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CookbookTeaching and coursesNo. 21

A music theory workbookmethod pages written for your own students

Recipe No. 21 · Teaching and courses

For: A piano teacher with twenty students across five levels

You get: A piano theory workbook in five levels, with a link for each family

Time: An evening per level

See it in know.sh

Try it. A working metronome, written by an assistant from a description. Press Start, change the tempo or tap it in, and the Italian word follows.

Piano theory workbookLevel 4 — Tempo, rhythm and compound time

3of 8

Tempo words and a steady beat

Observation, key section, 1 element, 340 words

The idea. The Italian word at the top of a piece says roughly how fast it goes: Adagio, at ease; Andante, at a walking pace; Allegro, quick and lively. A metronome mark says exactly: M.M. ♩ = 92 means 92 crotchet beats a minute, M.M. for Maelzel’s metronome, patented in 1815. The words are older than the numbers and name a range, not a speed, and books disagree about the edges by a few beats.

At the keyboard. Set the metronome below to 60 and play the C major scale RH, one note to each click. Then try 72, 84 and 96. In 3/4, count “1 2 3” with the heavy square on 1 and play a C major chord LH on each 1. In 6/8 there are two beats in a bar, each clicked as three quavers: count “one two three four five six”.

Exercises.

  1. Play the C major scale hands separately at 60, then at 80. Which tempo word does each speed fall under? (Answers: Largo, Andante.)
  2. Press Tap tempo in time with the opening of a piece you know, and find its word.
  3. Set 6/8 at 60 and clap only on the two heavy squares in each bar.

For families. Steady matters more than fast: a scale that stays with the clicks at 60 is worth more than an uneven one at 100. If the page shows the metronome’s code rather than the metronome, any metronome app does the same job.

The glossary as its own document: every word and marking in a definitions element, each labelled with the level that introduces it.

Piano theory workbookNo. 7

Words and markings

5 sections, 1,280 words, about 6 minutes, filed 30 August, revised 22 September, shared.

Every word and marking the five levels use, in the order students meet them, each labelled with the level that introduces it. The level pages use these words without explaining them again, so this is where a family looks one up.

Sections

  1. 1Dynamics: how loud, and how it changesObservation, keyFrom p and f in Level 1 to cresc. and dim. in Level 3, with a piece in each book where you will meet them.
  2. 2Slurs, ties and staccatoObservation, key, 1 highlightTwo curved lines that look alike and ask for different things. The quickest test: are the two notes the same pitch?
  3. 3Sharps, flats and naturalsObservationWhy the F in a G major piece is played as F♯ even when no sharp is written beside it.

and 2 more sections

Major and minor thirds in letter names and finger numbers. A local model has proposed a note on a wrong answer, for the teacher to accept or dismiss.

Piano theory workbookLevel 2 — Five-finger patterns and first intervals

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Major and minor thirds

Observation, key section, 1 highlight, 1 note, 380 words

The idea. A third is two notes that skip one letter name: C to E, D to F, G to B. Some thirds sound bright and some sound darker. The bright ones are major thirds, the darker ones minor thirds, and the difference is one half step.

At the keyboard. Play C and E together with RH 1 and 3. Count the half steps up from C: C♯, D, D♯, E. Four half steps make a major third. Now play C and E♭: three half steps, a minor third.

Exercises.

  1. Play a major third up from C, F and G. Name the top note each time. (Answers: E, A, B♭.)
  2. Play D to F, then D to F♯. Which one is major?
  3. Ask someone at home to play a third while you look away. Bright or darker?

For families. Listen for the two notes sounding together, not one after the other. If an answer is wrong, play both kinds again; do not say which is which.

How it works

Gather the loose sheets from twenty folders into a workbook in five levels, one page per concept in the words you use at lessons. Thirds are counted out in half steps, the markings families ask about sit in one glossary, and the tempo page has a metronome that clicks, accents the first beat and names the Italian word.

  1. Lay out a level from your notes

    Give your assistant your notes for a level and ask for a section per concept, each in the same four parts: the idea, at the keyboard, exercises, and for families.

  2. Write the pages in your own words

    Rewrite each page the way you say it at lessons. Notes go by letter name, fingers by number, and intervals are counted out in half steps.

  3. Add the glossary and the metronome

    Ask for a definitions element of every word and marking, labelled by level, and a metronome widget on the tempo page. Set it to 60 and count thirty clicks in thirty seconds.

  4. Check the theory, then share each level

    Ask your assistant to check every interval and key signature; it proposes a note where one is wrong. Then press Share and send each family the link to their level.

Try this prompt

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, add a metronome widget after At the keyboard in “Tempo words and a steady beat” in “Level 4 — Tempo, rhythm and compound time” on my Piano theory workbook shelf: tempo from 40 to 208 with a slider and Tap tempo; 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 6/8; a higher click and a heavier square on each first beat; and the Italian word for the speed. Sound only after Start.

Your assistant, connected to know.sh (Claude, ChatGPT or a local model):

Using know.sh, make a document called “Words and markings” on my Piano theory workbook shelf with a definitions element in its overview: every dynamic, articulation, accidental, tempo word and key term the five levels use, in the order they introduce them. Say in plain words what each asks the player to do, label it with its level, and point slur and tie at each other.

Made with

DocumentYour AI assistantElementsProposed notesPublic link

See also