Contact

Reaching the team behind Music Theory Authority starts here. This page covers what to include in a message, how long a response typically takes, and the best channel for different kinds of inquiries — whether someone has a correction to flag, a deeper question the FAQ didn't answer, or a collaboration idea worth discussing.

What to include in your message

A well-formed message gets a faster, more useful reply. The difference between a response that lands the same day and one that sits in a queue for a week is almost always the same thing: specificity.

Include the following before hitting send:

1. Subject or topic area — Name the concept, page, or section at issue. "Circle of fifths explanation" is more useful than "a thing on your site."
2. The specific question or concern — State it plainly. If something is confusing, quote the sentence. If something appears factually incorrect, say what the correction should be and, ideally, point to the source.
3. Context about your background — A working composer asking about extended harmony needs a different kind of answer than a piano student working through their first key signatures. One sentence is enough.
4. Any relevant examples — If the question involves a specific piece, chord progression, or notation problem, include it. Roman numerals, lead sheet symbols, and ABC notation are all readable here.

What to leave out: lengthy preambles, multiple unrelated questions bundled into one message, and requests for personalized lesson plans or private tutoring referrals — those fall outside the editorial scope of this site.

Response expectations

Messages are reviewed on a rolling basis, with most straightforward inquiries receiving a reply within 3 to 5 business days. Complex questions — particularly those involving modal theory, post-tonal analysis, or extended jazz harmony — may take longer if they require the kind of careful cross-referencing that a quick reply would do poorly.

A few honest clarifications about what this contact channel is and isn't:

• Editorial corrections receive priority handling. If a claim on the site is wrong, that matters more than almost anything else in the queue.
• Content suggestions are genuinely read and do influence what gets written. No promises, but the feedback loop is real.
• General music theory questions that are already covered on the site — particularly in the FAQ or the how it works section — may receive a reply with a link rather than a full written-out answer. This isn't brush-off; it's because those pages were written precisely to handle those questions in depth.
• Partnership and licensing inquiries are read by a different part of the team and typically take 7 to 10 business days.

There is no live chat, no phone line, and no social media direct-message channel that routes to the editorial process. Those surfaces exist; they are just not monitored for substantive inquiry.

Additional contact options

For questions that don't fit neatly into a single message, two other paths are worth knowing about.

The FAQ page at Music Theory Frequently Asked Questions covers the 40-plus questions that arrive most consistently — everything from "what is the difference between a mode and a scale" to "why does the leading tone in natural minor feel unresolved." Checking there first saves time in both directions.

The scope and dimensions page at Key Dimensions and Scopes of Music Theory is useful for readers trying to orient themselves before asking a question. Music theory spans at least 4 distinct analytical traditions — common-practice tonal theory, Schenkerian analysis, set theory, and jazz/popular harmonic theory — and a question framed in one tradition sometimes looks like a contradiction when read through another. Knowing which framework applies to a question sharpens both the question and the eventual answer.

For educators referencing this site in a classroom or curriculum context, a brief note identifying the institution and the course level (secondary, undergraduate, graduate) helps the editorial process understand how the content is being used and whether any clarification pages would serve that audience.

How to reach this office

The primary contact method is the form on this page. Fill in a name, a working email address, and the message itself. No account creation required. No CAPTCHA that mistakes humans for robots more reliably than it catches actual bots.

Messages sent through the form are routed directly to the editorial process, not a general inbox shared with advertising or business development. That distinction is worth stating plainly: an inquiry about a tritone substitution and an inquiry about banner ad rates land in different places.

For context on the site's purpose and editorial standards, the index page and the how-to-get-help page both explain the scope of what Music Theory Authority covers and what kind of guidance it's structured to provide. Reading either one before writing in tends to produce sharper questions — which, in music theory as in most things, is more than half the work.