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. 

Level 2 - Note Names on keyboard and staff, keyboard Intervals 2nd through 5th. 
Level 3 - Note Names on staff including accidentals, keyboard & staff Intervals 2nd through 6th, Listening intervals 2nd through 5th, Listening for Major & Minor Triads.
Level 4 - Staff note names including 2 ledger lines beyond the staff, Intervals & Quality (including M2, M3, P4, P5, M6 & P8), Major & Minor Triads on Keyboard, Major & Harmonic Minor Scales.
Level 5 - Intervals & Quality 2nd through octave (including M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 & P8), Major Key Signatures, Major & Minor Triads, AND Major, Harmonic Minor & Natural Minor Scales.
At the time I'm posting this, I've got exercises prepared through Level 5, which is a Mid-Intermediate Level. I will return to this post and add higher levels as I have students participating in higher levels of Music Progressions in future years.