Music Theory Magic
When I first started teaching music theory online, I quickly had a number of requests to teach the ABRSM grade 6 theory exam, which...
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schoolofmusictheor
Mar 29, 20225 min
Moonlight and Mode Mixture
Since I started teaching music theory online, I've discovered how much fun it can be to analyse well-known piano pieces - pieces that...
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schoolofmusictheor
Mar 22, 20221 min
School of Music Theory News - Grade 7 Theory starting next term!
I am so excited, because next term I will kick off a new Grade 7 Theory course! Grade 7 is the perfect continuation of grade 6 theory,...
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schoolofmusictheor
Mar 21, 20223 min
Satie Around the Circle of Fifths
The Circle of Fifths is a graphic representation of key relations, but it is also a useful tool for thinking about fifth relations in...
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schoolofmusictheor
Mar 10, 20225 min
I'm a Circle of Fifths Nerd!
For the past week or so, I've had the Circle of Fifths on my mind. In fact, it's been a bit of an obsession. This is partly because the...
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schoolofmusictheor
Mar 1, 20224 min
An essay in voice leading
Prelude No. 1, The Well-Tempered Clavier, by JS Bach Written by Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier is a set of 48 preludes...
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schoolofmusictheor
Feb 21, 20226 min
Why I like the ABRSM Grade 6 Theory exam
I never took a music theory exam until I went to university. When I moved to the UK, one of the first things I noticed was the exam...
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schoolofmusictheor
Feb 14, 20225 min
Chords are like actors on a stage
I am a member of the Curious Piano Teachers, and in November 2020, I was asked to contribute to their monthly "Curiosity Box" about...
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schoolofmusictheor
Feb 5, 20227 min
When a C chord is dissonant
I was once on a Zoom call with a bunch of other piano teachers. We were talking about how we introduce chords to young students. One...
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schoolofmusictheor
Jan 10, 20223 min
The big secret to becoming a good sight reader
Most people who want to become good sight readers realise that they must practice that skill every day. And in order to practice sight...
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schoolofmusictheor
Nov 3, 20215 min
The problem with ABRSM sight reading
The problem with ABRSM sight reading is that the way it is tested renders it worse than useless. It is actually regressive. I trained as...
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schoolofmusictheor
Oct 28, 20213 min
Sight Reading Story Number 5
The Time My Sight Reading Skills Really Paid Off After a few years in the UK, I returned to education to study improvisation and...
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schoolofmusictheor
Oct 19, 20212 min
Sight Reading Story Number 4
The Day I Learned to Let Go and Have Fun Sight Reading I moved to the UK in 2003, and I quickly found my favourite pub. It was The...
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schoolofmusictheor
Oct 12, 20212 min
Sight Reading Story Number 3
The Day I Ditched My Story and Took a Big Risk (with the help of a backup plan) Following on from Sight Reading Story Number 2, I...
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schoolofmusictheor
Oct 6, 20214 min
"Every Good Boy Does Fine" is not fine!
Today's blog post is about a little pedagogy niggle of mine - or maybe it's more serious than just a niggle. A quick apology But before...
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schoolofmusictheor
Aug 9, 20212 min
Sight Reading Story Number 2
When I left you at the end of the last sight reading story, my teacher had told me, for my exam, to play my sight reading in the correct...
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schoolofmusictheor
Jun 29, 20212 min
Sight Reading Story Number 1
I started learning to play the piano late. I was 11 years old when I started studying the piano. I loved it so much, and I practiced a...
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schoolofmusictheor
Jun 29, 20214 min
Better Music Through Theory
The phrase “Better Music Through Theory” is an adaptation of the old DuPont advertising slogan from 1935 – “Better Living Through...
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