Open source textbooks or those available online through the NYU Library
Lavengood, Hamm, Gullings, et. al. Open Music Theory
Robert Hutchenson, Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom
Turek & McCarthy, Theory for Today's Musician (with accompanying workbook) (available online through the NYU Library)
Robin Armstrong & Karen Rege, GlobalMusix: Contemporary Music Throughout the World
Andre Mount, Fundamentals, Function, and Form
Catherine Schmidt-Jones, Understanding Basic Music Theory
Miranda Wilson, Integrated Music Theory (Paired with Integrated Musicianship)
Christine Riley, Music Fundamentals for Musical Theatre (available online through the NYU Library)
Timothy Chenette, Foundations of Aural Skills
Cleland & Dobrea-Grindahl, Developing Musicianship through Aural Skills (available online through the NYU Library)
Miranda Wilson, Integrated Musicianship (paired with Integrated Music Theory)
Adam Kolek, The Dictation Resource
Benjamin Crowell, Eyes and Ears
Tobin Stewart, Foundational Sight Singing
Erik Højsgaard, Rhythm: Advanced Studies (available online through the NYU Library)
Open Music Theory's "Examples for Sight-Counting and Sight-Singing"
Dave Smey, "Melodies for Sight-Reading"
Lavengood, Hamm, Gullings, et. al. Open Music Theory (See the Popular Music and Jazz units)
Charlie Wilmoth, PopGrammar: A Songwriter's Guide to Music Theory
David Temperley, The Musical Language of Rock (available online through the NYU Library)
Christopher Doll, Hearing Harmony: Toward a Tonal Theory for the Rock Era (available online through the NYU Library)
Drew Nobile, Form as Harmony in Rock Music (available online through the NYU Library)
Scotto, Smith, Rackett, eds., The Routledge Companion to Popular Music Analysis (available online through the NYU Library)
Ken Stephenson, What to Listen for in Rock (available online through the NYU Library)
Scot Lipscomb, History & Styles of Rock
These anthologies are in addition to the NYU Theory & Aural Anthologies. These all feature music by under-represented composers or music from styles outside of the classical canon.
Classical Repertoire (Primary Focus on Under-Represented Composers)
Paula Maust, Expanding the Music Theory Canon
Mendoza et al, Diverse Music Theory Examples
Murdock, Parsell, et al., Music By Women
Composers of Color Resource Project, Music Theory Examples, Analytical Notes & Annotated Scores, Lesson Materials
Classical Repertoire (other databases)
Barbara Murphy, Music Theory Materials
William Caplin, Analyzing Classical Form (companion website for the text)
Advancing Music Theory: Musical Examples Database
Popular Music, Film, Video Games
Brent Yorgason, Film Music Theory Examples
Brent Ferguson, Video Game Examples
Barbara Murphy, Jazz, Pop, and Film Music Examples
Advancing Music Theory: Musical Examples Database (see tabs at bottom)
Trevor de Clercq & David Temperley, A Corpus Study of Rock Music
Jacob Martinez, 100 Best 3-Chord Guitar Songs Of All Time
Folksongs & Non-Western
IMSLP: Ethnomusicology Collection
100 Folksongs of all Nations (PDF collection from IMSLP)
Fundamentals, Theory, and Aural Skills
MusicTheory.net: Solfege, interval, scale, chord ID, music fundamentals drills, and brief tutorials. The site also offer a great iPhone app for $3.99 called Tenuto.
Tone Savvy: Includes ear training drills in interval, chord, solfege, and scale ID; chord progressions; intervals in functional context; melodic dictation; and even first species counterpoint.
Teoria: A great overall website for melodic and rhythmic dictation (customizable) that also includes other shorter drills on intervals, chords, and scales.
G Major Music Theory: Click on “Contextual Listening” or “Harmonic Dictation” to find the ear training drills. Uses real recorded examples from the literature rather than abstract examples. Most content is “member only,” but there’s still a lot of free material here to practice with.
Sarah Louden, Quizlet Theory & Fundamentals Flashcards
Aural Skills Only
Adam Kolek, The Dictation Resource
Derek Remes, Dictation Resources. Examples organized by topic. Includes audio, blank student sheet, solution, and link to original score.
Trevor de Clercq's Aural Skills Resources: Includes interval, melodic, rhythm, and chord dictation drills with solutions for fundamentals through chromatic Harmony. Also includes practice resources for sight-singing and improv (drones, chord loops, grooves).
Fundamentals Only
Theta Music Trainer Games: Also includes basic aural skills.
Practice Finding Tonic
Scale Degree Practice on GMajor Music Theory
Find the tonic and other scale degrees after hearing a musical excerpt
Most is “Members” only, but there’s a lot of free stuff here also.
The Tonic Finder on Theta Music
Hear a short excerpt then choose from 3 given tonic notes on a keyboard. (The first 3 levels are free)
Key Ear Training on Teoria.com
Customizable. Set a limited number of keys and a tempo, then select the key that the excerpt was in.
