Geese’s Master Pieces“I never thought for a second I’d be moving this quickly.”
Wubsoofer Music“I’m able to compose proper songs.”
Keyiano“It feels really freeing to finally bring my ideas to life.”
SkiazoReleased Zappy Corridors
BeancentReleased Electromagnetism
Nine Times AliveReleased Second Thoughts
These are Best Music Coach coaching clients, who worked with a coach one to one and in small groups. They are coaching results, not reviews of this course. Faces, names and results as published on bestmusiccoach.com/results.
What You Get
Everything you need to read, count and write your own music
226 lessons and examples, in order
Workbook and staff paper exercises
Real musical examples
A proven lesson order, so you never guess what is next
Lifetime access, come back any time
Instant access by email the moment you check out
Start today, keep it for life
Level
Beginner
Format
Online video course, self-paced
Lessons
226 lessons and examples
Access
Lifetime access
Delivery
Instant access by email, nothing ships
Price
$300.00 $255.00 one-time payment, 15% off until Oct 31, 11:59 pm ET
Staring at your DAW with a hard‑drive graveyard of half‑finished ideas…
Doodling on a keyboard or in a piano roll, but everything comes out basic, uninspired, and “not really you”…
Someone who used to compose, lost momentum, and now feels stuck and a little afraid you’ve missed your shot…
Or maybe you’ve never composed a full piece, but you’ve had the same thought for years:“I want my own music to hit me the way game soundtracks do. I just don’t know what I’m doing.”
If that’s you, this course is your starting line.
Who This Course Is For
You’ll see yourself in at least one of these
Music theory feels like a secret language.
You love game music, maybe you’ve poked around in a DAW, but you’ve never finished anything you’re proud of.
Music theory feels like a secret language everyone else got taught as a kid.
Ideas stall in the loop stage.
You’ve finished a few tracks or loops. Maybe you’ve even posted on YouTube or SoundCloud.
But ideas stall in the “A‑section loop” stage, and you don’t know how to extend, structure, or make anything truly emotional.
You want a structured way back in.
You made music before, then life happened. You lost your fire, you’re rusty, and the thought “maybe I just don’t have it anymore” creeps in.
You want a clean, structured way back in.
If you see yourself in any of those, you’re in the right place.
The Real Problem
The Real Problem Isn’t “Talent”. It’s Missing Foundations.
Your ideas feel basic and unoriginal. You don’t yet understand why the music you love works, so copying the feeling is guesswork.
Music theory feels like math class. Random YouTube videos dump jargon (modes, cadences, non‑chord tones) with no sequence or practice.
You can’t get out of the idea phase. You get a cool 8‑bar loop, then have no clue how to turn it into a complete, looping piece.
You don’t know how to create emotion on purpose. You feel the soundtracks you love, but you can’t explain or recreate the effect.
Tools overwhelm you. DAW, VSTs, metronome, notation… it’s a lot when no one’s walked you through it step by step.
So you stay stuck and keep buying plugins.
And you still don’t have the one thing you actually want: undeniable proof of progress, a finished piece you’re proud of, in your own style.
The Promise
By the end of The Best Music Theory Course for Beginners 1, you will:
01 · Rhythm
Hear and feel rhythm instead of guessing.
Understand pulse, beat, strong vs weak beats, tempo, and how to feel them in your body so you can lock in grooves instead of fighting the grid.
02 · Counting
Clap, count, and compose real rhythms.
Go from “I don’t get time signatures” to comfortably reading, clapping, and notating whole, half, and quarter notes, rests, and common meters (3/4, 4/4, etc).
03 · Notation
Read and notate basic music.
Learn the staff, lines vs spaces, treble clef, ledger lines, and how notes on the page map to real sound.
04 · Pitch
Understand pitch instead of hunting randomly.
High vs low, octaves, basic intervals, you’ll know what you’re hearing and where to find it.
