Sonic Pi - Tutorial as it seems more in depth

I’m also wondering, is there a way to get an instrument that sounds like a violin or a cello ? most of the time it sounds like 8-bit tunes

10

@rebelcello no apology needed :smiley: I feel it is I who must apologise for not being as active here as I’d like, having gone down a rabbit hole with Strudel. I must try and get back to completing my Sonic Pi tutorial.

You may notice that I will refer to PD on this forum whenever the opportunity arises - I use it for more sophisticated synthesis (or when I can’t be bothered to work out how to do it in Sonic Pi). I use it in parallel with Sonic Pi to send note/control messages to PD over OSC.

PD-Pi

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11

I’d start with octaves. If you have a sound wave at one frequency, the same note in the next octave up has twice the frequency. Then think how the keyboard notes fit into that - it’s 12 per octave. The ratio of frequency from one note to the next one up (including the black notes) is consistent, and is the twelfth root of 2 - i.e. this ratio to the power 12 = 2 (one octave).

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12

thank you, I’ve learned the chromatic scale and the intervals, but I haven’t paid much attention to the frequency, for the next step I’m trying to learn how to build a scale using intervals, but idk…

13

Hi,

this demonstrates how to build a scale using 12th root of 2, with the major scale as an example:

/populate an array, with rate semitones/
a=[]

13.times do
  y=tick
  val = 2**(y/12.0)
  a.push(val.round(3))
end
puts a


[1.0, 1.0595, 1.1225, 1.1892, 1.2599, 1.3348, 1.4142,
 1.4983, 1.5874, 1.6818, 1.7818, 1.8877, 2.0]
sleep 1
tick_reset

8.times do
  #stop
  maj = [0,2,4,5,7,9,11,12].tick
  sample :bass_thick_c, onset: 0, sustain: 0.4, rate: a[maj]
  sleep 0.5
end

HTH

PD-Pi

14

I’m a coder who is also getting into Sonic Pi. I know keyboarding but on a beginner level only and I do find the example codes showcased overwhelming.

Right now I’m using Ableton’s Learning Music Lessons most of the lessons cover the basic foundations. It’s a slow burn for me and I’m just trying replicate the sample music in Sonic pi instead of using Live.

I’ll be doing their Learning Synths after I’m comfortable writing patterns.

I might be checking youtube for music theory once in a while though I’m really not good when it comes to learning music theory but I guess this isn’t something you get in one sitting.

15

This is a pretty engaging ressource to start learning

16

Wow, that synth tutorial on the Ableton site is COOL!!

17

. . . in fact, I’m having great teaching success using the Ableton music tutorial site as a sketchpad for ideas, which the student then realises in code in Sonic Pi.

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18

Hey guys…

Hear me out… I know this is not going to be popular, but what if “we” as a collective used AI, to build a “mini curriculum” to learn The Basics Of Music Theory, using Sonic Pi as a platform, and its code as a reproducible notation?

Not talking about synthesis here. Rather musical theory in the classical academic meaning of the term.

I don’t trust AI all that much either, but this would be a rare case where it would help greatly facilitate and accelerate the production of a written resource, that would help people like superbot and me, who need to learn a basic theoretical “toolkit” to be able to make progress…

“We” here would validate each chapter (mainly the experienced users, of course), and maybe then publish the final result as a wiki under a CC license?

What do you guys say?

19

I’m game, can help out on the proof-reading/editing side - 2 Masters and a PhD in music :wink:

PD-Pi

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20

OK very nice! Thanks!

So I’ll start a dedicated convo with my AI, first for “pre production” and “research”, and at each significant step, I’ll post the result here on the forum for proof-reading and validation… Also, I plan on using two different AIs, and make them criticize each others responses, before posting here.

Maybe I should start a dedicated thread on here too?…

1 Like