Music Theory Labs

A suite of interactive modules for exploring the building blocks of music

I teach a lot of fundamental music theory in applied keyboard percussion lessons and beyond. I decided to put together a web-app that can demonstrate and help students practice specific music theory skills.

Music Theory Labs is a free, browser-based suite of interactive modules that turn the building blocks of music theory into something you can explore with your eyes, ears, and hands. Instead of memorizing rules from a page, you choose a key, a scale, a chord, or a progression and the app instantly shows it on a staff and keyboard, plays it back, and lets you experiment.

Each “lab” focuses on one core concept — scales, arpeggios, chord progressions, and intervals — and shares a common, musician-friendly design: real notation rendered on the fly, accurate note spelling, a light-up keyboard, and audio you can play along with. It’s built for students learning the fundamentals, teachers looking for a classroom demonstration tool, and performers who want a quick, hands-on way to drill and review.

The Labs

Scales

Pick any tonal center on the piano and explore 15 scales and modes, from major and the church modes to pentatonic, blues, whole-tone, and octatonic. Each scale comes with its formula, step pattern, and character, displayed in standard treble-clef notation and lit up note-by-note on the keyboard. A Practice mode lets you run scales through performance patterns (Green, Dowd, FBA All-State, and more) across every key using sequences like Circle of Fourths, Chromatic, and Common Root — complete with a metronome count-off, tempo control, and an “up next” display.

Arpeggios

Work through twelve chord shapes, from basic triads to extended jazz voicings (major 7, dominant 13♯11, half- and fully-diminished sevenths, and more). See exactly how each is built — interval by interval — with correct enharmonic spelling all the way down to double-flats. Like Scales, it includes a full Practice mode for drilling arpeggios through patterns and key sequences.

Chord Progressions

Explore the progressions behind pop, jazz, classical, and blues on an interactive Chord Wheel based on the circle of fifths. Watch a key’s diatonic chords light up, hear common progressions in any key, or build your own by clicking chords on the wheel — with playback, looping, and a choice of block chords or arpeggiation.

Intervals

Train your ear to recognize intervals using the famous melodies that have always been the best mnemonic — a Perfect 5th is the opening of “Twinkle Twinkle,” a tritone is “Maria.” A Learn mode lets you hear and study each interval; a Practice mode quizzes you with scored listening drills.

thadanderson.com/l/mtl