# Music Theory for Programmers

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Music Theory for Programmers and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A web article that teaches music theory from first principles through code, praised as an intuitive bridge for programmers and a good starting point.

## Why people recommend it

- Builds music theory from first principles (2 comments): "I enjoyed the programmer's approach to build it up from first principles." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49584688)) "this will give you a foundational understanding of music that you can reason about instead of memorising" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346026))
- Intuitive for programmers learning music (3 comments): "this approach to understanding music feels much more intuitive to some (like the author, and myself)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49584952)) "deriving intervals and chords and then hearing the code produce them is a pretty effective bridge" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49588995)) "TFA is a good programming-nerd oriented introduction to the matter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49587193))
- Good starting point for beginners (2 comments): "And the current article is a great starting point." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49585351)) "TFA is a good programming-nerd oriented introduction to the matter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49587193))

## What people warn about

- Thin on tonic and diatonic scales (2 comments): "Pretty good, could use more on the tonic, how it’s defined for a diatonic set of 7 notes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49584301)) "it doesn't explain very well why we generally use diatonic instead of chromatic scales" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49585498))
- Only basic, fun-page level depth (2 comments): "It's a fun webpage about a programmer dipping their toes in the very most basic elements of music" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49584745)) "trivializing music down to a few not-so-important facts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49584029))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Piano by ear memory game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/piano.md): 35 recommend
- [OnKey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onkey.md): 23 recommend
- [Soundslice](https://hackerapproved.com/p/soundslice.md): 9 recommend
- [Vocal Guide](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vocal-guide.md): 7 recommend
- [musictheory.net](https://hackerapproved.com/p/musictheory-net.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Music Theory for Programmers", https://hackerapproved.com/p/music-theory-for-programmers/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).