Music Theory Keyboard Assignments

Abstract

This resource provides twenty music theory keyboard assignments, each composed of one or two exercises, that progress through the succession of music-theoretical topics commonly found in collegiate-level written theory curricula. These assignments also progress in terms of difficulty, helping students incrementally gain greater fluency at the keyboard. Relatedly, every exercise includes two or three options for students to self-select based upon their level of keyboard experience: Option A is for students with little or no prior keyboard experience, Option B is for students with some to moderate prior keyboard experience, and, when present, Option C is for students with advanced prior keyboard experience. At my institution, which adopts a comprehensive musicianship model for our undergraduate core music theory courses, these twenty keyboard assignments are distributed across two semesters in Music Theory I and Music Theory II. They are completed as video recordings that students upload to our learning management system.