Write, Play, and Hear Your Theory Every Day, Book 6: Piano Book

This book makes theory concrete without making it tedious. Students don't just identify intervals on a page; they write them, play them, and hear them in context. The inclusion of compositional techniques (repetition, sequence, imitation) moves students beyond analysis into creation, which deepens their understanding of how music actually works.

Structured yet creative. The progression from interval identification through compositional techniques builds confidence in stages, but the focus on original writing keeps the process active and engaging rather than purely academic.

Late intermediate pianists who are ready to move beyond note-reading into real music understanding. This book serves students who need theory tied directly to what they're playing, not separated into a different subject.

• Spend time with the ear-training examples before assigning written work. Hearing a passing tone or secondary triad in isolation clarifies what students are listening for when they encounter it in analysis.
• Use the musical analyses to frame practice sessions. Rather than drilling transposition rules in the abstract, work through a specific example together at the keyboard so students see the relationship between the original and transposed versions.
• Build compositional exercises into weekly lessons. When students write their own phrases using sequence or imitation, they internalize these techniques faster than analysis alone allows.

Assign this systematically over a full year or academic term; the concepts are sequenced to build on one another. The final test provides a natural checkpoint before moving into Book 7, making it ideal for students preparing for mid-level proficiency exams or performance-based assessments.

• Identifying and writing major, perfect, and minor intervals
• Reading and performing in 9/8 time signature
• Executing sixteenth and eighth note combinations accurately
• Recognizing and constructing primary and secondary triads
• Understanding voice leading with dominant 7th chords
• Transposing passages to different keys
• Applying compositional techniques: repetition, sequence, and imitation
• Identifying non-harmonic tones (passing tones and neighbor tones) in musical context
• Analyzing short pieces using multiple theoretical lenses
• Connecting ear training to written theory