Open Music Theory

What Open Music Theory is

Open Music Theory is a free, open-source interactive online textbook for college-level music theory courses. Its topics include fundamentals, voice-leading, harmony, form, post-tonal music, pop and rock music, and text and music. The pages are meant to serve as quick references alongside musical activity and use minimal graphical and audio examples. Interactive notation modules, built with technology supported by Trinket, are embedded in the book. The notation tool supports a limited set of musical features, and its applied-chords page notes that it supports just one layer of lyrics or harmonic analysis. The textbook emphasizes active student engagement, and its original authors use it in flipped courses. The CC BY-SA 4.0 license allows use, modification, distribution, and sale with attribution and the same licensing terms for derivatives. Users can fork the GitHub project to edit or remove text, graphics, videos, and the HTML and CSS theme; individual files can also be downloaded for classroom handouts. Hybrid Pedagogy Publishing publishes the book, with Robin Wharton and Kris Shaffer as editors.