- Author
- Posted by aanet, with replies from many commenters
- Published
- 10 September 2026
- Kind
- Hacker News discussion thread about an open online music theory textbook
- Original
- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49647134
- Subject
- Consonance and tuning
- Themes
- Getting good, Given away
What it is
The thread is on a free textbook, hosted at musictheory.pugetsound.edu, with homework and audio examples. The thread had 306 points when collected. Commenters include classical and jazz players, a composer and several programmers.
What it says
- Commenter ultrasounder says the textbook site includes homework for self-study.
- Commenter dahart quotes the preface: less four-part voice leading, more harmony within the phrase.
- Commenter Lio argues notation suits reading from paper, while piano rolls suit screens.
- Commenter stackghost complains that theory texts give facts to memorize with no context.
- Commenter AlecSchueler says theory clicks when playing music comes first.
- Commenter webern777 calls the book twelve-tone equal temperament theory, and very complete.
- Commenter HelloNurse says the book's definition of enharmonic notes is wrong.
What evidence it gives
The thread offers opinions and personal experience from players and teachers. A few commenters quote the book's text and preface. Others link outside material on tuning and dissonance. No commenter reports a study of how well the book teaches.
Interests and limits
Comments are unverified and often disagree. Much of the thread concerns notation and tuning, not the textbook itself. The textbook was not read for this page. Its content comes through commenters' quotes and descriptions.