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Music Theory



Tutorials by bikibird


Bikibird has made a collection of interactive tutorials that have great visualizations accompanying each lesson. 

"This tutorial provides an introduction to the basics of pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and composition within the context of PICO-8. It explores music in a decidedly mathy way through a series of interactive demos that use spatial relations to connect sound to vision. Upon completion, you will have the skills and knowledge you need to add original music to your games.  It's easier than you think."

button iconGo to Tutorials Page

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To open the list of tutorials click the "run tutorial" button on the itch page.


Lesson 1: Sound
Let's start at the very beginning. All music is sound...

Lesson 2: Pitch Class and Octave
The human ear hears pitches in the frequency range of about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz and distinguishes frequencies that vary by as little as .3%...

Lesson 3: Intervals
Very few people are capable of identifying individual pitches in isolation. Fortunately, having perfect pitch is not at all necessary...

Lesson 4: Scales
Pixel artists choose palettes to evoke particular moods or settings. Musicians use scales...


Lesson 9: Rhythm Patterns
Listening to an unchanging beat quickly becomes monotonous...

Lesson 10: Meter
Meter is another approach to rhythm. Meters use rule sets to limit choices...

And more!

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7 Mar 2025

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