MUSIC THEORY

Theory is the foundation of the CLAA music courses and aims at developing the "true" musician (i.e. one who is guided by reason and has knowledge of causes and first principles). Below is an outline of a typical theory lesson.

1.  Reading
Lesson material is presented (practical, historical, philosophical, and theological concepts) 

2.  Practice
Students complete on-line drills, and exercises.

3.  Memory Questions
Students commit to memory the most important concepts in each lesson.

4.  Examination
Students are tested on all of the above sections.

Each Theory lesson begins with reading material. All material is presented in a clear and straightforward manner with pictures, graphs, and helpful diagrams. Each lesson builds on material learned in the previous lesson and is ordered in such a way that students get a complete and thorough understanding of how each concept fits together. The goal is to create a sense of wonder about what music is and how it is formed.

In the second section students will complete on-line exercises based on the material presented in their reading. These exercises serve as written work and self test tools. Students must score 100% before they can move on to the exercises presented in the next lesson. Although these exercises do not have a time limit, they do have a running timer. Students are encouraged to go back and repeat these exercises as frequently as needed to increase there speed and accuracy even after receiving a passing score.

The third section contains memory questions. As with most CLAA courses these questions focus on the concepts learned in the reading material and must be committed entirely to memory.

The final section of each lesson is an on-line examination. Examinations are timed and will test for mastery in each of the above sections (reading, exercises and memory questions). Students may not continue on to their next lesson until they receive 100% on their examination.

STUDENT PLACEMENT

The link below will give you an idea of what level your child should start with. Even if they have already had some musical training, I personally recommend that every child start from level one. It is not simply "which" concepts they have already covered it is "how" they were covered that is extremely important. For example, their store bought theory book may cover what a scale is, but it will not tell them how the scale was developed. Their theory book will tell them what an interval is, but it will not tell them about the mathematical ratios discovered by Pythagoras and why we can objectively say that one interval is more consonant than another. Some of the most widely used theory books out there only give a 1-2 sentence explanation of things, such as "a quarter note is one beat". Then the kids draw some quarter notes…and that's all they ever get! No discussion about measurement or what a unit is. It is no wonder that most children do not have a good grasp of rhythm. Here is another example I come across all the time: if an eighth note is called an eighth note, why isn't it an eighth of a beat? This is a huge stumbling block for children and since theory books are all dumbed down they struggle with these types of things indefinitely, causing problems in their playing. I could go on and on with examples of all that is lacking in modern theory books, but these are just some of the reasons why I recommend that every child start from level one.
 
Click here to find out where your child should be placed: Placement Guidelines.

SAMPLE LESSONS

Note:  Beginning in 2011, the CLAA will be using a new lesson creation and assessment system .  The first sample lesson above is on the old system and the second sample lesson is on the new system.