What is Music Theory?

Put simply, music theory helps us to understand how music works. Studying music theory in secondary school or college means learning anything from how to read western notation, chords, keys, intervals, and other rudiments all the way to formal analysis of a piece of music and composition.

What is Ear-Training and Aural Skills?

Ear-training, aural skills, and musicianship all describe a component of music theory that focuses on listening, including recognizing chords and intervals, scales, simple melodies, rhythm, and harmonic progressions. A large part of music theory training focuses on dictation, which means listening to a melody, rhythm, or harmony and then notating on paper in real-time. This is where Picardy helps!

Technical Picardy Stuff

Which web browsers are recommended in Picardy?

We recommend using Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox as your Picardy web browser.

Should I use headphones?

We recommend using headphones to minimize distractions, but a good set of speakers will work well (not your built-in speakers, please!).

I'm having technical difficulties. What do I do?

Clear your cache. The most common fix to minor issues is clearing the cache in your web browser. Not sure how to do this? No problem! Visit refreshyourcache.com to find the easiest way to clear your web browser's cache, browsing history, and cookies.

Sometimes the interwebs are slow. Particularly if you're not on a strong wifi connection, errors are very occasionally caused by an overworked internet connection, such as one you might find in a dorm room, coffee shop, or mobile data. Just wait an extra couple of seconds to see if that fixes the issue, especially after hitting the submit button on an exercise.

Contact us directly. If you're still experiencing trouble, please email us directly and include a detailed description of your issue and we'll do our best to get the problem fixed ASAP.

Can I try Picardy out before subscribing?

Absolutely. You can play with a lot of features within the free tier. You also have a 30-day trial period with full access to see if you like what we offer.

Who can use Picardy?

Basically anyone interested in learning about music. We built Picardy first as a way for college level students in music theory and musicianship skills classes, but anyone interested in developing their music skills will benefit from Picardy. We've designed the content with both newbies and experienced musicians in mind. We start from scratch! (We recommend starting with the PITCH course.)

Who writes all the material?

Content and the curriculum is developed by experienced teachers and professors of music theory, musicianship, and composition, with either a masters or doctoral degree in music theory and/or composition. We are also advised by other college level instructors and professors of music in order to provide the most relevent and useful content possible. Meet our team!

I'm an educator - how do I get started?

Great! Fill out and submit an educator application. Once approved, you get complete access to all the material that Picardy has to offer.

How do I view the progress of my students?

Once your educator application is approved, you'll want to create a classroom and invite all your students to join. To view their progress, simply click on the appropriate classroom and select the course you'd like to view from the column on the right-hand side of the screen.

Please note: Any work your students complete before the start date you set when you create your classroom will not show up when you view all of your students' progress. It's important that they know to begin work only after they've joined your classroom and after the start date you set.

What sort of stats can I view about my students?

Currently you can see whether your students have completed a Lesson, if they completed it perfectly on the first attempt, how many times they've completed it, and how many times they may have attempted it. More stats will be added over the course of the next several months to help provide even more important information about your students' learning.