music21 vs Study Music Theory

music21 is a free Python toolkit for computer-aided musicology, used to study music datasets, teach music theory, edit notation, analyze music, generate examples, and compose. It includes a corpus of thousands of encoded works, plus tools for searching that corpus, plotting pitch, and performing advanced analysis such as nPVI. The toolkit works with MIDI and MusicXML and can be extended to handle other formats. Its documentation recommends MuseScore for viewing and editing notation, and describes MusicXML readers including Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico. Optional integrations include LilyPond, Matplotlib, SciPy, PyAudio, and Pygame; music21 can also be used in web-based Jupyter Notebook. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with web use through Jupyter. The toolkit is BSD-licensed and costs nothing. Some corpus works have separate license restrictions. Users need some familiarity with Python, and music21 works primarily with symbolic music data rather than sound waves; it cannot read notation directly from images or PDFs.

Study Music Theory is a service for learning music theory and ear training, with the aim of helping learners play by ear. Its course spans 12 levels and 1,496 interactive lessons, from notes and scales through jazz and orchestration. Ear-training drills cover intervals, chords, and melodies, with difficulty increasing gradually. A microphone trainer listens to what a learner plays and identifies it. Lessons include playable examples on an on-screen keyboard and fretboard, including guitar open-chord shapes. Additional practice tools include transcription, a play-by-ear coach, transposition, a drone, and a practice planner. The service is available on the web, Android, and iOS. Its mobile apps work offline and do not require an account. Progress stays stored locally unless the learner signs in; an optional account can back it up and enable leaderboard participation. The free plan includes the full course and all eight trainers, with no ads or paywalls. The service says it does not use analytics or advertising trackers and does not sell or share data with advertisers or data brokers.