PICO 8 Music Theory for Programmers

Does the idea of making original music for your PICO-8 games fill you with dread? Have previous attempts resulted in music that is boring or confusing or just a dissonant mess?  You might blame a lack of talent, but more likely you just lack an understanding of how music works. 

This tutorial provides an introduction to the basics of pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm and composition within the context of PICO-8. It explores music in a decidedly mathy way through a series of interactive demos that use spatial relations to connect sound to vision. Upon completion, you will have the skills and knowledge you need to add original music to your games.  It's easier than you think.

This tutorial runs best on a desktop or laptop computer.  You will need a mouse.  The 🅾️ and ❎buttons are mapped to the Z and X keys.