Help guitarists and string players with PyTheory — chord fingerings and shapes, ASCII tablature, chord identification, scale diagrams, SVG/PNG diagram images, alternate tunings and capo, Nashville number charts, and a real-time strobe tuner. Use whenever the user asks for a chord shape or fingering ("how do I play F#m7b5"), a tab, a chord/scale/arpeggio *image* to embed, what chord some frets/notes make, a scale diagram on the fretboard, a drop-D / DADGAD / open-G voicing, a capo position, a Nashville chart, or how to tune up — for guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and ~20 other stringed instruments.
Build, voice, and analyze individual chords with PyTheory. Use when the user asks about a single chord — its notes/intervals, inversions or drop-2/drop-3/ open voicings, the tritone substitution, what extensions it can take, how tense or dissonant it is, its Forte number / pitch-class set, figured bass, or the voice-leading between two chords. For progressions and keys use the keys-and-harmony skill; for fingerings/tab use the guitar skill.
Analyze and generate keys and chord progressions with PyTheory. Use when the user asks what key some notes are in, the diatonic chords of a key, a Roman- numeral analysis of a progression, what chord comes next, secondary dominants, borrowed chords, chords grouped by function (tonic/subdominant/dominant), the key-level circle of fifths, negative harmony, how to modulate between keys (pivot chords / modulation path), or to generate a progression. For a single chord's voicing/analysis use the chord-lab skill; for full arrangements use the composing skill.
Explore scales, modes, tones, and tuning systems with PyTheory. Use when the user asks about a scale or mode (notes of D dorian, harmonize a scale), which scale to solo with over some notes, intervals between notes, the overtone series, the circle of fifths, Hindustani ragas (aroha/avaroha, pakad, time of day, shruti just intonation), microtonal / non-Western systems (maqam, gamelan, 19-TET, just/meantone temperament), or note↔frequency↔MIDI conversions. For chords/keys use the chord-lab or keys-and-harmony skills.
Compose music with PyTheory — chord progressions, melodies, basslines, drum grooves, and full multi-part arrangements written in pure Python and rendered to audio or MIDI. Use whenever the user wants to write, sketch, generate, or arrange music — "write me a bossa nova in G minor", "make a four-chord pop loop", "lay down a funk beat", "turn this progression into a song" — or export the result to WAV, MIDI, MusicXML, LilyPond, ABC, or guitar tab. Also covers the metronome / chord-practice click / tempo trainer (`pytheory metronome`).
Transcribe audio and convert between music formats with PyTheory. Use when the user wants to turn a recording (WAV/hum/melody) into notes or MIDI, identify the chord in an audio clip, import a MIDI file, or export a score/melody to MIDI, sheet music (MusicXML, LilyPond, ABC), or guitar tab.