One of the ideas at the heart of the School of Music Theory is that theory should help us understand music more deeply - not simply give us a collection of labels to memorise. That means hearing harmony, recognising patterns, understanding how chords behave within a key, and - whenever possible - experiencing those ideas at the keyboard. Over the past year, I’ve been working with Ruth Alberici and Garreth Brooke on a new learning resource built around exactly that idea. The U

🎹 Now enrolling: Music Theory Mastery for Teachers (Autumn 2026) The next round runs 28 September – 30 November (10 weeks). The course expands on the original framework, with: A full 10-week structure Weekly live sessions A focus on both integrating theory into lessons and confidently teaching Grade 5 👉 Register your interest HERE and I'll send full details. Many teachers avoid teaching Grade 5 theory — not because they can’t but because they don’t feel confident. Here’s w

When I first started teaching music theory online, I quickly had a number of requests to teach the ABRSM grade 6 theory exam, which...

Since I started teaching music theory online, I've discovered how much fun it can be to analyse well-known piano pieces - pieces that...

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,...

The Circle of Fifths is a graphic representation of key relations, but it is also a useful tool for thinking about fifth relations in...

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...

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...

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...

I am a member of the Curious Piano Teachers, and in November 2020, I was asked to contribute to their monthly "Curiosity Box" about...

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...

Most people who want to become good sight readers realise that they must practice that skill every day. And in order to practice sight...

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...

The Time My Sight Reading Skills Really Paid Off After a few years in the UK, I returned to education to study improvisation and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The phrase “Better Music Through Theory” is an adaptation of the old DuPont advertising slogan from 1935 – “Better Living Through...