Noun
music theory (uncountable)
The field of study dealing with how music works, typically examining the language and notation of music, the patterns and structures in composers' techniques, and so on.
Synonym: theory of music
I met my wife when we were both 19 or 20, at a music school where she was taking voice and piano lessons and I was doing classes in music theory and composition. Rohinton Mistry
Songwriting is different from music, although I don't deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory. Neil Diamond
I studied voice when I was at school, and I was in the chamber choir, and I studied music theory as well, so I guess a lot of it came from being taught at school. Lily Allen
I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards - Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin. Zooey Deschanel
I don't know anything about music theory at all. Zero. But I don't really need to. Amos Lee
We must see that music theory is not only about music, but about how people process it. To understand any art, we must look below its surface into the psychological details of its creation and absorption. Marvin Minsky