Any home edding musicians who could help me out please? Music theory

[Liara]

Dh is quite proficient a few instruments, but has never really done any music theory.

He is now teaching the dc music, and although ds2 is quite musical like dh, ds1 isn't (he takes after me!). He is, however, quite mathsy, and so dh feels he would really love music theory as a key into music.

Problem is, he's not sure where to start, and so has been putting it off.

Could someone point me to some good books/resources he could look at for himself and/or use with the dc. Dh will put in the work required to get himself up to scratch so he can teach ds1, no problem, but it would be a shame to spend time and money on material which is not that great.

Any suggestions most gratefully received!

here - I haven't used it - but it looks like a good place to start.

Hello OP

We just googled grade one theory and found lots of different sites.
Some were informative with quizzes and revision tests for when they had learned a bit.
The other grades were available too and some quite entertaining.
I can't recommend a particular one as they all have different pros and cons.
There are theory books available to buy from music shops/Amazon but they can be a bit dry, however if you come to the stage where you want to take exams ABRSM publish their own practice papers.

If you want to work through the grades then there are these workbooks. If you start from grade 1 then they are pretty self-explanatory and your DH shouldn't have any problems working through them with your DSs. They might be a bit boring for younger children though. These are the books we used at music college, although that was a few years ago so they may have changed a bit since then.

Thank you so much! I shall direct him towards these.

I don't think dh is planning to go through grades or anything like that, when he arrived in the UK and passed grade 8 in his main instrument he was rather shocked, as he considered himself to be still very weak at it, so he doesn't rate it that much.

Dry is fine, he has an amazing knack for making the dc engage in the most unlikely things, and hates anything that is 'popularised' or 'dumbed down' for children, so he will happily run with it.

Thanks again!

I like Music Theory for Dummies (from the Dummies series). Used it myself when returning to music as an adult.

Well done DH for getting Grade 8

Thanks, I'll pass that on too.

If you like dry, then the Eric Taylor books are the ones.
These are linked to the ABRSM exams but they are the standard books used for theory whether taking exams or not.
They are certainly not dumbed down, or particularly child friendly.
My dd is working towards gr5 theory as she needs it for the later practical grades, she doesn't get on with these books at all and would rather do quizzes and games for theory.

I told him that and he definitely will go for those.

Until they arrive, I will set him onto the site throckenholt suggested.

Thanks all again, very helpful!

Music matters do a series of free music theory lessons on YouTube

m.youtube.com/watch?v=6zyv0O7kfcc

Thank you, I'll take a look at those too.

How old are they? I'm a piano teacher and I use lina ng series of theory books. There's stickers for the teeny ones but an older series as well. Other than thAt Buy Abrsm books and once completed do the past papers of that grade for practice.

They are 8 and 4. The are absolutely loving the musictheory thing throckenholt linked to (I downloaded it to the iPad), ds2 is constantly on it.

I also got them an ipad app called better ears, which is great too (although none of us can really do very much of it yet!).

I will take a look at the ones you recommend too.

The ABRSM books by Eric Taylor are probably the most comprehensive, comes in two volumes.

There is also the Theory in Practice books for each Grade, where pupil fills in answers.

We started with this series at about 5, really good for little ones:

www.amazon.co.uk/My-First-Theory-Book-Lina/dp/9679854418/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426797016&sr=8-2&keywords=music+theory+lina+ng

Also remember using these:

www.amazon.co.uk/Monkey-Puzzles-Theory-Waterman-Harewood/dp/0571511414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426797097&sr=1-1&keywords=monkey+puzzle+music+theory

thanks!