Grade One Scales and Key Signatures

We've got a new worksheet to download on the site today - Grade 1 Scales and Key Signatures.

The worksheet has got fifty questions covering the grade one ABRSM scale requirements - C, D, G and F major.

There are several kinds of question included: writing ascending and descending scales in both the treble and bass clefs, and writing out key signatures, again in both clefs.

There are also some more general questions about key signatures and degrees of the scale, as well as some find the mistake type questions.

The worksheets are great to use if you're studying for grade one music theory (ABRSM syllabus), or if you are a teacher and are looking for some useful exercises for reinforcement or homework.

At only 75p for the instant download of fifty grade one scales exercises, what are you waiting for!

Download now from www.mymusictheory.com

Any questions? Use the comment feature below!

Lessons in Figured Bass (Grade 6)

The ABRSM introduces Figured Bass to the music theory exams at Grade Six.

Lots of people are daunted by Figured Bass - it looks strange, like a code; it seems complicated and even unmusical. The system of numbers seems impenetratable to many.

But help is at hand! Mymusictheory.com has finally got round to publishing the first lesson on figured bass for grade 6 theory students, and the good news is, it's not hard! :o)

Figured Bass Lesson

As usual, we've adopted a step-by-step approach - gently introducing you to Figured Bass, bit by bit. Nothing is too complicated and everything is explained clearly with examples.

Take a look at the lesson and let us know what you think!

Next to be published will be a step-by-step realisation of a Figured Bass, so you can see exactly how to tackle the question in your Grade VI exam and maximise your marks!

Grade Six Music Theory Course - Update

The first part of the long-awaited grade six music theory course is now available online from mymusictheory.com.

Grade Six Music Theory Course

What with one thing and another, the release of the grade six course is taking a little longer than anticipated. So, instead of waiting until the course is complete before uploading it to the public, I've decided to release it in sections as they become ready, in order to have the material accessible more quickly.

The grade six theory exam is divided into three parts - harmony, composition and general knowledge. The grade six course follows these divisions. Today I've published the first part of the course, which covers basic harmony.

This will be followed very shortly by a section on figured bass and melodic decoration, followed by composition, and finally a section on general knowledge.

The accompanying exercises will also go up on the site, with the option to download, as usual.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, queries or suggestions, please do get in touch. Email us at info@mymusictheory.com

Materials for Teachers - £10 Lifetime Subscription

Mymusictheory.com is pleased to announce a new subscription for music teachers.

For a one-off payment of only £10, you'll receive a life-time subscription to mymusictheory's download materials. Because it's a one-off payment, you will automatically get access to every single new download file that we publish without having to pay a penny extra.

The value of the current download library on mymusictheory is around £14, so you're already saving money by subscribing. We will soon be publishing the grade six theory course and related materials, and you'll get access to all of that for free. We also anticipate publishing grade 3 by the end of 2009, so more materials and nothing extra to pay.

Presently, for £10, you can download the entire course for grades 1, 2 and 5, complete exercises & answers for grades 1, 2 and 5 and several supplementary worksheets for grade five, such as composition and transpostion. For a full list, click here. Imagine how much time you can save by having these worksheets available to print whenever you want for your students!

Please note - we don't mind if you're not actually a music teacher - this subscription is open to everybody.

Don't wait too long - the price of the subscription will increase as the size of our download library increases. Buy now to get life-time access for only £10!

Please post a comment if you have any questions.

Music Teacher's Subscription - only £10!

New Music Theory Downloads Available

New on the site for May 2009: COMPLETE MUSIC THEORY COURSE DOWNLOADS

www.mymusictheory.com is pleased to announce that the entire courses for Grades 1 and 5 are now available for download.

Prepared as print-quality pdf files, these eBooks mean you can have the complete course downloaded to your home PC for easy offline access or to print out.

They have been designed with printing in mind - all images are black and white, adverts and links have been removed, and a contents page has been added. When accessed on your computer, the pdfs will be fully searchable.

The Grade One Music Theory Course contains the entire course, and is priced at £1.50 (63 pages).

The Grade Five Music Theory Course is about twice as long, and has been split into two parts. Part one (55 pages) contains lessons 1-7, and part two (51 pages) contains lessons 8-15. You can purchase each part separately for £1.50 each, or buy them together for a 5% discount at £2.85.

The Grade Two Course will be available for download very soon. If you'd like to be notified of updates for Grade 2, just email us at info@mymusictheory.com, or leave a comment here.

Grade Two Lessons are Online Now

** Announcement **

Mymusictheory is pleased to announce to blog-readers that the Grade Two Music Theory Course is now available online. The course is an easy step up from Grade One and contains everything you need to know in order to do well in the ABRSM's Grade 2 Exam.

New topics in Grade 2 include the introduction of the minor scale, triplets, rewriting music in a new time signature and of course more foreign terms! Grade 2 builds on the knowledge you gained in Grade 1.

Although all the lessons for grade 2 are complete, the exercises for the lessons are in progress - I'm currently up to lesson 6 and trying to get some new exercises up every day when possible. The complete practice test will be the last page up, and please bear in mind that there are currently no links to Grade 2 from the old site - so bookmark the page!

If you want to access the exercises before the whole set is complete, you'll need to log in with the following information:

Username: blog-reader
Password: sneakpreview

As always, I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on the new material. Please don't tell me about broken links though - I am aware that there will be lots until the whole course and exercises are up and functional. Please do tell me if you spot any mistakes, don't understand the lesson or feel that something has been missed out, for example!

Hope you enjoy the new lessons.

Grade Five Theory of Music Free Practice Exam

I can finally (!) announce that the "missing link" of Lesson 16, Grade Five Music Theory Practice Exam is now up, live and waiting for you to get stuck in!

The practice test is based on the ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory examination, but all of the actual material was created by mymusictheory.

The test is free - you can do it online and check your answers as you go along - just hover your mouse over either the staff or light bulb icon, and the answers will be revealed to you. You can print off some blank music manuscript paper to jot down your answers as you go along.There are 7 questions, just like in the real test.

Most of the questions do require you to write some notes or other musical symbols (like clefs or time signatures), so for your convenience, the test can also be printed off to use at home. www.mymusictheory.com is now offering the complete practice exam as part of the Grade Five Theory Complete Exercises download. This means you get 68 A4 pages of Grade 5 Music Theory exercises, with suggested answers, including the entire grade five theory test. All the blank manuscript you need is included in the pack, and it is designed to be printer friendly (i.e. black and white, and with no annoying ads or menus on the page!).

For a limited time, I'm also accepting composition answers for free marking - either composition for voice or for instrument. This applies to the composition questions in the practice exam, as well as in the general exercises for writing melodies. Email your answers to info@mymusictheory.com if you'd like a free grading. Marked compositions will be returned to you as well as published on the site (anonymously unless you prefer to be named ;) (Please note, I don't promise to mark ALL submissions - only the lucky few).

Enjoy!