05 · Scales
Grasp the logic behind major & natural minor scales.
So when you’re composing game‑style melodies, you’re not just “noodling”, you’re choosing sounds on purpose.
06 · Style
Lay the foundation to develop your own style.
Once the mechanics aren’t confusing, you’re free to chase the real goal: creating original music that makes people lean forward and say “ooooh.”
Curriculum
Every core skill, in the right order
A clear overview of the core skills you build before you open the full lesson list.
Rhythm 1 to 4
From Pulse to Full Measures
See all 7 topics
What rhythm really is (sound vs silence)
Pulse & beat as feeling, not just theory
Metronome: how to actually use it without getting frustrated
Strong vs weak beats (why drums hit when they do)
Notes & rests: whole, half, quarter, clapping and counting drills
Measures, bar lines, time signatures (3/4 vs 4/4, “common time”)
Composing your own one‑ and two‑line rhythms that feel musical
Pitch & Notes 1 to 4
From High/Low to Real Music
See all 7 topics
High vs low sounds, Hertz, and why some notes feel heavier or more powerful
Staff, treble clef, note names (A to G), and how they repeat
Ledger lines so you’re not scared of notes above/below the staff
Octaves & pitch class: why C in different places still “feels” like C
Accidentals (sharps, flats, naturals) and half/whole steps
The C and G major scales, natural minor scales (A, E)
Simple intervals: the building blocks of melody and harmony
Harmony 1 to 4
From Intervals to Real Harmony
See all 6 topics
Simple intervals in practice: 2-note “mini chords” you can actually hear and write
Melodic vs harmonic intervals: what changes when notes stack instead of follow
Building basic chords from the scales you already know (C, G, A minor, E minor)
Tonic, dominant, and subdominant in sound, not just words
How to add 2- and 3-note harmony above or below your own melodies
Writing short harmonic “moments” that still follow the rules of the key
Analysis 1 to 4
From Scale Degrees to Real Game-Style Music
See all 6 topics
Using scale degrees to map what you hear to the page
Spotting key, scale, and basic form just by looking and listening
Breaking down famous video game music into rhythm, melody, and scale degrees (no guesswork)
Seeing exactly how strong and weak beats, intervals, and key choices create emotion
Re-writing tiny excerpts from famous video game music in your own notation
Simple “what if?” changes: shift a note, swap a scale degree, and hear how the whole phrase changes
Music Composition 1
From Theory Exercises to Your First Music
See all 5 topics
Create your own 4- and 8-bar rhythmic studies with bar lines, time signatures, and repeats
Write original lines on the staff in C and G major and A and E natural minor
Use proper key signatures, note spacing, and simple form so your ideas are readable
Clap, play, and analyze what you wrote so theory turns into sound
Finish small musical ideas instead of only memorizing terms
Every concept is explained in plain language, then drilled with clapping, counting, notation, listening, harmony, analysis, and short composition assignments.
Why It Works
Why This Course Works When “Random YouTube” Doesn’t
Most free content either:
Dumbs everything down into useless trivia, or
Jumps straight into advanced topics without building the base.
You get:
A proven sequence, no guessing what to learn next
Workbooks & staff paper exercises, you’re doing, not just watching
Real‑world musical examples, not dry drills for their own sake
Lifetime reference, you can come back whenever you get stuck composing
Students who started out feeling “not musical” regularly report finishing their first legit pieces and finally feeling like composers, not impostors.
How To Start
Start in three steps
Step 01
Buy the course
Click Buy Now and pay once through secure checkout.
Step 02
Check your email
Your course access arrives by email the moment you check out.
Step 03
Start with rhythm
Begin with pulse and beat, then follow the lessons in order.
Full Curriculum
Preview the steps to read, count and write your own music
The first 20 of 226 lessons and examples.