Scale Degree / Solfege ID
Note ID on MusicTheory.net (my favorite for this practice)
Very customizable, easy to set for solfege or pitch names, keys, range, instruments, etc. They also offer a great iPhone app called Tenuto.
Note Ear Training on Teoria.com
Customizable in regard to range, selection of pitches, tempo. Offers the option for inputting answers via an online keyboard, note name, or even a midi keyboard.
Functional (Scale Degree) Ear Training on ToneSavvy
Customize by selecting desired syllables (or numbers) from both diatonic and chromatic syllables. Allows the option to change keys for each question or keep the same key. Key is established with a quick progression.
Interval ID
Musical Intervals Tutor on MadelineSalocks.com
A nice place to start with audio files of all the intervals (ascending, descending, harmonic) along with some song suggestions to help and YouTube links to those songs. The site also offers some quizzes when you’re done.
Interval ID on MusicTheory.net
Very customizable in regard to interval options, range, instrument, compound or simple.
Interval ID on Teoria.com
Offers the option of playing intervals above a selected note or random note with the option of inputting answers via a midi keyboard
Interval ID on ToneSavvy: Abstract Intervals and Intervals in Context
Finding Songs for Association
Ear Master: Songs to Learn Musical Intervals. Includes YouTube audio for all songs and allows users to print a customizable interval chart
Trainear (includes YouTube audio links)
Wikipedia's Interval Association Chart
Musical-U: References to intervals in Pop songs with video links for reference.
Rhythmic Dictation
Rhythmic Dictation on Teoria.com
Very customizable with options to select meters; patterns that include rests, syncopation, triplets, etc; tempo; minimum note values.
Rhythmic Dictation on ToneSavvy
Offers 3 levels of difficulty for short examples.
Web Dictation on DaveSmey.com
He has a few sets of simple rhythmic dictation exercises with midi files and solutions in simple, compound time with and without 16th notes.
Melodic Dictation
Melodic Dictation and 2-Voice Dictation on Teoria.com
Abstract melodies with a lot of nice customization options for practice.
Melodic Dictation on Tone Savvy
Melodic (non-rhythmic) strings with good customization options: choose melodies with only 1/4/5, 1/4/5/6, or all diatonic pitches; the number of notes (2 or higher), and speed. Answers are input by selecting solfege syllables. Major mode only.
Contextual Melodic Dictation on GMajor Music Theory
Again, a lot of this content is “member only,” but there’s still a couple good practice examples. This site is nice because it uses real musical examples in context rather than abstract examples.
Web Dictation on DaveSmey.com
He has a few sets of simple melodic dictation exercises with midi files and solutions in simple, compound time along with some 2-voice examples.
Harmonic Dictation
Harmonic Progressions on Teoria
Customize by selecting progressions with just triads, 7th chords, chromatic chords (secondary dominants, N6, or Aug6 chords), inversions/root position only, key, and tempo.
Harmonic Progressions on Toned Ear
Select the chords (all diatonic triads and 7th chords) and the speed and ID the progression of RNs in a 4-chord progression that starts on tonic. Major mode only.
Harmonic Progression Practice from Music Theory Materials
Includes a "student set up," audio files, and solutions for diatonic through chromatic harmony.
Improvisation
Chord Progression Workouts: Improvisation with key jazz progressions on LearnJazzStandards.com. Offers a list of common progressions, then provides audio files that loop those progressions each 3 times in all 12 keys (working through the circle of fifths) to play along with along with chord charts to follow along with.
All three are open source and include online features for sharing scores with colleagues or instructors.
MuseScore: Requires a download, but works cross-platform. Excellent accessibility features, including music braille notation.
Flat IO: Works in the browsers, no download required. Also includes collaborative features for use in classrooms.
Noteflight: Works in the browser, no download required.
Audio Timerliner and BriFormer are great for marking up an audio recording with notes about harmony, rhythmic patterns, formal areas, keys, etc. Both are free and work cross-platform. Audio Timeliner is a download; BriFormer works in the browser.
Sonic Visualiser: A free downloadable app that generates a spectrogram, waveform, melodic spectrogram, and other visualizations of audio files for analysis and annotation. Allows detailed comparison between different audio files.
Auralayer: Web-based app for visually annotating audio form a YouTube video or uploaded mp3 for form, texture, timbre, etc.
ClipGrab: Free downloadable app that allows you to quickly download the audio or video from a YouTube link.
BPM Tool for finding a tempo.
Notio (Interactive Keyboard): Online interactive keyboard that you can set for any scale. Scale degrees/solfege/note names can be added to keys. A great visual tool for improvisation and dictation work!
BandLab: Free open-source online platform for recording, mixing, and collaborating on music projects. Audacity is another good open-source downloadable option that works cross-platform.
HookTheory: Explore chord progressions. Plug in any chord progression and listen to excerpts from pop songs that use that progression.
Groove Pizza: Interactive online tool for experimenting with different grooves in poular music.
Beepbox: Compose looped progressions that are sharable via a link.
One Motion Chord Player: Enter chord progressions using lead sheet notation in any harmonic rhythm. Hear the progression in different styles. Great for demonstrating or trying out a progression or as a looped backing track for improvisation.
