The Harmony Encyclopedia
A comprehensive, interactive, and completely free guide to music harmony.
Hover or click a note to inspect it.
Severe
Moderate
Tools
References
Cadences
Classical, popular, and common harmonic cadences
Chord Progressions
Common chord progressions across genres
Chords
Complete reference of most chord types
Intervals
Complete reference of musical intervals, qualities, and inversions
Key Signatures
All 24 major and minor keys with their key signatures and relationships
Non-Chord Tones
Melodic and harmonic dissonances with contextual staff examples
Pivot Chords
Pivot chord modulations and key relationships
Scales
Major, minor, modal and classical scale systems
Secondary Dominants
Secondary dominant chords and their resolutions, with staff examples
Voice-Leading Rules
Four-part writing rules, each with the mistake and its correction on the staff
Score Editor Demo
Placing notes
- Use the toolbar to select the note type. This can also be selected using the number keys as shown on the toolbar.
- Hover over the staff to see a preview of where it will land. Click empty staff space to place a note at that pitch and time.
- To build a chord, click multiple pitches on the same beat. Each click adds a note to the chord.
Selecting notes
- Click a notehead or rest symbol to select it. Selected notes are highlighted.
- Use Ctrl+click to select multiple notes at once
- Clicking a selected note will unselect it.
Moving notes
- With one or more notes selected, use ↑ and ↓ to move those notes up or down by a semitone.
- You can also click and drag to move individual notes
- With one or more notes selected, use Q to change the note(s) to an equivalent note with a shorter duration or E for a longer duration
Deleting notes
- Right click a notehead to remove that note. Removing a note replaces it with an equivalent rest.
- Use Backspace or Delete to remove all selected notes.
Accidentals
- Use toolbar buttons or keys: + sharp, - flat, = natural. Selecting an accidental will apply it to the next note placed.
- With one or more notes selected, use the toolbar buttons to apply accidentals to the selected notes.
Rests
- Use the toolbar to select a rest. Rests are placed the same way as notes
- Rests are automatically placed when notes are deleted or note durations are changed
Other shortcuts
- Ctrl+Z to undo
- Ctrl+Y to redo