How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1

Welcome to the Music Theory Beginner A Workbook Series - Lesson 1.
The Ultimate Music Theory Beginner A, B and C Workbook Series is the perfect theory supplement for Beginner Students (ALL ages, ANY instrument). The UMT Beginner A, B, C Series works with every Method Series and with every Learning Style.
The first blog in this series we discussed what age, how much time and what to teach. Check it out here: Music Theory Beginner A Overview Blog.
In this Blog, we will look at how to teach the concepts in the Music Theory Beginner A Workbook Lesson 1.
I use this Series with ALL my beginners, from 4 years old (current age of my youngest student) to my "Senior Citizen" students! Many of my students are also "ESL" students - English as a Second Language - as I teach piano privately in our local French Language School. I have discovered that, since the instructions are simply worded and flow in a step-by-step pattern, these students are still able to work through this workbook easily.
Join me as we explore tips and tricks to incorporate theory, ear training, sight reading and games into every lesson. Let's dive in.

How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1 - How Many Pages to Assign
One question that I get a lot is "how many pages do you assign each week". The answer is that it totally depends upon the student.
I am comfortable starting students at a young age. As long as they can write their numbers 1 - 4, and the Musical Alphabet letters (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), I will start them in piano lessons.
For my 4 to 7 year old beginners, I usually assign 2 pages each week for the student to complete at home. Depending on our lesson length, I may read through the "Instruction Boxes" with the student, or I may just assign the 2 pages. (I use a Dictation Book and list their playing assignments at the top of the page, and their writing assignments at the bottom.)
For students who require a parent's help to read the instructions, parents have shared that it is easy to do. Even if they have no musical background, they can read the instructions to their child and the child can complete the assignment.
For older beginners, I will assign 2 to 4 pages each week. Again, you do not need to read through each page with your student if you do not have that time during your lesson. (Oh, I love 45 minute lessons, but I know that many parents can only schedule 30 minute lessons.)
Here is my first "tip": For students who like to do extra work, I will often assign "Bonus Pages". Assignments that are "Bonus" means that if a student has time to do extra work, they can do the Bonus Pages. In a student's dictation book, this would look like:
Music Theory Beginner A (or MTB-A) - Pages 4 & 5. Bonus - Pages 6 & 7.
I have some students who love this workbook so much, I also have to put a STOP sign in their book! This is simply a post-it note with the word "STOP" written on it. If we are working in Lesson 1, the Stop Sign would go on the final page of that Lesson.
Each of the 12 Lessons ends with a "Review Ultimate Sight Reading & Ear Training Games" page. This is the one page in each Lesson that I make certain I do with each student at the lesson.


How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1 - Fingers and Direction - Pages 4 & 5
When looking at these first 2 pages of work, did you notice that questions about the left hand are on the left page, and questions about the right hand are on the right page? We did this intentionally, as it makes it easy to do our first game: Table Top Tap.
I have a turtle named Max. (And I collect Turtle "stuff".) So, my students like to shape their playing fingers like they are a Turtle. I have a small stuffed turtle - we place "Max" on the table beside Page 4 (on the Left) and the student shapes their hands on top of the turtle. We then tap each of our fingers, one at a time, on the table top. (We giggle that our turtle has 5 feet.)
Tapping Fingers on these 2 pages helps reinforce those very important Finger Numbers!

Remember, our thumb is always Finger #1! This is actually one of the hardest musical concepts for some of my students to grasp. Many have been taught that they have 4 fingers and a thumb. However, in music (and music theory), the thumb is always counted as Finger #1.
I have my students hold up both hands with thumbs up and we chant "We're Number 1". (If you use Finger #5, it just does not feel like a "We're Number 1", does it?)

How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1 - Pages 6 & 7
The "So-La Says" Boxes at the top of Pages 6 & 7 are important to review with your students at their lesson. A child learns the concept of stepping up higher and stepping down lower by actually "doing it". So, lets do it in a way that uses their hands/fingers and their voice!
On Page 6, When I have my students start tapping UP with their Left Hand (in the first "So-La Says" Box), I like to say "Finger 5" in a lower pitched voice. Then I raise my voice by step as I tap up through Finger 4, Finger 3, Finger 2 and Finger 1. (When you tap using the Stepping DOWN pattern, start in a higher pitched voice and get lower with each step.)
Your starting pitch does not matter. You don't even have to use a singing voice (or be in a perfect singing style). Just remember, as you tap your Left Hand fingers from Finger 5 up to Finger 1, your voice gets higher. As you tap your Left Hand fingers from Finger 1 down to Finger 5, your voice gets lower. This is reinforcing Fingers and Direction.
I find that the best place to do this tapping first is on the closed piano lid. If your piano or keyboard cannot close to cover the keys, then take your tapping to the table top.
I will often use 2 different stuffed animals when teaching this concept. As you can see in the above picture, Nova is tapping up to the right (towards So-La) and down to the left (towards Ti-Do). If you were not able to purchase one of the limited edition So-La and Ti-Do Stuffies, you can use any 2 different stuffed animals to represent low and high.
Next step - open that piano cover and repeat the "So-La Says" boxes at the top of Page 6 and Page 7 on the piano. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have students play the Stepping UP and the Stepping DOWN patterns on 5 (neighboring) white keys in at least 3 different spots on the keyboard - down low, in the middle and up high. (I will put So-La at the top of the piano keyboard and Ti-Do at the bottom to continue the visual reminder of going up/going down towards one of the Stuffies.)
In my 50+ years of teaching piano, I have discovered that I actually need to teach the concepts of low/high and going down low/going up high. I have often found that a Student will unintentionally associate anything that is going down low as only being a part of the low/left side of the keyboard, while anything that is going up high is only found on the high/right side of the keyboard.
Another TIP - use a blue highlighter or pencil crayon to trace all the stepping UP arrows on these 2 pages and use a green highlighter or pencil crayon to trace all the stepping DOWN arrows. Why? I'm dyslexic and I struggled for years with up/down until I started associating going UP with the blue sky UP ABOVE me and going DOWN with the green grass DOWN BELOW me. So when I struggled to actually see the direction of the notes in my music (they would flip in my brain), the colour of the arrows that I would write between the notes would be that visual reminder that I needed to play the next note up or down.
I have continued this association with my students, and it really does help!