Rhythmic Grooves: Use as a rhythmic backdrop for improvisation or sight-singing to help keep a steady tempo and make the activity more musical and fun.
Trevor de Clercq's Index of Rhythmic Grooves. Rhythmic backing tracks from familiar pop songs. Organized by meter and bpm. See suggestions for use by de Clercq here.
Drum Loops playlist on YouTube by Jim Dooley
Drones: Useful for keeping track of tonic in sight-singing exercises, doing point-and-sing solfege practice, or practicing harmonic intervals against a sounding pitch or chord.
Web App: Piano Drone
Drone Index by Trevor de Clercq: See suggestions for use by de Clercq here.
Sustained Drones. Sustained drone examples from repertoire and different instrumental timbres.
Drone Loops with Beats: Major and Minor. Organized by drone pitch and bpm.
Chord Loops: Loop a chord progression to practice improvisation, chord arpeggiations, or sight-singing.
Trevor de Clercq's Index of Chord Loops (see also the NYU Spreadsheet here). 4-bar looped progressions from familiar pop songs that include rhythm and harmony only looped for about 3 minutes. See suggestions for use by de Clercq here.
One Motion Chord Player: Enter chord progressions using lead sheet notation in any harmonic rhythm. The player will loop the progression. Different musical styles and meters available.
Online Metronome: For keeping or finding a tempo. Here's another option.
Practicing Polyrhythms
PolyRhythm Lite on Five over Three, a site by Wolfram Winkel
Has a great online metronome that clicks polyrhythms at your choice of 3 speeds (slow, medium, fast). Offers rhythms of 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, or 13 against 2, 3, or 4 using different timbres. There’s also a link here for a downloadable app (Polyrhythm) for desktop or mobile devices.
Videos with polyrhythm visuals to practice with. These feature adjustable speeds that slowly increase over about 4.5 minutes. (Created and uploaded to YouTube Skye Løfvander).
aQWERTYon: Jam along with your favorite Youtube recordings on your computer keyboard with different instruments and effects.
Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy (Vol. 7 to current, Vol. 1–6)
Links to Material for Teaching Music Theory (from Bridging the Music Theory Gap)
SMT Syllabi for Diversity in Course Design. Collection of syllabi for music theory courses that were selected as model examples for inclusive theory curricula.
NYU Theory Syllabi: Syllabi for all of the core theory courses in the NYU Steinhardt theory curriculum.
Victoria Malawey, Multimoda Musicianship. Many of the lessons include slides.
Barbara Murphy, Music Theory Materials: Examples, Powerpoint presentations, videos, handouts, and exercises organized by topic. Theory & Aural.
Advancing Music Theory: Lessons
Haohan Zhang, Music Theory Worksheets: Includes a large collection of worksheets and graphics for fundamentals and theory
Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People: Handy reference handouts created by Sparky the Theory Dog for various topics.
Composers of Color: Lesson Materials
WVU Music Theory Vault. Videos and handouts for topics for Theory I–IV
Open Source Textbooks with assignments and/or practice examples for in-class activities
Lavengood, Hamm, Gullings, et. al. Open Music Theory
Robert Hutchinson, Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom
Victoria Malawey, Multimoda Musicianship
Andre Mount, Fundamentals, Function, and Form
Sarah Louden et. al., NYU course texts for core theory and aural courses. Each course texts include course objectives, activities, discussion topics, worksheets, and suggested practice for each lesson topic. See the links to all course texts here.
Kyle Gullings, Class Resources. Download the zip file for worksheets, projects, exams, and syllabi for Theory I–IV.
Kyle Gullings, Open Music Theory: Digital Workbook
Non-Western Topics
West African Drumming: See the Great Grooves series here. Includes information about different styles, pronunciation guides, info about instruments, and an interactive audio mixer to play along.
Indian Music
Sādhana’s, Indian Classical Music Website
Indian Tabla: Digitabla.com. Descriptions of different tal, counting guides, and video demonstrations.
Video Demos & Practice: Indian Taal and Raag: See YouTube playlists by Urmi Battu (Tutorials, Taal, and Sargam) and Anuja Kamat (Basic Theory of Indian Music)
Raga Surabhi: Raga Identification Made Easy: Teaching resources for Carnatic music, including an extensive list of ragas with audio examples that include the scales, signatures, and examples from repertoire.
Arabic Maqam: Maqam World. Resource with interactive pages for exploring maqam, jins, rhythm, form, and instruments. Listening, notation, tutorials.
Turkish Music Theory: Adem Birson's “Turkish Ud Lessons” channel on YouTube with some great videos on Turkish music theory.
Various Topics: Kennedy Center: World Arts & Culture Collection
Instruments
Musical Instrument Library: A youtube playlist of 107 videos about instruments from around the world.
Interactive Musical Instrument Guide: Click on a pic of each instrument to hear it
Western Orchestral Instruments: Pics and audio for Western instruments with short descriptions
Popular Music
Tim Chenette, Music Theory Bridges (blog various music theory topics incorporating pop repertoire)