Why We Study Music Theory and Technique

Let’s be honest. Most students find scale work incredibly boring.  This is why I am very intentional with the scale patterns I introduce to my students. For the students that need to know the “why” behind what we are doing.

Theory and technique are intrinsically woven when learning the piano. One of the first things I get most of my students playing is a C major pentascale. This little 5 finger pattern is so versatile in getting us playing music.  It is the first step in learning finger independence and getting your fingers to move quickly.  What is so great is you can create some fun melodies just based on these five notes. 

Next stop on the theory/technique train is the C major chord. Depending on the size of the student’s hand at the time we experiment with playing the notes broken and blocked. Chords are the building blocks of composing music. Once we start learning chords we can start analyzing our music and venture into composing pieces of our own. One of the coolest things I like to teach my students when they are ready is the C major arpeggio. This is a fun little technique that is cool for observers because the pianist crosses one hand over the other. Not to mention they sound super cool!

Eventually, I start teaching my beginners some basic chord progressions. One that is found commonly in classical music is the I-IV-I-V7-I. This will be added to the students practice as part of their technique. They will master what it feels like to the hands, what it sounds like, and recognize it in their music. Then the student may be able to listen to one of their favorite songs and recognize some of the chord progressions.  Sometimes when listening to music of different genres we think they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.  I just love when my students' ears develop enough to notice there is more in common with Mozart and Billie Eilish’s music than they could ever imagine. Bringing a small(and relevant) answer to why we study theory and technique.