How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1 - Page 8
When you get to Page 8, you can either:
- Prepare the page for the student to complete at home by tracing their hands for Question #2 at the lesson.
- Complete the entire page with the student at their lesson.
I usually just trace their hands (or hand) at the lesson and then have them complete the rest of the instructions at home.
With a younger student, there should be room to trace both hands in the space provided below #2. You can see in the above picture that Vivienne can fit both hands on the page for me to trace. However, Emma (on the right) is much older and we only traced one hand.

How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A Lesson 1 - Page 9
I love these Ear Training Games, and so do my students. Since we taught our students that going DOWN and going UP can occur anywhere on the piano, it is important to do these listening games using low, middle and high pitches on the piano. We do not ever want our students to associate that going DOWN only occurs down low on the piano or that going UP only occurs up high on the piano.
When I do these exercises, I always stress "which way is the sound GOING". Here is another TIP - If a Student is struggling with the concept of going UP or going DOWN, I do this first game by saying "Let's pretend that we are in an airplane! Listen as I play these sounds - is the airplane going up, up, up into the sky or is the airplane going down, down, down to land on the ground". (I use my "singing voice" to sing the "up, up, up" and the "down, down, down".)
Play the exercise twice. The first time, just have the student LISTEN to the direction without saying anything. Then, have the student stand and play it again. Ask the student to move their hands/arms/body in the direction of the music - are they going to move going up higher or going down lower? This usually works.
However, if they are still confused (and some will be), then play it again and sing "up, up, up, up" in an ascending pitched voice or sing "down, down, down, down" in a descending pitched voice. So, if the student said that the pattern direction was going DOWN (but you really played UP), play the first note and then sing "down, down, down, down" as you play the next notes. They should usually be able to tell that your voice direction is not matching the direction of the sound on the keyboard. Once they "hear" that you actually did play going UP, then play it again and have them sing "up, up, up, up" with the going UP pattern on the piano.
Now, when you have one of those students that get it right away, I like to try to fool them. I will say "I'm going to try to trick you", and then I will play one of the patterns going UP AND DOWN (or going DOWN and then going UP right away)! The answer would then be BOTH directions! (I do tend to make a big deal that I was not able to "trick" them and that I am so very proud of them for listening so carefully.)
BONUS - Flashcards!
At the end of the Music Theory Beginner A Workbook, there are Flashcards! I usually cut out the ones that I need as we work through the book. I keep them in a plastic bag (with the student's name on it) and either clip it to the front of their Workbook or leave it at my Studio to use at the lesson.
These Flashcards are fantastic "lesson time fillers" - when you have a few extra minutes at the end of a lesson (or when your student has forgotten to practice...again...and you want to do something that might motivate them). As I share this "How to Teach Music Theory Beginner A" Blog Series with you, I will also share some of my Flashcard games. If you have a game that you do with your Flashcards, please share! Thanks.
We also have the Ultimate Music Theory Flashcard System too!
The UMT Flashcards System correlates to each Lesson in our Ultimate Music Theory Workbooks!
Having the Flashcards System makes it so easy for Students to "do theory" while in the car, or waiting for a sibling to finish a hockey game, or just to play when they want to have fun!
For the Music Theory Beginner A Workbook, you will use the "UMT For Kids (1) Beginner A" decks and complete the Lesson 1 Deck when you complete the Lesson 1 Workbook Pages. I cannot tell you the number of times every week that I reach for my phone, open the UMT Flashcards System and do the "One Minute Challenge". We set the timer for 1 minute and the Student sees how many Flashcards they can correctly answer in 1 minute. We even write in their Dictation Book "Flashcard Minute - ___ cards" (filling in the number of cards completed). Students seem to love to try to match or beat their number each week.
Get started here: Ultimate Music Theory Flashcards System Your partner in music theory success!
The joy of my life is my Grandchildren. My Granddaughter Abigail takes piano, voice and theory lessons from me every Saturday morning. She and her younger brother Benji usually sleep over at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house every Friday night. Abigail has her lesson with me on Saturday mornings while Paw-Paw and Benji clean up the breakfast dishes.
Here I am with Abigail at her lesson. We are both in our pajamas since our routine is breakfast, then lesson and then we get dressed.
I am so blessed that I was able to share my love of music with my daughter Deanna (Abigail's mommy) and now with my granddaughter. (Deanna is a piano, voice, theory and School Music Teacher.)
I hope that you have enjoyed learning my Tips and Tricks for teaching the Music Theory Beginner Workbook Lesson 1.
With a Smile and a Song,
Shelagh McKibbon-U'Ren

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Keep on Learning... With a Smile and a Song!
Shelagh McKibbon-U'Ren