Ready to master music theory? Our comprehensive study guides take you from zero to a confident exam candidate, breaking down every music theory concept into simple steps.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Music theory is finally making sense! - Joanne S
The Challenge Ahead
Playing music is supposed to be fun... That's why you started learning!
But getting to grips with music theory can be very frustrating. Especially if you didn't learn when you were a child.
Does this sound familiar?
You've spent countless hours watching YouTube tutorials, reading blog posts, and even taking online courses, but still, music theory feels like a cryptic language only understood by a chosen few.
You look at a piece of sheet music and all you see is a confusing array of lines, dots, and symbols. It's like trying to read another language.
You're a great musician at heart. You can play by ear, but when it comes to discussing music in a technical way, you're completely lost. Words like "acciaccatura," "compound intervals," or "the circle of fifths" go in one ear and out the other.
There's a sea of information out there. Blogs, videos, courses—each promising to be the 'ultimate guide.' But the more you read, the more confused you get.
If any of these frustrations resonate with you, you're not alone. Many aspiring musicians and even professionals encounter these roadblocks.
But here's the good news: Understanding music theory doesn't have to be confusing, tedious, or only for the 'talented.'
You, too, can finally understand music theory and unlock all the benefits of reading music for your instrument playing.
Introducing
Ready for a straightforward path to learning music theory? Our comprehensive series of five books was crafted with a simple goal: to make the ABRSM Grade 1 - 5 Music Theory syllabus clear, manageable, and (dare we say) fun to learn!
We’ve taken all the fundamental concepts and broken them down into bite-sized lessons.
Each topic builds on the last, so you’ll never feel overwhelmed. Instead of fumbling through random resources or struggling with complex terminology, you’ll follow a logical, step-by-step roadmap designed to boost both understanding and confidence.
By the end of these guides, you’ll not only feel comfortable with everything up to Grade 5 theory—you’ll be excited to put your new skills into practice, whether you’re playing an instrument or assisting a young learner. It’s all here, in one streamlined resource, ready to help you truly master the fundamentals of music theory.
Take a look at what some of the 7000+ people who bought our study guides had to say about them.
Teacher, UK
"I love using these study guides with my pupils. It is not only informative but also laid out very clearly. It works with students of all ages. I’d highly recommend it for all teachers and students alike."
Student, South Africa
"Thank you for your excellent resources. I received my results yesterday and achieved 100% on my first exam. Your guides helped me prepare well for my exam, and I was confident and relaxed."
Parent, US
"A game-changer! The explanations are clear, the examples are practical, and the guide is structured in a way that makes learning enjoyable.
A Quick Look at Each Book
Value: $15
Book 1 starts off with the fundamentals giving you a solid foundation in the language of music theory.
From understanding basic building blocks of music like notes, their time values, and how they're represented on the staff, to the complexities of time signatures and keys.
Then we move on to tied and dotted notes, rests, accidentals, scales, chords, intervals, and tips for clear musical notation, this book will equip you with everything you need for a strong foundation of music theory knowledge to build upon.
Value $15
On to our second book which builds on the foundations from Grade 1 and introduces some new topics.
Here you'll learn about some new time signatures, explore the nuances of triplets, and discover the minor scale as well as major keys with up to three sharps or flats.
We also introduce melodic and harmonic intervals as what relative keys are and some new performance directions.
Value $15
On to Grade 3 where we'll learn about some more advanced concepts like simple and compound meter time signatures, converting between them, and thirty-second notes or demisemiquavers as they're also known.
Then we'll continue to expand your repertoire of scales, introducing major and minor scales with up to four sharps or flats and the melodic minor scale.
You'll also learn about interval qualities, transposing up and down and octave and musical phrases.
Value $15
The penultimate book in our series, Grade 4 deepens your understanding of music theory with some more complex musical elements.
You'll learn about double whole notes, duplets, the alto clef and double accidentals. We'll also cover major and minor scales with up to five sharps or flats, augmented and diminished intervals, the technical names of scale degrees and primary triad chords.
And to finish, you'll learn about ornaments, standard orchestral instruments, and some new performance directions.
Value $15
And finally, on to Grade 5, the last book in our series. Here we're going to put everything together and learn some more advanced music theory.
In this book, you'll learn about irregular time signatures like 5/8 and 7/4, irregular time divisions such as quintuplets and nonuplets as well as keys with up to six sharps or flats.
The book also introduces the tenor clef, cadences, dives deeper into transposition, and expands your knowledge of intervals by introducing compound intervals up to 15ths.
Hi, I’m Dan, and I run Hello Music Theory. I’ve been teaching music for the last 18 years and studied my undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
My mission is to make learning music easier. Whether you're teaching music and want resources, or you're learning an instrument and want to be able to read music, we're dedicated to helping you on your journey.
If you have any questions feel free to reach out and I’ll be happy to help.
FAQ section
You've got questions. We've got answers.
We've written these guides specifically with the ABRSM Grades 1 - 5 Music Theory syllabus in mind. Each book builts on the previous one. But, it's suitable for any beginner whether you're following a syllabus or not.
Sadly, not yet. We're looking into getting these printed at one point, but at the moment, they're only available as a digital download.
Absolutely. While we've worked hard to make this guide as good as it can be, we realize it might not be for everyone. Just let us know within 30 days of your purchase, and if we can't make it right, we'll refund you.
Definitely. Our website and card processor is partnered with Stripe and PayPal and uses a secure 256-bit encryption to make sure your details are safe and 100% secure.
We’ve worked hard to make these guides as simple and easy to understand as we can. We’re constantly updating it as we get feedback from customers and really want it to be the Ultimate Guide to Music Theory.
But if for any reason you’re not happy with it and we can’t make it right for you, we’ll give you your money back. Simple as that.