Fundamentals of Sound & Music

The study of music theory is deep, expansive, and as diverse as the musical world around us. While there is no end to music theory, we can begin with an understanding of the nature of sound itself.

A black and white photo showing two young girls sitting in dining room chairs at a spinet piano. The younger girl, who looks around five years old, plays keys with her left hand. The other girl, who looks two or three years older, looks on, with her left arm resting on the back of the younger girl's chair. The piano's music stand holds a beginning piano method book, open to a page which includes the pieces "April Showers" and &Hasten Little Shepherd." On the piano keyboard, propped between the backs of the black keys and the fallboard, are several sheets of paper showing the staff notes which correspond to each piano key. "All the Family of Jewal Mazique Take Music Lessons," (1942) a photograph by John Collier. Mazique's daughter's early lessons likely included concepts like reading music notation and playing scales.
(The US Library of Congress | Public Domain)

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