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112 lines
4.7 KiB
ReStructuredText
112 lines
4.7 KiB
ReStructuredText
PyTheory + Claude Code
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======================
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PyTheory ships an official `Claude Code <https://claude.com/claude-code>`_
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plugin, so you can make and analyze music just by *talking* to Claude. Ask in
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plain language and Claude writes and runs PyTheory for you — composing
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arrangements, working out chord voicings, naming the key of a melody, building
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guitar fingerings, or transcribing a recording.
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Install
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-------
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In Claude Code, add the marketplace::
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/plugin marketplace add kennethreitz/pytheory-skill
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Then install the plugin::
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/plugin install composing-with-pytheory@pytheory
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That one plugin bundles six skills (below) — installing it gives Claude all of
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them. You also need PyTheory itself available wherever Claude runs (prefer uv if
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you have it)::
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uv pip install pytheory # or: pip install pytheory
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Then just talk to it
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--------------------
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Each skill triggers on its own kind of request, so you don't pick one — you just
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ask:
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- *"Write me a bossa nova in G minor and save the MIDI."*
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- *"Make a four-chord lo-fi loop and let me hear it."*
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- *"What's the fingering for F#m7b5? And show me a DADGAD Cmaj7."*
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- *"Tune my guitar to drop D."*
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- *"What key are C E G B D in, and what chord comes after G?"*
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- *"Voice-lead Cmaj7 to Fmaj7 and give me the tritone sub of G7."*
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- *"Turn this hum into MIDI and a guitar lead sheet."*
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Claude composes, plays, analyzes, and exports — to WAV, MIDI, MusicXML,
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LilyPond, ABC, or guitar tab — all from the same PyTheory you'd use in a script.
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Heard in the wild
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-----------------
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`Interpretations <https://interpretations.kennethreitz.org>`_ is a full 24-track
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album composed entirely in PyTheory — Indian ragas colliding with trap beats,
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singing bowls ringing over 808 sub bass, microtonal shruti tunings, a string
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quartet ambushed by drum & bass. Every sound is generated from code: each track
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is a ``.py`` file, with no samples and no DAW. It's a real, published example of
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where this code-first workflow can go.
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Listen on `Apple Music <https://music.apple.com/us/album/interpretations/1890986989>`_,
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`Spotify <https://open.spotify.com/album/1jYjggrr6HEKfV4FchcJWD>`_, or the
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`web player <https://interpretations.kennethreitz.org>`_ — and read the source
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(every track as Python you can run) at
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https://github.com/kennethreitz/interpretations.
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The skills
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----------
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.. list-table::
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:header-rows: 1
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:widths: 30 70
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* - Skill
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- What it does
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* - ``composing-with-pytheory``
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- Full arrangements — progressions, melodies, basslines, drums, layering —
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rendered to audio or MIDI, with PyTheory's house style baked in. Also the
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metronome and tempo trainer (``pytheory metronome``).
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* - ``playing-guitar-with-pytheory``
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- Fingerings, chord shapes and tab, chord identification, scale diagrams,
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embeddable SVG/PNG chord, scale, and arpeggio images, alternate tunings
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and capo, 25 stringed instruments, Nashville charts, and the real-time
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tuner.
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* - ``chord-lab-with-pytheory``
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- A single chord's notes, voicings (inversions, drop-2/3, open), tension,
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the tritone substitution, Forte number / pitch-class set, figured bass,
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and voice leading.
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* - ``keys-and-harmony-with-pytheory``
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- Keys and progressions — diatonic chords (grouped by function),
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Roman-numeral analysis, key detection, secondary dominants, borrowed
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chords, negative harmony, and modulation.
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* - ``scales-modes-and-tunings-with-pytheory``
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- Scales and modes, "what scale fits these notes?", intervals, overtones,
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the circle of fifths, 16 tuning systems, Hindustani and Carnatic ragas
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(shruti just intonation), and Arabic quarter-tone maqamat.
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* - ``transcription-and-notation-with-pytheory``
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- Audio → notes/MIDI, chord recognition, MIDI import, and export to
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MusicXML / LilyPond lead sheets / ABC / tab — with lyrics carried
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through to all three notation formats.
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Prefer to drive PyTheory yourself? Every skill mirrors a hands-on guide:
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:doc:`composing <sequencing>`, :doc:`guitar and tab <fretboard>`,
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:doc:`chords <chords>`, :doc:`keys and harmony <theory>`,
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:doc:`scales and tunings <scales>`, and
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:doc:`transcription and export <playback>`.
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How it works
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------------
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A `skill <https://code.claude.com/docs/en/skills>`_ is a set of instructions
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Claude reads on demand. These skills teach Claude PyTheory's API — and its taste
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(subtle detune, gentle humanization, sensible voices) — so the music it writes
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is intentional, not random. Claude then writes and runs ordinary PyTheory Python
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on your machine; nothing is sent anywhere, and the files it produces are yours.
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The plugin is open source and generated from the PyTheory repo:
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https://github.com/kennethreitz/pytheory-skill
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