List of music theorists
This is a list of music theorists arranged in chronological order. The criteria for inclusion relies on publication or dissemination of written theoretical work by western musicians, and their inclusion in published books discussing the history of music theory.
Since the categories for music theorists are not subdivided by nationality, this list is intended to provide an overview of music theorists and provide for further exploration of the field.
Martin Gerbert and Edmond de Coussemaker were the 18th and 19th century compilers of numerous medieval theoretical treatises. It appeared to be their custom to assign names to treatises where the author was unknown. Modern practice is to refer to the treatises themselves by their title or their opening line, rather than infer information about their authors.
Antiquity
| Name | Date | Major writing | Known for |
| Archytas | 428–347 BC | naming the harmonic mean; may have been the first author to describe the Quadrivium | |
| Aplypius | flourished 360 | Introduction to Music | |
| Aristoxenus | born c. 375 BCE, flourished 335 BCE | Elementa harmonica | |
| Archestratus | early 3rd century BCE | describing the pyknon | |
| Ptolemais of Cyrene | probably 3rd century BCE | wrote concerning the proper roles of reason and sensory experience in the study of music | |
| Eratosthenes | circa 276 BCE – circa 195/194 BCE | calculation of the tuning of the degrees of the tetrachords | |
| Didymos | first century BCE | chromatic tetrachords | |
| Cleonides | probably first century AD | Introduction to Harmonics | |
| Ptolemy | circa 100 – circa 170 | Harmonics | |
| Augustine of Hippo | 13 November 354 – 28 August 430 | De musica | |
| Martianus Capella | early 5th century | De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii | |
| Boethius | 480–524 or 525 | De institutione musica | |
| Cassiodorus | 485–580 | Institutiones Divinarum et Saecularium Litterarum | |
| Isidore of Seville | circa 560 – 636 | Etymologiarum sive Originum libri xx |