Music theory articles & Resources

What are the "keys" to identifying different key signatures? Read on for some great tips from Tucson, AZ teacher Lourdes C... Even if you’re a beginner, understanding key signatures is a critical part of reading music. A key signature is a set of sharps or flats at the beginning of a song that appears after the clef and before the time signature.  This symbol indicates which piano keys will be sharp or flat for the rest of the song. In other words, the key signature determines the home

Nervous about the sight reading portion of an upcoming audition? Find out how to work sight reading practice into your routine in this guest post by Saddle Brook, NJ teacher Christian D...   “Be prepared to sight read.” That dreaded requirement on all auditions that makes us all nervous. But the fact is, you shouldn’t be! Sight reading is a learned skill, just like everything else in music. Think of it as sight reading a passage from a book in front of an audience. With so man

If you're new to playing jazz cello, or just want to improve your skills, here are a few tips to help get you started.  First, learn the basics. You don't need to know everything, but having a basic understanding of jazz chord progressions, scales and arpeggios will give you a strong foundation to build on. Next, practice regularly. The more you play, the better you'll sound.  And finally, find a jam session or gig where you can apply what you've learned. Playing with others is a great w

Welcome to part two in this series “Music Theory for Singers.” In this article we’ll cover how to read pitches. In part one of this series we learned how to read rhythms. Rhythm is how long or short you sustain a note. Pitches are how high or low the note you are singing will sound.  In music there are 7 natural notes (pitch names) and 5 accidental notes (pitch names). The musical alphabet goes from A to G, and then just repeats after G, back to A. It looks like this. A B C D E F

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the piano, but felt intimidated by all of those black and white keys? You're not alone! The piano keyboard layout can be tricky for beginners to understand. Fortunately, this helpful guide will make learning the basics a breeze. By understanding the layout of the keyboard, you'll be able to start playing simple songs in no time. So what are you waiting for? Let's get started! Did you know that understanding the full piano keyboard layout is not

In order to be a successful musician, you’ve got to have a strong understanding of music theory.  While there are many different aspects to music theory, one of the most important is being able to read sheet music. Sheet music provides musicians with the musical notation needed to play a piece of music.  Without sheet music, it would be very difficult for musicians to play songs that they haven't written themselves or memorized. In addition, learning how to read sheet music can help

  Piano music doesn't have to be all classical, all the time! Here's what you need to know about getting started with jazz piano chord progressions, courtesy of St. Augustine, FL teacher Heather L... If you're interested in learning how to play jazz piano after starting off as a classical pianist, one of the first things you need to master are chord progressions. In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the most common jazz piano chord progressions and how you can use them in y

Introduction to Ear Training At the most basic level, ear training (also known as aural skills) is the process of connecting hearing and thinking. It’s also cultivating the ability to hear what isn’t actually there, by using what you already know about a song, exercise, or scale to identify pitches, intervals, chord progressions, rhythms, and even more advanced musical concepts. You also need to understand how they relate to each other. It's important to note (no pun intended!) that by ?

Test your knowledge of music with this innovative music theory quiz - and then keep reading to find even more fun quizzes you can take! A knowledge of music theory is absolutely indispensable to musicians. For beginners, it can seem intimidating, but experienced musicians will attest that theory is well worth the effort needed to master it. While you can certainly acquire proficiency on an instrument without a knowledge of theory, you’ll miss out on the depth of understanding that

As a vocal coach, I often need to accompany my students on the piano as they practice their music. Without adequate time to practice or the necessary skills as an accompanist, this usually means that I have to fake my way through new music to the best of my ability. Fortunately, I can fairly successfully “fake it” on the piano with many pieces. This is because I know how to quickly read lead-sheet symbols, which are commonly provided with popular sheet music. Lead-sheet symbols, or ch