Resources for Building Musicianship
In the Spring of each year students in our studio have the opportunity to participate in KMTA's Music Progressions. This is a musicianship evaluation that has 10 progressive levels, I won't get too far into the particulars because you can find more information here. But a big part of that musicianship is demonstrating an understanding of Music Theory both on paper and by analyzing what we are hearing. This blog post is a resource round-up of some leveled exercises that can help build these skills Theory & Listening skills.
While I do have Music Progressions students in mind while I'm putting together this post - (I'll be real, this is mostly so I don't have to reinvent the wheel trying to round up home practice resources each year when Progressions rolls around) - these are concepts that ALL students in the studio are learning as they grow in their music. In fact, we choose a different musicianship element to focus on every single week in Piano Lab. So whether your piano kid is doing Music Progressions or not, I would definitely encourage all students to try these exercises once in a while and check in on some of these concepts. Is your music listening and theory understanding growing to meet your level? Is there something we missed or that's still a little tricky and maybe needs some reinforcing?
So let's dive right in - here are the exercises! All have been created on MusicTheory.net, which is an excellent free resource for teachers and students alike. These are designed to be a quick review or check-in on a concept, so each exercise is only 10 questions. And they don't even require being near a piano. If your piano kid tries one, and would like to email me the code with their score, please do! I'll enjoy seeing who's given it a shot and how we're progressing.
Level 1 - Note names on keyboard and staff, and steps vs. skips.
- On Staff Intervals
- Keyboard Intervals
- Listening Intervals
- Staff Note Names
- Major & Minor Triads
- Building Major & Harmonic Minor Scales
- On Staff Intervals
- Listening Intervals
- Major Key Signatures
- Staff Major & Minor Triads
- Keyboard Major & Minor Triads
- Building Major, Natural Minor & Harmonic Minor Scales