Music theory practice with feedback that teaches.
Drills in fundamentals, intervals, part writing, diatonic and secondary harmony, all written in notation. Every answer is checked and the specific error is named: a misspelled chord, a wrong inversion, parallel fifths, an unresolved leading tone. After a wrong attempt, students can unlock the correct answer.
I–IV–V⁷–I in D major, SATB.
The tools
Ordered from fundamentals to chromatic harmony. Every tool is open, so students can practice whatever their class is covering.
ReadingNotes and keys
Note Reader
Name notes fast in treble, bass, alto and tenor clef, with ledger lines, accidentals and octave numbers. Tracks average time per note.
Key Signatures
Write the key signature for any major or minor key, or name the key from a signature. Catches sharps and flats out of order or in the wrong octave.
RhythmNote values and meter
Note Values
Name notes and rests, then count how many shorter notes equal a longer one, with dotted notes, ties and meters.
Measure Completer
Complete four bars of rhythm, each with one note missing, in simple and compound meter and in cut time, 3/2 and 4/2. Feedback shows what each bar adds up to.
Barline Placer
Add the missing barlines to six bars of rhythm in simple and compound meter and in cut time, 3/2 and 4/2. Feedback shows what each bar adds up to.
Meter Finder
Name the time signature from two bars of rhythm, using the length of each bar and how its notes are grouped: 3/4 or 6/8, 3/2 or 12/8.
Beaming Fixer
Join flagged eighth and sixteenth notes with beams that show the meter’s groups, in simple and compound meter and cut time.
Show the Beat
Find the note that hides the middle of a 4/4 bar or the start of a compound group, then rewrite it as two tied notes.
Intervals & scalesBuilding blocks
Step Writer
Write whole and half steps above or below a given note, using the next letter name.
Interval Writer
Write intervals from seconds to octaves, including augmented and diminished, above or below a given note.
Scale Writer
Write major scales and natural, harmonic and melodic minor in any of the 15 keys, with the whole and half steps shown if you want them.
Mode Writer
Write the seven diatonic modes, with hints that relate each one to major or minor, like Dorian as minor with a raised 6th.
HarmonyChords and function
Chord Speller
Spell triads and all five seventh-chord types in every inversion, in closed position, from any root.
Roman Numerals
Write chords from Roman numerals in major and minor keys with the key signature on the staff, including the raised leading tone in minor.
Cadence Writer
Finish authentic, plagal, half and deceptive cadences in four voices on the grand staff, with feedback on parallels, doubling and leading-tone resolution.
Progression Writer
Write four-chord progressions in four voices from Roman numerals in major and minor, starting from a given bass note, then name the cadence.
Secondary Chords
Write secondary dominants and secondary leading-tone chords over a given bass and resolve them, in four voices, in major and minor.
Augmented Sixths
Write Italian, French and German sixths over a given bass in minor keys and resolve them to the cadential six-four, in four voices.
Advanced Progression Writer
Write six-chord progressions in four voices using every diatonic chord, then with secondary chords and augmented sixths, in major and minor, and name the cadence.
How every tool works
Every tool uses the same layout, so students only have to learn it once.
Feedback that names the error
Each answer is marked the way a teacher marks homework: “In first inversion, the third is in the bass,” “Parallel fifths between soprano and bass,” or “The leading tone should resolve up to the tonic.” In part writing, every error is listed, with the most serious first.
Answers unlock after an attempt
The Show answer button becomes available only after a wrong attempt. Students work the problem first, then compare their answer with the correct one.
Organized by topic
Each tool is divided into topics such as triad inversions, compound meter or secondary dominants, with a new question every time. Custom practice targets a specific chord or key.
All four clefs
Treble, bass, alto and tenor clef, with key signatures and accidentals placed according to standard engraving practice.
Hear it played
Play back scales, intervals and chords on a sampled grand piano, with chords sounded both blocked and arpeggiated.
Phone, tablet or laptop
Nothing to install. The tools run in any current browser, with keyboard entry for faster practice.
For teachers
Staffwork Studio is built to support your teaching. Model a skill on screen, then send students to practice the same topic on their own, with feedback that explains each mistake the way you would.
- Demonstrate in class: spell a chord, voice a cadence or find the meter together
- Assign a topic for practice in class or at home, linked from your class website or slides
- Every answer is checked, so students learn from their mistakes between lessons
- Currently free during beta period