A hands-on music course
Learn music by building it.
Listen, use the piano, and check your work as you compose your way through seven units — including hands-on keyboard practice with steps, scales, and chords right where the course teaches them.
Start with lesson 1 →Compose it. Hear it. Revise it.
Seven units, 40 lessons — connected to IB MYP throughout, building step by step toward real Noteflight compositions. Every lesson is open — jump to whichever one you need.
Unit 1 · Weeks 1–2
Melody: Pitch, Rhythm & Contour
Learn the basics of Noteflight while creating your first purposeful melody.
U1·1Getting Started in NoteflightLearn how to create a score, enter notes, change note values, delete mistakes, play your score, and save your work.Open lesson →U1·2How Melodies MoveMelodies move up, move down, repeat notes, and change direction. Composers shape those movements intentionally.Open lesson →U1·3Home Tone & Melodic ArrivalMelodies gain direction when listeners can hear a pitch as home. Longer notes, phrase endings, and returning to tonic can strengthen that sense of arrival.Open lesson →U1·4Steps, Skips & LeapsThe distance between notes affects how a melody feels. Small movements often sound smooth; larger movements can create energy, surprise, or emphasis.Open lesson →U1·5ContourContour is the overall shape of a melody. Instead of copying a shape, you will create a melody first, then identify the shape your musical choices produced.Open lesson →U1·6Composition 1: My First MelodyYour first graded composition is short so you can focus on making a few musical choices well.Open lesson →
Unit 2 · Week 3
Rhythm & Meter
Explore how note lengths, rests, meter, repetition, and contrast create musical energy.
U2·1Beat vs. RhythmThe beat is the steady pulse; rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds that happens against that pulse.Open lesson →U2·2Rhythm Building BlocksShort rhythmic ideas can be combined into longer phrases. Rests create space and punctuation, and rhythmic ideas do not have to begin exactly on a bar line.Open lesson →U2·3Measures & MeterMeter organizes beats into repeating groups. You will compare how 4/4 and 3/4 change the feel of a musical idea.Open lesson →U2·4Pitch & Rhythm Work TogetherPitch and rhythm shape musical direction together. Longer notes can emphasize important pitches, faster notes can create momentum, and a high point can become a phrase goal.Open lesson →U2·5Composition 2: Rhythm RemixKeep the pitch material simple and make rhythm the main creative decision.Open lesson →
Unit 3 · Weeks 4–5
Phrases: Musical Question & Answer
Turn short ideas into phrases that create tension, release, and musical conversation.
U3·1What Is a Musical Phrase?A phrase is a musical thought. Like a sentence, it has direction and a point where it feels as though it pauses or finishes.Open lesson →U3·2Musical DialogueMusical dialogue is an exchange between two recognizable ideas. Contrast in direction, rhythm, register, articulation, or rests can give each voice a distinct identity.Open lesson →U3·3Question & AnswerA musical question tends to feel unfinished. A musical answer responds and usually sounds more settled.Open lesson →U3·4Composition 3: Musical ConversationCreate two related phrases that clearly sound like a question and an answer.Open lesson →
Unit 4 · Weeks 6–7
Motives, Repetition & Variation
Learn how composers build larger pieces by reusing and transforming small musical ideas.
U4·1Small Idea, Big PossibilitiesA motive is a short, recognizable musical idea. Strong pieces often grow from surprisingly little material.Open lesson →U4·2Repeat It or Change It?Exact repetition creates unity. Variation keeps an idea recognizable while changing something about it.Open lesson →U4·3Composition 4: Develop an IdeaBuild a short piece from one original motive instead of inventing unrelated material every measure.Open lesson →
Unit 5 · Weeks 8–10
Scales, Chords & Harmony
Connect major scales to triads, chord progressions, and melodies that fit their harmony.
U5·1Whole and half stepsCount the distance between piano keys.Open lesson →U5·2Keys, Key Signatures & Home ToneA key signature establishes the pitch collection a piece primarily uses, while tonic functions as its home tone. Choosing a key affects the notes and harmonic possibilities available to the composer.Open lesson →U5·3The Major ScaleA key gives music a collection of pitches and a home base. Scale degrees help us describe each note by its job inside the key.Open lesson →U5·4Scales and key signaturesHear major and minor patterns, then build scales in different keys.Open lesson →U5·5Building TriadsA basic triad stacks three notes using alternating scale tones.Open lesson →U5·6Primary Chords & MelodyThe I, IV, and V chords are especially useful in tonal music, and every melody note can be tested against the chord sounding beneath it.Open lesson →U5·7Building chordsUse 4–3 and 3–4 half-step patterns to make triads.Open lesson →U5·8Chords: Part 2Root position, first inversion, and second inversion.Open lesson →U5·9Tension & ResolutionHarmony creates motion by moving away from and back toward tonic. The V chord often creates strong tension that wants to resolve to I.Open lesson →U5·10Chord Tones & ArpeggiosA triad can sound simultaneously as a chord or unfold one pitch at a time as an arpeggio. Arpeggios turn harmony into melodic motion while keeping the chord identity clear.Open lesson →U5·11Melody Over ChordsA melody does not need to use only chord tones, but important notes often connect clearly with the harmony underneath.Open lesson →U5·12Composition 5: Melody & HarmonyCompose a melody over a simple chord progression and make the harmony audible in your melodic choices.Open lesson →
Unit 6 · Weeks 11–12
Accompaniment, Texture & Instrumentation
Transform harmony into an accompaniment and make purposeful choices about instruments and register.
U6·1Melody vs. AccompanimentThe melody usually carries the main musical idea. Accompaniment supports it through harmony, rhythm, register, and texture.Open lesson →U6·2Ways to AccompanyThe same chord progression can become block chords, repeated chords, broken chords, arpeggios, or a simple bass pattern.Open lesson →U6·3Instrumentation & RegisterInstrument sound and pitch range can change the character of the same notes. Good arranging keeps each part in a useful register.Open lesson →U6·4Composition 6: Two-Part CompositionWrite a melody plus accompaniment that work together rather than sounding like two unrelated parts.Open lesson →
Unit 7 · Week 13
Form & Expression
Shape a complete mini-composition with sections, contrast, dynamics, articulation, and musical intent.
U7·1Unity, Contrast & FormForm gives music a larger roadmap. Repetition creates unity; contrast keeps the listener interested.Open lesson →U7·2Dynamics Create DramaDynamics shape intensity and character. Sudden changes can surprise the listener, while crescendos and decrescendos create gradual changes in energy.Open lesson →U7·3Expression Is a Musical ChoiceDynamics, articulation, tempo, instrumentation, and register should help communicate an idea—not get added at the end just to satisfy a checklist.Open lesson →U7·4Inspiration & Musical ChoicesAn inspiration can guide concrete musical decisions before composing. Instrument, tempo, key, meter, register, contour, dynamics, and texture can all help communicate a chosen character or mood.Open lesson →U7·5Plan, Compose, ReviseBefore writing the final mini-composition, decide what should stay consistent and what should change between sections.Open lesson →U7·6Composition 7: Complete Mini-CompositionThis is the culmination of the Noteflight portion—not the semester final. Demonstrate that you can independently create a coherent short piece.Open lesson →
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