Hack Music Theory, Part 1: Learn Scales & Chords in 30 Minutes

by Ray Harmony

Theory is a six-letter dirty word to most musicians, but hey, musicians love dirty words, right? And just like all the other dirty words, theory is easy to learn and fun to use! After studying 'popular' and 'classical' music theory, Ray Harmony created a unique approach that he uses to compose his songs, which feature multi-platinum Grammy winners Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), and many more. Ray Harmony is an award-winning music lecturer and multi-instrumentalist, who is now sharing his top-secret music theory and songwriting hacks through this book series. Drawing on his two decades of teaching experience combined with his minimalist methods of explaining, Ray breaks down music theory into its simplest form via a series of simple hacks, deep insights, and bad jokes. Tuck in at HackMusicTheory.com
"The most brilliant, fast, easy, and fun music theory book I've ever seen!" -DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder, TED speaker, musician, author of Anything You Want
"This is the kind of book I wish I had when I first started out." -IHSAHN, Emperor
"Trust Ray, and in no time you'll have a watertight music theory skillset you once thought impossible to obtain." -PAT LUNDY, Modestep, ex-Funeral for a Friend
"Ray manages to make learning music theory fascinating, digestible, and damn right cool!" -JOE COPCUTT, AxeWound, Zoax
"If you have been put off music theory in the past, then this is the book to inspire and empower you." -VICTORIA WILLIAMSON, PhD, Vice Chancellor's Fellow Researcher and Lecturer in Music at the University of Sheffield, UK, author of You Are the Music
"Ray has a totally unique approach of hacking music theory, which gives you the essentials in a fraction of the time." -VESPERS, Warp Academy founder, music producer

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

82 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2016

About the author

Award-winning music lecturer, YouTuber, obsessive tea drinker!

Reviews

[Joseph VanBuren · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is such a thing as way too much personality in a book. The author's voice and word choice were so annoying at times that it grated on my nerves. I did appreciate some of the perspective on basic music theory. Good information, but there are much less annoying books out there that can teach you the same stuff.

[Felicia]

This book was interesting but I think it over explained some aspects and didn't explain others enough. Some things, like the 2212212 patterns or things like that felt dropped without explanation and others like the 3 chapters on major and minor scales felt over explained and repetitive. Still, very informative.

[Anthony Kimpton · Rating 1 out of 5]

While it was written in a very accessible style, it was a little light on content and repeated sections.

[Hlyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise yet brilliant book on the foundations of music theory, starting with pitch, rhythm, notes, and enharmonics, and progressing to major and minor scales, chords, and triads.

I love Ray's minimalist methods of teaching—it's fun, accessible, and gives essential information for understanding concepts.

This book is made of 13 short chapters. Each starts with a hack (a cheat sheet) followed by a full chapter containing two to three pages of more in-depth explanation.

I read the chapters first, and then went back to the hacks. It helped to summarize and solidify my understanding.

But if you're short on time, you can just read through all the hecks in 30 minutes or less. They'll give you all the vital information on each topic.

I tried the examples on my piano, because as Ray says, "Music is sound, and hearing is believing."

You don't really need to play the examples on your instrument - this won't affect your understanding. But in Ray's words, "Hearing it all come to life sure is fun."

After finishing this book, "Hack Music Theory Part 1", I wanted to learn more from Ray, but unfortunately, it seems like there's no Part 2 yet.

*** It's important to understand that this book is, as it says in the title, a hack book – which basically means it's got quick and effective ways to help you learn. It's like a shortcut to grab the essential information in a straightforward and accessible way.

So if you're craving more depth—or, as Ray puts it, if you're a bit of a nerd—consider diving into the "AB Guide to Music Theory by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music".

I'm not exactly a nerd, but this book has sparked a craving for more music theory. And given that there's no Part 2 yet, maybe I'll give the AB book a read.

[Aurelio Marty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening !!!

For allergic to music theory this book is the serum!By the end of the book you'll have a solid foundation that will encourage you to seek more knowledge but also be able to finally apply music theory to your craft.

[Carlos Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it was meh.

I already had read some other music theory books, so here was nothing new I could learn.

If you havent read any other book on thery, well, this one is fast and entertaining.

But, yeah, if not, get some other more complete theory book.

[Suhrob · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is very short, and in fact everything is repeated 2x (quick summary followed by longer section).
The author seems likeable, though I have to admit skimming the cutesy parts.
As a non-musician it helped to clear a few things.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and lighthearted introduction to music theory. It is repetitive, but this serves to cement the concepts into the reader's mind. The book is a good foundation for further study. Put its information into practice to get a better understanding of it!

[Marcel · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a beginner's book to music theory, do yourself a favor and skip this one. I don't know why it has such glowing reviews, but here's the fundamental problem: It's very short - officially listed as 83 pages, but maybe half of that is filler and repeated material. It's really more a booklet. It ends very abruptly, after having covered very little, with a "now go read part 2" message - but there is no part 2, at least not at the time of this review... and even if there were, by my estimate you'd need *at least* five parts to have a proper introduction.

So now that I've read and finished this book, I'm left having to look for another introductory book, and presumably everything I read in this book will be covered again in that book. Complete waste of time.

[J.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good fast read and I know the Author was trying hard to make it fun, but some of that was lost on me. I read it as I'm going to take the author's online course.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick easy read on music theory. It gives you everything you need to know for scales and chords to write music. I recommend it and the teacher.