Check out these helpful YouTube channels that can help you get started with, or boost, your music theory skills.

Music theory can get confusing, and there are plenty of brilliant artists who don’t know the first thing about it. While understanding music theory isn’t absolutely essential to making music, it is incredibly beneficial. Even just knowing the basics gives you a language you can use to communicate your chords or melodies to bandmates, or musical ideas to producers, and access interesting new songwriting techniques.

But, teaching yourself from books or old school resources can make an already daunting task even more off-putting. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best channels on YouTube for learning music theory. Just like grasping any new language, or understanding complex new information, it’s much easier to tackle with the assistance of an experienced guide. Fortunately, this is something YouTube videos can provide.

Since not everyone will be looking for the same type of music theory training, our list of the best channels is in no particular order. You might be a total beginner looking to learn the basics, or someone with existing knowledge who wants to explore new ideas and concepts within music theory. So, without further ado…

Michael New

Perfect for beginners, Michael shares content that explains what particular aspects of music theory are, what they are for, and crucially how you can use them. Demonstrating on a piano keyboard, Michael teaches in visual way that enables viewers to play along and fully grasp new concepts.

Signals Music Studio

Jake Lizzio at Signals Music Studio gives great overviews and explanations of music theory and how to apply it. If you’re a guitar player looking to level up their theory knowledge in a short space of time, this could be the channel for you. Organised playlists cover topics like chord progressions, scales, modes, and the absolute basics for complete beginners.

Music Matters

Music Matters is a YouTube channel focused on teaching music theory, composition, sight reading, and piano, catering to learners of all levels. Led by experienced Musical Directors Gareth Green and Alex Shore, the channel offers a variety of resources, video courses, and exam support materials to make music education enjoyable. A huge playlist dedicated to music theory boasts 134 videos, with plenty of other content to learn from as well.

Andrew Huang

Andrew Huang’s YouTube channel showcases a diverse range of content, including insightful discussions, instrument explorations, creative challenges, and original compositions. This eclectic mix makes his channel one of the most unique in the music realm on YouTube. Although not every video is solely dedicated to music education, the themes of teaching and learning are prominent throughout his work, earning him a well-deserved place on this list.

Adam Neely

A very popular figure on YouTube in the music theory space, Adam Neely’s videos explore interesting, sometimes complex, topics. However, he approaches his videos in an engaging and accessible way that anyone can enjoy. From exploring music history, to analysing legal cases in the music industry through the lens of music theory, you’re bound to learn something here.

Pro tip: musictheory.net is a brilliant website that offers countless theory lessons covering the basics through to advanced chord building and much more. The site also offers exercises to help with aural skills as well as things like key signature identification, chord construction, and keyboard or fretboard note identification (to name but a few).

Check out the above YouTube channels, find the ones that resonate most with you, and practice the skills and knowledge you acquire from the videos on musictheory.net. You’ll notice your music theory language expand in no time, and your playing or songwriting improve with it.