Learn Music Theory your way with a TakeLessons expert

Staring at the Circle of Fifths and memorizing key signatures isn't the only way to learn music theory! Here, Brooklyn, NY teacher Liz T. shares some creative ideas to revive your learning...   Music theory is a very important part of your musicianship, whether it be mastering ear training, harmony, or sight reading. No matter what instrument you play or what styles you enjoy, those who learn music theory grow further as musicians. A solid knowledge can help you improve your performanc

As you learn songs and work through your music books, do you memorize the notes? Or do you read along every time you play? In this post, music teacher Vanessa G. discusses the pros and cons to the approaches...   Imagine your teacher gives you a piece of music to study. What's your process? Do you listen to a recording, memorizing the melody and the stylistic aspects before you begin, and then as you play? Or would you sit down and sight read the notes, and perfect it from that star

What Does it Mean to Change a Key? To change a song’s “key” means to shift the whole musical system to a higher or lower position. This process is called “transposition.” Performers often need transpose a song to better fit their voices. That way, a performer with a naturally lower singing voice (like myself) will be able to more comfortably sing a song that was originally written for someone with a naturally higher voice. Or vice versa.  For singers, transposition feels fairly