Product Description
You’ll find many reproducible pencil-to-paper activities in this book that give you the opportunity to share music concepts in a fresh and new way, maybe even with a giggle or two. You’ll find everything from real ear training exercises to famous composer biographies and worksheets, to brief reductions of recognizable themes that will allow music to come alive for your students. Recommended for Grades K-6…. More >>

The Amazing Music Activities Book: Ideas and Exercises for Exploring: Music Basics, Ear Training, Music Styles, and Famous Composers

Trying to study musical theory by yourself is like trying to invent a new math; you simply need the help of a teacher to explain concepts. Clearly, the search is frustrating and you can easily give up on your goal to learn music theory. Don’t give up! If you recognized yourself in one of the above scenarios, (which you probably did if you’re taking to the time to read this article), there is a solution. (Yes, now is the time when you can start feeling relief about not having to give up your goal). That solution is online lessons. A search over the Internet with simple keywords in Google will quickly reveal the vast amount of information and courses available. Quite impressively, the keywords “online music lessons” give 1 140 000 search results in 0.30 seconds!

Is it really that good? Some more popular subjects found in online lessons include how to learn the guitar, guitar scales for beginners and how to play the keyboard. You will also find online instructions on a variety of other instruments, such as woodwinds and brass. Those include proper fingering, breathing techniques and articulation. However, online lessons are far from offering tutorials on instrument playing only. Theory lessons teach important theoretical concepts in depth which every good musician should know and master.

You can literally find lessons on any aspect of music theory. Newer learners can study basic concepts such as note naming, simple rhythms, ear training, scales, intervals and chords. If you are at a higher level, you can find lessons on more advanced concepts such as complex and syncopated rhythms, 12 tone and modal scales, for example, the classic pentatonic scale often found in Claude Debussy’s music. Other notions include different quality of chords, transposition and compound time signatures to name a few other advantages.

On top of the vast availability of concepts made accessible through online theory lessons, many other advantages come into account: the fact that you can study anywhere, anytime and at your own pace is not a small one. No need to take a weekly scheduled lesson, especially for adults who have an active career, or for younger ones who participate in extracurricular activities or sports teams. Not having to travel to and from lessons is especially important for the adult who already needs to commute to work everyday, or for the parent who has become a private taxi service for their children’s numerous activities.

For many youngsters, the fact of doing interactive theory online will be enough to motivate them to further their musical interest. Moreover, it teaches the young learner to be independent and participate in his own education, thus learning to be a self-taught student, a skill that will be most useful in all areas of life. On top of that, he or she will be learning and improving on computer and Internet skills.

Most sites offer high quality lessons at a very reasonable price. You can even find video lessons, and take quizzes and tests. You get the results at the click of a mouse. The access to an instructor is available almost 24 hours a day on many of the websites. If you compare price versus quality and availability of the instructor, you can easily figure out that this is worth it. In fact, having an instructor available to you anywhere and at anytime… is priceless! The importance of the theory itself Why is music theory so essential? It is crucial to your overall musicianship and of your understanding of music regardless of the instrument you play. Consider yourself playing street hockey and being the best goal scorer on your team.

So, you decide to try out the local team at the arena… only you can’t skate. See where this is going? The same is true for the musician. You can learn to play an instrument quite well, but as long as you don’t understand and appreciate the theory behind it, your music playing will never really make any sense. You might be tempted to believe otherwise, but you will also realise how wrong you were for thinking so once you “see the light” behind the theory of the music. Quite a few things can be achieved by studying and understanding music theory. For example, understanding recurrent chord progressions with which you will become familiar will help you in memorizing a song, or in understanding “where the music is going”. You will gain a better understanding of rhythms and their interpretation, as well as a thorough understanding of scales and key signatures.

This facet is indispensable for every aspect of music and can not be stressed enough! It is the foundation of western music. Understanding time signatures in order to help you determine where the strong beat should be executed is also important. Mentioned above are a few basic concepts, but the more you study, the more you will discover and be enthralled! Yes, but… Things are just not the same in a traditional setting, with the one hour lesson per week, where you need to follow everyone else’s pace (frustrating if they are slower OR faster). In either case, you’re not getting your money’s worth.

The teacher is available to you (and to all the other students) only one hour per week. Imagine, if you are an older student, finding yourself in a class with young beginners… and you have a question. Perhaps you would feel shy to ask the teacher for clarification in front of all those young minds… But with an online setting, there would be no need to feel misplaced about asking a “stupid” question. (Although, we all know such questions don’t exist, right?) One obstacle Don’t panic! The only requirement to online lessons is, well, to have access to the Internet. But I’m thinking that if you are reading this at the moment, chances are this aspect is already taken care of. So, this website you are on right now maybe the answer. Best of luck with your online studies! Oh, one more thing, your going to love learning the pentatonic scale

A strong program develops vocal skills, not just for vocal students but for its instrumental students, as well. Teaching instrumentalists the essence of singing music notation in both, the treble and bass clef using different note values and time signatures is significant because it promotes good ear training, sight singing and rhythm. Also, it prepares the student for other skills such as directing or accompanying choirs should he/she decide to enter that profession.

Learning Music Theory is important because it is the key to analyzing compositions and good musicians should have this ability. Understanding the structure of a song is laying the foundation of new songs to be created.

Lastly, learning world Music History allows students to appreciate different genres. This is really important for composition students. Coupled with their understanding of theory, they can draw from various styles of music to create their own original styles.

When looking for a strong Music Education program, make sure all of the above objectives are in place. They are necessary because a quality program that contains these objectives, builds strong cognitive skills, logical thought patterns, discipline, solid creative skills and music appreciation… the elements needed in developing a well-rounded musician.

For instance, if a musician is hired to perform at an event that has a specific theme (wedding, funeral, luncheon, etc.), chances are, if there no recordings for the music to be performed, sheet music can be followed in order to play or sing the songs. Also, if a musician chooses to audition for a position as a choir member, director, or accompanist, the music to be sung or played can be learned at a much faster pace when two senses (hearing and sight) are relied upon rather, only, one (hearing). Not to mention most professional choirs require its members, directors and accompanists to read music notation in order to accomplish the desired results.

The information stated above is not, by any means, an indictment on musicians who do not read music. In fact, there are some excellent accomplished musicians who choose not to learn music notation. However, the ones I’ve come in contact with are exceptional. They are very gifted individuals in their area of musical expertise who remained focused and driven to achieve the high goals they had set, and continue to set for themselves. Unless a budding musician is on this level, it is strongly suggested that music students embrace the art of reading music notation.