Music is experiential, and that is how harmony and chord progressions should be learned: with the ears more than with the mind. Most music theory courses and websites make this mistake.

If you look at a typical music theory book or website you would never realize that harmony is simpler than you think it is. The seven harmonies that this mini-course teach you are the basis of Western music, and they can be learned by listening to example tracks while watching the on-screen symbols.

• The seven harmonies are the essence of how music works.
• The harmonies can and should be learned experientially first, and intellectually second.

Music has many dimensions: melody, harmony, tempo, rhythm, and other factors, but harmony is its essential aspect. Learning the harmonies experientially first, and the theory of them later, is the reverse of how music is taught practically everywhere. It is the correct approach, however, because:

• Good teachers know that the best way to teach any topic is to start with concrete experience first, followed by abstraction.
• You don’t need to learn the factual theory if you don’t want to. You can learn to hear the harmonies and your enjoyment of music will forever be richer. After learning them experientially, you may want to enhance your understanding and appreciation of them by learning more about what they are.
• Many music theory students, even after studying for a year or more in the traditional way, never do develop a good feel for the harmonies. continue...