Western Music Theory Cheat Sheet

Western Music Theory
Cheat Sheet

One pain point we have when learning music is needing to stop playing to Google music theory information. It takes us out of our flow, and before we know it we’re watching We Bare Bears on Netflix. We designed this poster to show us all the music theory information we need at a glance so we can spend less time internet-ing and more time playing.

Materials

Digital print on matte paper

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  1. An octave is the space between a note and another that is double its frequency. The number 1 denotes the beginning note of the octave. In western music, the octave is divided into 12 notes, represented here by either a number or a dot. A scale is a sequence of notes. The major and minor scales are shown with each numbered note corresponding to its position in the scale and the dots representing notes not included in the scale.
  2. Every major chord and its constituent notes
  3. Every minor chord and its constituent notes
  4. The circle of fifths is like a musical color wheel. Going clockwise, every scale is a 5th (half an octave) above the one before. The relationship between the major scales and corresponding minor scales in the inner circle is similar to that of the major/minor scales diagram above. The symbols on the outer circle describe the number of sharp/flat notes in its corresponding scale.
  5. Every major scale and its constituent chords
  6. Every minor scale and its constituent chords