Music Theory

What this covers

• Spelling all major and minor key signatures from the circle of fifths, and identifying keys from a score including relative and parallel relationships
• Interval identification by size and quality, including compound intervals and enharmonic pairs, plus inversion of intervals
• Building and inverting triads and seventh chords, and reading figured bass symbols (6, 6/4, 6/5, 4/3, 4/2) in context
• Roman numeral analysis of diatonic progressions, cadence types (authentic, half, plagal, deceptive), and secondary dominants such as V/V and V/vi
• Four-part SATB voice leading: doubling rules, spacing, resolving the leading tone and chordal seventh, and spotting parallel fifths and octaves
• Identifying non-chord tones (passing, neighbour, suspension, appoggiatura, escape tone) and distinguishing them from chord members
• Rhythm and metre: simple versus compound metre, syncopation, and notating heard rhythms accurately

Where learners get stuck

Treating an augmented fourth and a diminished fifth as the same interval because they sound identical

Ear training rewards sound, but written theory grades spelling. Students learn to hear the tritone before they learn that quality is determined by letter-name distance, so F–B and F–C-flat get merged in their heads.

Using v instead of V in minor keys, or forgetting to raise the leading tone in a dominant chord

The key signature of natural minor does not include the raised seventh, so students who derive chords mechanically from the signature never see it. The three forms of the minor scale are usually taught as scale exercises, disconnected from harmony.

Reading figured bass numbers as chord quality or as scale degrees rather than as intervals above the bass

The numbers look like the numerals already used for scale degrees and Roman numerals. Without connecting 6/4 to a specific inversion of a specific triad, students memorise symbols as labels instead of reading them as intervals.

Labelling every note in a melody as a chord tone, producing four- and five-note 'chords' in analysis

Students analyse vertically, slice by slice, before learning to weigh metric position and stepwise motion, which are what mark a note as ornamental.

What a session looks like

Sessions are spoken, so you should have the score excerpt, worksheet, or staff paper in front of you. A typical session might start with you spelling a chord aloud — root, third, fifth, seventh, and inversion — then reading a bass line and its figures back, then working through a progression bar by bar while explaining each Roman numeral choice. For voice leading, you describe the four voices in a chord and check the motion between them, which forces the reasoning out into the open rather than leaving it as a guess. Interval and cadence drills are done by naming and describing rather than by playing, and you can pause to work a problem on paper and then talk through your answer.

Helpful to know first

• Fluent reading of both treble and bass clef, including ledger lines
• Construction of major scales and knowledge of whole- and half-step patterns
• Counting and notating basic rhythms in common time signatures
• Familiarity with the keyboard layout, including which notes are enharmonic — helpful but not essential
• Recognition of basic major and minor triads by name

Questions

Do I need to play an instrument to study music theory?

No. The work here is reading, spelling, analysing, and writing. Playing an instrument helps you hear what you are analysing, and access to a keyboard is useful for checking chords, but the sessions do not require performance.

Can a voice-based tutor help with ear training and melodic dictation?

Partially. The tutor can talk you through interval and chord identification strategies, help you check a dictation you have already notated, and drill you on rhythm counting. It does not play audio examples for you to transcribe, so pair it with recordings or an app for the listening portion.

My child is taking a college-level music theory course in 11th grade. Is this the right level?

Yes, if the course covers diatonic harmony, four-part writing, and Roman numeral analysis. The topics above match a first-year theory sequence. Chromatic harmony beyond secondary dominants — Neapolitan, augmented sixths, modulation to distant keys — can be worked on as extensions.

What should I have ready before a session?

Staff paper or a notation app, the specific excerpt or exercise you are stuck on, and your class notes. Sessions go faster when you can read a measure number and the actual notes aloud rather than describing the page in general terms.