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
- 1 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
- 3 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
- 5 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
- 4 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
- 6 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
- 5 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
- 7 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
- 3 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, 2021
- 5 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, 2021
- 3 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, 2021
- 2 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, 2021
- 2 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, 2021
- 4 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, 2021
- 2 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, 2021
- 2 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, 2021
- 4 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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