[maxmsp] A shove in the right direction

Hello, fairly new to max, a bit less than a year spent with it. However this is not really a max-related question. 

I recently got my hands on a monome, and am thinking about setting it up as a sort of keyboard (among other things). My problem with this is that I am severely lacking in knowledge of music theory, until now i basically just turned knobs till whatever sound I was making was adjusted to my liking. For some odd reason I have been thinking about actually getting to a point where i can read and play pieces from notes on the thing.

So in order to acquire a better grasp of the basic theory I would greatly appreciate if someone could point me in the direction of what is essentially an idiots guide to music theory.

More specifically I am looking for some sort of overview of how scales work, and the different ways of organizing these.

Any help is most welcome.