Expand to see the full curriculum
Start Here
Bonuses: Links and Downloads
The Best Music Theory Course for Beginners 1 Intro
How To Use The Course And Books Together
Rhythm 1
Rhythm 1 1 Rhythm1 Topic
MT | Book 1 | Video Example 1
Rhythm 1 2 Pulse (Sound)1 Topic
MT | Book 1 | Example 2
Rhythm 1 3 Pulse (Feeling)
Rhythm 1 4 Beat (Part 1)1 Topic
MT | Book 1 | Example 3
Rhythm 1 5 Beat (Part 2)
Rhythm 1 6 Beat (Part 3)
Rhythm 1 7 The Metronome
Rhythm 1 8 Count In2 Topics
MT | Book 1 | Example 4
MT | Book 1 | Example 5
Rhythm 1 9 Tempo1 Topic
R1 9 Song Examples
Rhythm 1 10 Lines1 Topic
Finish The Best Music Theory Workbook for Beginners 1 | p. 10
Rhythm 1 11 Notes
Rhythm 1 12 How to Write Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes (Part 1: Noteheads)
Rhythm 1 13 How to Write Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes (Part 2: Noteheads)1 Topic
Finish The Best Music Theory Workbook for Beginners 1 | p. 11
Rhythm 1 14 How to Write Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes (Part 3: Stems)1 Topic
Finish The Best Music Theory Workbook for Beginners 1 | p. 12-13
Rhythm 1 15 How to Write Whole, Half, and Quarter Notes (Part 4)1 Topic
Finish The Best Music Theory Workbook for Beginners 1 | p. 14
Rhythm 1 16 How to Clap Rhythms: Quarter Notes1 Topic
MT | Book 1 | Example 6
Rhythm 1 17 How to Clap Rhythms: Half Notes1 Topic
MT | Book 1 | Example 7
Plus 206 more lessons and examples inside the course.
Student Stories
Hear what changed for our students
Best Music Coach coaching clients, in their own words.
“It felt like being in a dark room and finally turning on the lights.”
McCatterCoaching client
“I was not able to create music. I am able now.”
PAT The WhaleCoaching client
“I will never be without music because now I’m able to make it.”
Small Little SquaresCoaching client
These are Best Music Coach coaching clients, who worked with a coach one to one and in small groups. They did not buy this course. Quotes, photos, the video as published on bestmusiccoach.com/results.
From Dan's Discord and YouTube
What clicked for students and viewers
Their own posts: screenshots from Dan's Discord and public comments on his YouTube videos.
nabjad, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025thiccquebanana, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025Blake, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025kingofminds, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025Viggy Tha Thinker, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025Summer_Songs, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
hey! wanted to comment cause your videos are by far the best in the "actually understanding how songs work" department. there are many and i mean MANY videos attempting to explain music theory but like 90% of them are either a bunch of music theory lingo with no real clean explanation or "idk move notes around + maybe some tips". your videos are the first ones ive ever seen where i do end up absorving valuable information
@CrowleesCult on YouTube, May 2026Comment on Dan's video "Modes for Video Game Music" (Video Game Music Composer)
Discord posts were made during Dan's live 2-day beginner composing challenge (August 2025), about that challenge. YouTube cards are public comments on the named Dan video, quoted as posted (excerpts marked); the date is what YouTube showed when the comment was read on October 1, 2026. Not reviews of this course. Handles as posted.
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Pick the right course for your next goal
See how Music Theory 1 fits next to the courses around it, then pick your next step.
Music Theory 1 + Gamer Grooves together: $637.50$750.00 at full price. Both are 15% off through Oct 31 and the discount comes off in your cart. From Nov 1 the pair is $649.00.
Dan Spencer coaches Music Theory 1 from the practical composer and music-mentor perspective.
Learn the idea, try it in music, finish the assignment, and know the next move when you sit down to compose.
Dan Spencer is Music Mentor Dan: a composer, OST creator, and coach who teaches the practical path from idea (or no ideas!) to finished music you can actually ship.