Write, Play, and Hear Your Theory Every Day, Book 4: Piano Book

Book 4 moves beyond basic chord recognition into the harmonic vocabulary that actually matters in real repertoire. The inclusion of cadential formulas (authentic, plagal, half) teaches students to hear harmonic movement, not just identify chords, which transforms how they approach both their own playing and the music they learn.

Structured yet musical. You're moving through clearly defined concepts, but the audio reinforcement and keyboard work keep it grounded in sound rather than abstraction. There's a real sense of progression as 6/8 time, relative minors, and cadential formulas click into place.

This book serves intermediate pianists ready to connect theory to practical harmonic function. It works well for students in grades 4-7 who have completed Book 3 and need systematic grounding in chord progressions and cadential movement before tackling classical sonatas or contemporary arrangements.

• Work through the audio tracks during lessons when introducing each new concept rather than saving them for home practice. Students hear the theoretical idea demonstrated immediately, which anchors understanding before they try it themselves.
• Have students write out their own progressions using the primary triads and dominant 7th before playing them. This writing-to-playing sequence deepens comprehension and catches gaps in understanding early.
• Use the relative minor material to revisit pieces from earlier books, showing students how minor-key arrangements of familiar melodies reveal structural similarities they may have missed.

Deploy this as core curriculum material during the academic year rather than as supplementary theory work. The final assessment gives you concrete documentation of each student's grasp of mid-level harmonic concepts, which proves valuable when placement discussions arise or when students transition to more advanced repertoire.

• Reading and performing in 6/8 time
• Constructing relative minor scales from major key signatures
• Identifying and playing primary triads (I, IV, V) and dominant 7th chords
• Recognizing authentic, plagal, and half cadences by ear and on the page
• Harmonizing melodies using subdominant and dominant function
• Understanding key signature relationships between parallel and relative keys