Music theory

How to understand music

 

A strong understanding of theory is a must if you aspire to be a proficient musician. 

However, learning these concepts can often be intimidating and is seen as less enjoyable than playing. This course changes that! Students will learn up to equivalent Grade 5 ABRSM standard in a fun, hands-on, and nurturing environment, learning from professionals who are passionate about music. Interactive online activities will support classes, and the teachers will provide learners with a personalised experience, relating the concepts to the students’ own musical practice.

Don’t just play music, join our course and learn to understand it!

Course details

  • H Part-time
  • & Six weeks: 2 February – 9 March
  • c Tuesday evenings: 7-9pm
  • * Cost: £420

Unit 1. Grade 1

Staff and notes in bass and treble clef, accidentals, simple rhythms and dotted notes, time signatures, beaming and tying notes, tones and semitones, handwriting.

At the end of the unit, the student will complete a handwritten test and upload it to be marked by the lecturer.

Unit 2. Grade 1-2

Major scales, minor scales, key signatures, intervals, tonic triads, degrees of the scale, dynamics, symbols, foreign terms, working with time signatures, triplets, musical devices.

At the end of the unit, the student will complete a handwritten test and upload it to be marked by the lecturer.

 

Unit 3. Grade 3

More scales and time signatures, rewriting with different time values, transposition, completing a rhythm, questions about a score, finding mistakes.

At the end of the unit, the student will complete a handwritten test and upload it to be marked by the lecturer.

Unit 4. Grade 4

Double flats and sharps, enharmonics, all scales, chromatic scales, breves and double dots, duplets, instruments, ornaments and foreign terms.

At the end of the unit, the student will complete a handwritten test and upload it to be marked by the lecturer.

 

Unit 5. Grade 5

Professional notation, alto clef, describing chords, chord progressions, cadences, SATB writing for voices, composing a melody

 At the end of the unit, the student will complete a handwritten test and upload it to be marked by the lecturer. This test will be equivalent to standard Grade 5 ABRSM. The student will be able to sit an ABRSM exam.

How to apply