STME 637 Teaching Music Theory

3 credits 45 hours
600 level graduate course

This course is for secondary music teachers, studio piano teachers, or anyone looking for methods and materials for teaching music theory. Maybe you’re a band, strings, or chorus teacher who’s been asked to teach Music Theory for the first time: it’s been years since you had a theory class yourself and you don’t know where to begin! Or, perhaps you’re just looking for fresh ideas and best practices for the harmony and aural theory (ear training) teaching you already do. The class includes a “low stress” overview/review of music theory topics from fundamentals (key signatures, scales, intervals, chord quality, etc.), to part-writing, up through chromatic harmony (secondary chords, modulation) to give participants a comfort level with key concepts. Then we move to different modes of instruction, effective activities and lessons, and various resources (texts, games, apps, websites, etc.) useful for introductory/fundamental through Advanced Placement theory courses.

This course may not be audited.