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Learning — Music, Theory, Songwriting

A curated list. The fastest path is daily small practice (see the tutorial Level 5 routine), with a few high-quality references in rotation.

Books — theory

Beginner / approachable

  • Music Theory for Dummies — yes, really. Best entry point if you have zero foundation. Skim the irrelevant chapters.
  • Tonal Harmony (Kostka & Payne) — the standard college textbook. Comprehensive, sometimes dry. Reference forever.
  • Edly's Music Theory for Practical People (Ed Roseman) — friendly, illustrated, actually fun.

Intermediate / practical

  • The Jazz Theory Book (Mark Levine) — encyclopedic for jazz harmony, voicings, modal playing. Useful even for non-jazz writers.
  • The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony — clean modern presentation; good complement to Levine.
  • Harmony and Theory (Schmeling, Hal Leonard) — used in Berklee Online; practical pop/jazz oriented.

Skip

  • 19th-century counterpoint and species writing unless you're studying classical composition. Not relevant for songwriting.

Books — songwriting

  • Tunesmith (Jimmy Webb) — by the writer of "MacArthur Park" and "Wichita Lineman." Practitioner's wisdom on craft.
  • Writing Better Lyrics (Pat Pattison) — Berklee professor's lyric-writing book. The technique-focused one.
  • The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook (Karl Coryat / Nicholas Dobson) — about getting unstuck and finishing.
  • Hit Songwriters Tell All (Doug Hall) — interviews with hit writers; reveals their actual processes.
  • All You Need to Know About the Music Business (Donald Passman) — when you're ready to release commercially.

Books — performance, technique, mindset

  • The Musician's Way (Gerald Klickstein) — practice psychology, performance prep, career.
  • Effortless Mastery (Kenny Werner) — about playing without fear. Aimed at jazz but universal.
  • The Inner Game of Music (Barry Green) — adapted from "Inner Game of Tennis"; the mental side of performance.
  • Practicing the Piano (Frank Wilson, or Graham Fitch's online course/books) — practice-method specific to piano.

Books — production / mixing (when you get there)

  • Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Mike Senior) — best practical mixing book by a wide margin. Free supplemental resources at cambridge-mt.com.
  • The Mixing Engineer's Handbook (Bobby Owsinski) — interviews + technique.
  • Recording Tips for Engineers (Tim Crich) — short, dense, useful.

YouTube channels

Theory and analysis

  • 8-Bit Music Theory — game-music focused; brilliantly clear analysis.
  • 12tone — illustrated music theory and song breakdowns; consistently great pedagogy.
  • David Bennett Piano — chord progressions, modes, rare techniques; piano-centric. Highly recommended for your level.
  • Adam Neely — long-form theory, performance, music industry; rigorous and fun.
  • Rick Beato — "What Makes This Song Great" deconstructions; great for active listening.
  • Charles Cornell — pop production breakdowns, theory commentary.

Piano specifically

  • Open Studio (Peter Martin) — jazz piano lessons; high quality.
  • Aimee Nolte Music — jazz piano + songwriting; warm, approachable.
  • ThePianoGuys / Lord Vinheteiro — performance, less pedagogical but inspirational.
  • Peter Edwards / Jonny May (Piano with Jonny) — pop / jazz arranging on piano.

Songwriting and production

  • The Pop Songwriting Channel — tear-downs of why hits work.
  • Holistic Songwriting (Friedemann Findeisen) — process-focused; very deliberate.
  • In the Mix — production tutorials.
  • Watson Wu / Modern Producers — production technique.
  • Mix With The Masters (clips on YouTube; full subscription elsewhere) — top-tier engineers showing their work.

Podcasts

  • Song Exploder — songwriters break down a single song from their catalog. Episode-per-week ear training.
  • Sodajerker on Songwriting — interviews with major songwriters about craft.
  • Tape Notes — production and recording stories.
  • The Working Songwriter (Joe Pug) — interviews; craft and life of writers.
  • Hit Songs Deconstructed podcast (and paywalled reports) — analytical pop trends.

Online courses

  • Coursera / Berklee Online — "Songwriting" (Pat Pattison) — free to audit; the gold standard.
  • Coursera / Yale — "Introduction to Classical Music" (Craig Wright) — free; cultural and theoretical foundation.
  • MasterClass — Hans Zimmer / John Legend / Alicia Keys / etc. — uneven; depends on the artist.
  • Berklee Online certificate programs — paid, structured, real credit. Costly but legitimate.
  • MOOC platforms (edX, FutureLearn) — search "music theory" / "songwriting"; often free to audit.

Apps and software for daily practice

  • musictheory.net + Tenuto (iOS) — interval, chord, scale, key drills. Use daily.
  • Functional Ear Trainer (free, mobile) — solfege/scale-degree ear training; the most effective ear training app.
  • iReal Pro — chord-chart playback for any tune, any key, any tempo. Practice improvising or composing over progressions.
  • Anki — flashcards for theory facts.
  • Soundslice / Songsterr / Yousician / Simply Piano — gamified learning; useful for some, oversold for others.

Sheet music / repertoire sources

  • IMSLP (imslp.org) — free, public domain, classical.
  • MuseScore.com — community-uploaded; mixed quality but vast library.
  • 8notes / Pianotte — free pop/folk transcriptions; some paid.
  • Hal Leonard, Alfred, Schirmer — buy reputable editions for serious study.
  • Real Book, Real Pop Book, Real Vocal Book — fake-book chord charts for thousands of standards.

Communities

  • r/musictheory — active, helpful for theory questions.
  • r/songwriting — active; mixed quality, but there are gems and feedback.
  • r/piano, r/WeAreTheMusicMakers — instrument and production communities.
  • r/audioengineering — once you start mixing.
  • Discord communities — many YouTubers run private Discords (Adam Neely, Charles Cornell, etc.); often the best discussion.
  • Open mics at local venues — irreplaceable for performance habit and getting honest reactions.
  • Songwriting circles / co-writing groups — search local; co-writing teaches faster than any course.

A focused 6-month learning plan

For your level (intermediate piano, slow sight reading, little theory, want to write):

Months 1–2: Foundation

  • Daily 30-min practice routine (see tutorial.md Level 5).
  • Read Music Theory for Dummies or Edly's, one chapter every few days.
  • Drill intervals + key signatures on Tenuto / musictheory.net daily.
  • Sight reading: ABRSM Grade 1 or 2 books, daily.
  • Watch David Bennett Piano + 12tone backlog on weekends.
  • Write or sketch one melody per week. Doesn't matter if good. Save the audio.

Months 3–4: Construct

  • Theory focus: 7th chords, voice leading, the four core pop progressions in all 12 keys.
  • Read Tunesmith or Writing Better Lyrics.
  • Sight reading move to Grade 3.
  • Compose one complete song per month (verse + chorus, recorded as scratch piano + vocal demo).
  • Subscribe to Song Exploder; analyze 1 episode/week.

Months 5–6: Refine

  • Theory: modes, secondary dominants, modulation.
  • Open a free DAW project; produce one of your songs to "sharable demo" quality.
  • Submit one song to r/songwriting for feedback. Take it.
  • Co-write one song with someone (online if no in-person community).
  • Re-evaluate at month 6: where do you want to invest in the next 6?

By month 6 you'll have written 4–6 complete songs, recognize chord progressions by ear in real time, sight-read meaningfully better, and have a clear sense of which direction (jazz, pop, electronic, classical-leaning) you want to deepen.