Building Your Music Theory Knowledge

With the vast repertoire available to pianists, the bulk of our time spent at the piano tends to center around learning the pieces we yearn to play and on developing the required technique. Many essential elements of musicianship such as ear training, theory and analysis are often neglected. This often results in a pianist’s ability to play outstripping outstripping their knowledge of theory.

Benefits of music theory

A lack of theory knowledge can become a significant impediment to progress, especially when learning more advanced repertoire. Although studying theory might seem like a dry undertaking (especially when compared with playing beautiful music!), learning about it enriches rather than diminishes the emotional connection with music by providing insight as to how music has its effect.

Improving your knowledge of music theory also offers the following benefits:

• Enables quicker learning and memorisation of repertoire, pattern recognition etc.
• Facilitates better interpretation and authenticity in performances by understanding how music works and the intentions of the composer
• Learning or development of other skills e.g. sight-reading and fostering creativity through improvisation

Music theory resources

The following listing has been compiled to provide an overview of the many resources we have available to help you build your knowledge of music theory and unlock the many benefits on offer!

There’s More to Playing the Piano (course or eBook) – This interactive guide to music theory for pianists, covering everything from the very basics through to a point just beyond Grade 5. The material is ideal for anyone who wants to pass a theory exam as a self-study or is looking for a refresher and to fill some gaps in their knowledge.

Each chapter of the course has a practical keyboard activity that will develop your understanding through play and a summary video. In addition to developing your understanding of music theory, the course will help you develop their keyboard skills of improvisation, harmonisation and transposition. Click here to view on the Online Academy or click here to purchase it from our store as an eBook.

There’s Even More to Playing the Piano (course) – Following on from There’s More to Playing the Piano, this course delves into more advanced theory beyond Grade 5, covering topics such as harmony, counterpoint, form and even an introduction to jazz! Click here to view on the Online Academy.

Harmony, History & Style (course & workshops) – In this unique course featuring an online module and two live workshops, Lona Kozik blends harmonic analysis and music history to produce deeper understanding and engagement with the music you are playing, teaching or listening to. Starting with two preludes by Bach, the course will cover topics such as functional diatonic harmony, principles of voice-leading, secondary function chords, common chord modulations and more. Click here to find out more or to sign-up!

Creative Practising Using Keyboard Harmony (workshop recordings & resources) – Keyboard harmony is an ideal method of combining often neglected elements of musicianship into one activity. It brings theory to the keyboard and makes analysis a practical tool for learning and understanding music. When applied to piano music, it gives pianists a powerful tool for practising, interpreting and memorising.

In this two-part workshop series for intermediate and advanced pianists, Ken Johansen shows how to develop keyboard harmony skills and use them to practise more creatively, memorise more effectively and have a better understanding of what’s happening in the music you’re playing. Click here to find out more and to purchase access to the workshop recordings and resources.

Blog posts

• Learning Notes or Learning Music?
• Why Study Music Theory?
• Using the Cycle of Fifths
• A Practical Theory Lesson
• How to Analyse Music
• Memory Tips: Analyse