For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a music theory teacher come over to our house two times a week for music lessons. These music lessons are mostly on the theory since most of the time I just play without actually knowing how the music was made or why it was made the way it was. First, I’ll write about what I’ve learned from the lessons, then I’ll write about what I think about my teacher and the methods of teaching he uses.
So far, most of the things I’ve learned are pretty basic like how to find the key of a song, the different chords, and scales that work in the same key, and how to identify chords on paper. In addition to the note theory, I’ve also learned more about recording music and how to enhance audio to make it sound better in different ways. We haven’t really gotten into anything too complicated though and I’m just experimenting with different effects and tools to see how they change the way the audio sounds.
My teacher, Sean, has done a good job of teaching me how to analyze music in my opinion. He asks me questions to make sure I understand what we’re doing as well as answering any questions I have. He tries not to make things boring and to make sure I’m at least somewhat engaged in something we’re doing. Work to do in between lessons is also given, but it isn’t too much work to do given the amount of time. Depending on how much I know, he tries to keep explanations to my level of understanding which makes things easier for me.
Overall, I feel like these lessons are useful in some way or another without being boring or hard to comprehend. The way things are taught is also engaging since I am able to choose songs I like to work on as well as ask questions.