Write, Play, and Hear Your Theory Every Day, Book 5: Piano Book

Book 5 strikes the right balance between review and genuine progression. Students aren't retreading old ground; they're deepening their understanding of key signatures, intervals, and chord function while tackling new rhythmic challenges like sixteenth notes and eighth note triplets. The inclusion of Music Analysis and a final test gives you concrete assessment tools without feeling like busywork.

Purposeful and measured. Each day builds on the last without overwhelming, and the variety between scale work, interval identification, chord construction, and written analysis keeps students engaged rather than letting any single skill feel monotonous.

Pianists working through the FJH curriculum who are ready to consolidate foundational theory while adding more sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary. This book works for students in their second or third year of study who need systematic, daily reinforcement of music fundamentals.

• Work through the major and relative minor scales together on the same day. Having students play them back-to-back makes the intervallic relationship click faster than studying them separately.
• When introducing dominant 7th chords, have students hear the functional pull by playing primary triads (I, IV, V7) in progression before analyzing them on the page.
• Space out the sixteenth note and triplet exercises across multiple weeks rather than cramming them into one unit. Rhythm reading improves with repeated exposure and confidence-building.

Assign pages consistently throughout the year as supplemental work alongside repertoire study. The daily structure makes it ideal for students preparing for theory placement exams or competitions, and the final test provides a natural checkpoint before moving to Book 6.

• Identifying and constructing major, natural minor, and harmonic minor scales
• Reading and writing 2/2 time signature
• Distinguishing major and perfect intervals
• Building and inverting primary triads and dominant 7th chords
• Recognizing cadential patterns (authentic, plagal, deceptive)
• Reading sixteenth notes, sixteenth rests, and eighth note triplets
• Analyzing harmonic function in short musical phrases