The Harmony Wheel

Bookmark this FREE TOOL! Meet your interactive, theory-aware songwriting companion. Connect your MIDI keyboard for instant functional analysis. Multiple keyspaces make concepts like borrowed chords and modal interchange visually intuitive. See why your music works, not just what it is.

This tool was built through a lot of musical stubbornness and a bunch of AI prompts. If it helps you, please consider offsetting its carbon footprint by donating. 50% will help us keep the lights on here at Beat Kitchen and the other 50% will be donated to Stripe Climate↗.

Learn what the Wheel is showing you

The Harmony Wheel visualizes concepts that Beat Kitchen’s Music Theory guide covers in depth:

• Your First Chords: Major, Minor, and the Dominant — the three chords every Wheel position is built from
• Voice Leading and the Caterpillar — how chords move smoothly from one to the next
• Modes Without the Mystique — the modal interchange the Wheel makes visible
• Diminished Chords, Extensions, and Other Chameleons — where the weird ones fit

Or try the Random Chord Generator or the Tetrachord Construction Kit — both open on the Harmony Wheel when you find something worth exploring.

Notes and usage

• This tool works best on desktop using a MIDI enabled browser like Chrome.
• Safari won’t pass MIDI. Mobile Safari still may not have sound (fix coming). Chrome on iOS currently seems to be more reliable. We’re working on it.
• Got a question? Want to report a bug? Is there a feature you’d like to see? Please head to our Discord↗. We’d love to hear about it! (But please don’t email or DM – it’s a community project)
• Mobile enhancements and a proper help/documentaion are coming soon.

Version history

• 4.5.2 Bug fixes. No longer exits HOME space on half-diminished chord. Clicking wedges wiil sustain notes again.
• BIG UPDATE 4.5.1: refactor of function and transposition engines eliminates a bunch of bugs (Thanks for pointing them out). New SYNTH ENGINE added. Improved song sharing. Better annotation system for lyrics or music theory notes. And I forget. Lots more stuff too. Enjoy!
• 3.18.93 Maj7 detection bug and sequencer insertion point fix
• 3.18.79 ♭III now correctly interpreted as PARALLEL when including major 7th
• 3.18.78 Temop and loop support for imported songs.
• 3.18.61 Fixes incorrect wedge identification in PARALLEL mode