Music Theory Course

Music Theory 1: Rhythm, Reading and Notes for Beginners

Finally understand music theory, so your music stops sounding “basic”.

How to read, count and write music step by step, even if you have never composed a full track before.

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Music Theory 1 course cover
BeginnerLevel
226Lessons & Examples
OnlineSelf-Paced Course
InstantAccess
Real Students

Students who worked with Dan

  • Geese’s Master Pieces, a Best Music Coach coaching clientGeese’s Master Pieces“I never thought for a second I’d be moving this quickly.”
  • Wubsoofer Music, a Best Music Coach coaching clientWubsoofer Music“I’m able to compose proper songs.”
  • Keyiano, a Best Music Coach coaching clientKeyiano“It feels really freeing to finally bring my ideas to life.”
  • Skiazo, a Best Music Coach coaching clientSkiazoReleased Zappy Corridors
  • Beancent, a Best Music Coach coaching clientBeancentReleased Electromagnetism
  • Nine Times Alive, a Best Music Coach coaching clientNine 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

Music Theory 1
  • 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

LevelBeginner
FormatOnline video course, self-paced
Lessons226 lessons and examples
AccessLifetime access
DeliveryInstant access by email, nothing ships
Price$300.00 $255.00 one-time payment, 15% off until Oct 31, 11:59 pm ET
RefundsAll sales are final on this course. Refund policy
The Problem

Right now, you might be:

  • 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.

  1. Your ideas feel basic and unoriginal. You don’t yet understand why the music you love works, so copying the feeling is guesswork.
  2. Music theory feels like math class. Random YouTube videos dump jargon (modes, cadences, non‑chord tones) with no sequence or practice.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.”

McCatter Coaching client

PAT The Whale, a Best Music Coach coaching client
“I was not able to create music. I am able now.”

PAT The Whale Coaching client

Small Little Squares, a Best Music Coach coaching client
“I will never be without music because now I’m able to make it.”

Small Little Squares Coaching 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.

Post by nabjad in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: thank you Dan, this class was incredible. You made music theory simple, fun, and easy to understand. I...
nabjad, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
Post by thiccquebanana in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: Oh here! Music theory during classical piano lessons and all my time in music has never made sense....
thiccquebanana, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
Post by Blake in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: quick and easy to understand. Dan breaks down music theory in a digestable way that appeals to gamers...
Blake, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
Post by kingofminds in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: This was a great crash course on explaining WHY music sound good in your ears. This quick jaunt...
kingofminds, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
Post by Viggy Tha Thinker in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: Give a chance to brush up your fundamentals but not worry about being excellent on first try. Allow...
Viggy Tha Thinker, posted in Dan's Discord, August 2025
Post by Summer_Songs in Dan's Discord after his 2-day beginner challenge: I took music classes for about 5 years and this is the first time everything clicked
Summer_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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Music Theory 1This courseMusic Theory 2Music Theory 3Music Theory Level 4
Best forTotal beginners: rhythm, reading and first melodiesScales, chords and reading both clefsAdvanced rhythm, harmony and melodic developmentModes, odd meter and color scales
LevelBeginnerBeginner to IntermediateIntermediateIntermediate
Lessons226 lessons and examples192 lessons and examplesAbout 10 hours 52 minutes of videoAbout 38 minutes of video
Price$300.00 $255.00$300.00 $255.00$400.00 $340.00$100.00 $85.00
Course pageYou are hereSee the course nowSee the course nowSee the course now
FAQ

Questions before you buy

How do I get access after I buy?
Click Buy Now and check out. Your course access arrives by email the moment you check out, so you can start lesson 1 today.
Is this “just theory,” or will I write real music?

You’ll write real rhythmic compositions and real melodic lines.

The course walks you through:

  • Creating your own 4- and 8-bar rhythmic studies with bar lines, time signatures, and repeats.
  • Writing original lines on the staff in C and G major and A and E natural minor, using the proper key signature and note spacing.

You’re not just memorizing facts; you’re actually composing and notating your own material, then clapping, playing, and analyzing it.

Do I need to already read music or play an instrument?
No. The course assumes no prior music theory or notation. You start from nothing and end with your first music compositions.
What will I be able to do after this course?
Read, compose, and understand music.
Is this only for classical music?
No. This is the foundation of all genres of music.
How “mathy” is this?
Very light. You will need to count to 4.
What’s the difference between this and free YouTube videos?
This is a structured, step-by-step system with exercises, not random disconnected tips.
How does this avoid the overwhelm I’ve felt with theory before?
Bite-sized lessons tie together sound, reading, and writing, so you apply each idea as you learn it.
Can I get a refund?
No. This course is not refundable, so ask before you buy if you are not sure it fits. Email support@bestmusiccoach.com and we will help you choose.
Can I pay in installments?
Yes, on eligible orders. At checkout you can choose Shop Pay Installments or Afterpay to split the payment.
Who can I ask before I buy?
Email support@bestmusiccoach.com. The Best Music Coach team will help you pick the right course.
Grow

Make Music with Dan Spencer

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, Music Mentor Dan

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.

Meet Dan on YouTube now
Why Composers Trust Dan

Learn from a teacher thousands already follow

  • 26 million+views on Music Theory for Gamers, Dan's YouTube channel
  • 132KYouTube subscribers on Music Theory for Gamers
  • 20,000+of Dan's music books sold
  • 5,000+readers helped

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars from 475 Amazon ratings of The Best Music Theory Book for Beginners 1 (Amazon.com, September 28, 2026).

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Music Theory 1: Rhythm, Reading and Notes for BeginnersMusic Theory 1 $300.00 $255.00Available now: instant access
$300.00 Save 15% $255.00 until Oct 31