| This list was compiled with the help of Google. | |||
| Antiquity | Date | Region | |
 | Aristoxenus — Harmonics (Elementa Harmonica) | 4th c. BCE | Greece (Greek) |
| Aristoxenus — Rhythmics (Rhythmica) | 4th c. BCE | Greece (Greek) |
| Nicomachus — Manual (Elements) of Harmonics | 1st–2nd c. CE | Greek (Hellenistic) |
 | Ptolemy — Harmonics (Harmonica) | 2nd c. CE | Alexandria (Greek) |
| Cleonides / Anonymous Byzantine Theory | Late antiquity / Byzantine (c. 1st millennium CE) | Byzantine Greek |
| Post-classical / Medieval | |||
| Boethius — De institutione musica | early 6th c. CE | Rome / Latin | |
| Bharata — Nāṭyaśāstra | c. 2nd c. BCE–2nd c. CE (date debated) | Indian (Sanskrit) | |
| Dattilam (Dattila) | early centuries CE (approx.) | Indian (Sanskrit) | |
| Brihaddeshi (Matanga) | 7th–8th c. CE | Indian (Sanskrit) | |
| Sangita-Ratnakara | 13th c. CE | Indian (Sanskrit) | |
| Yueshu yaolu (Key Points from the Treatises of Music) | Tang dynasty fragments (c. 7th–8th c.) | China (Classical Chinese) | |
| Guqin manuals (Qinpu collections) | Early medieval onward (many items preserved) | China (Classical Chinese) | |
| Al-Farabi — Kitāb al-Mūsīqā al-Kabīr (The Great Book of Music) | 10th c. CE | Islamic Golden Age (Arabic/Persian transmission) | |
| Al-Kindi — musical writings | 9th c. CE | Arabic | |
| Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā) — chapters on music | 11th c. CE | Persian/Arabic | |
| Safi al-Din al-Urmawi — Kitāb al-Adwār | 13th c. CE | Arabic/Persian | |
| Hagiopolites (Byzantine treatise) | c. 10th c. CE | Byzantine Greek | |
| Medieval Latin and Carolingian theoretical texts (various) | 8th–12th c. CE | Western Europe (Latin) | |
| Guido of Arezzo — Micrologus (and related treatises) | c. 11th c. CE | Western Europe (Latin) | |
| Collections of organology/tuning lists (various medieval manuscripts) | Medieval period | Global (various languages) | |
| Renaissance | |||
| 17th Century | |||
| 18th Century | |||
| 19th Century | |||
| 20th Century | |||
| 21st Century |
Diverse Music Theory Examples 