Music theory for parents: what your child is learning and how to help

Music theory is the study of how music is written down and how it is put together. A child in lessons learns it a little at a time: the names of the notes, how long each one lasts, how fast and how loud to play, and how notes fit into scales and chords. A parent does not need to play an instrument to follow along.

This guide covers the main ideas in the order a beginner often meets them. Each part names a page to print or a tool to try.

The staff and the clefs

Music is written on a staff. A staff has five lines and four spaces. Each line and each space stands for one note. A note placed higher on the staff sounds higher.

A sign called a clef sits at the start of every staff. It tells the player which notes the lines stand for. The treble clef is for higher notes. Violins, flutes, and the right hand of the piano read it. The bass clef is for lower notes. Cellos, tubas, and the left hand of the piano read it.

Piano music uses both clefs at once. The two staves are joined by a brace at the left side. Together they are called the grand staff.

Note names

Notes are named with seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. After G, the names start again at A.

On the treble staff, the lines from the bottom up are E, G, B, D, and F. The spaces are F, A, C, and E. On the bass staff, the lines are G, B, D, F, and A. The spaces are A, C, E, and G.

Middle C sits between the two staves, on a short line of its own called a ledger line.

On a piano, the white keys carry the seven letter names. C is the white key to the left of each group of two black keys. The piano keyboard chart shows the letter name of each key across two octaves, with a blank copy to fill in.

Rhythm: how long a note lasts

The shape of a note tells the player how long to hold it. In most beginner music, a quarter note lasts one beat.

Note	Beats	Name in the United Kingdom
Whole note	4	Semibreve
Half note	2	Minim
Quarter note	1	Crotchet
Eighth note	Half a beat	Quaver
Sixteenth note	A quarter of a beat	Semiquaver

A rest is a silence. There is a rest to match each note length.

A dot after a note makes it longer by half. A dotted half note lasts three beats: two beats, plus one more.

Bars and time signatures

Upright lines divide the staff into small sections called bars, or measures. Each bar holds the same number of beats.

Two numbers at the start of a piece form the time signature. The top number tells how many beats are in each bar. The bottom number tells which kind of note gets one beat. A 4 on the bottom means a quarter note.

In 4/4 time, each bar has four quarter-note beats. In 3/4 time, each bar has three. A waltz is in 3/4. In 2/4 time, each bar has two, which suits a march. In 6/8 time, each bar has six eighth notes in two groups of three, which gives the music a rocking feel.

Count the beats out loud with your child while a recording plays. Clap on beat one.

Tempo: how fast

Tempo is the speed of the beat. Composers mark it with Italian words.

Word	Meaning
Largo	Slow and broad
Adagio	Slow
Andante	At a walking pace
Moderato	At a medium speed
Allegro	Fast and bright
Presto	Faster than allegro

A metronome clicks a steady beat. Its number is the count of beats in one minute. At 60, there is one beat each second. Try the metronome for kids, which shows the Italian word for each speed.

Dynamics: how loud

Dynamics are the louds and softs. They are marked with letters under the staff.

Mark	Word	Meaning
pp	Pianissimo	Softer than piano
p	Piano	Soft
mp	Mezzo piano	Medium soft
mf	Mezzo forte	Medium loud
f	Forte	Loud
ff	Fortissimo	Louder than forte

Crescendo means the music grows louder. Diminuendo means it grows softer. Both can be drawn as long, narrow wedges under the notes.

The tempo and dynamics word cards turn these words into a game. Hold up a card and have your child sing or play that way.

Sharps, flats, and keys

A sharp raises a note by a half step. On a piano, that is the next key to the right, black or white. A flat lowers a note by a half step, to the next key on the left. A natural sign cancels a sharp or a flat.

Sharps or flats placed right after the clef form the key signature. They apply to every line of the piece. The key signature tells the player which scale the piece is built on.

Scales, intervals, and chords

A scale is a set of notes played in order, step by step, from one note up to the note with the same name. The C major scale uses the white keys from C to the next C.

Scales come in two main kinds, major and minor. Many listeners hear major as bright and minor as dark.

An interval is the distance between two notes. C up to D is a second. C up to E is a third. C up to G is a fifth. C up to the next C is an octave.

A chord is three or more notes sounded together. C, E, and G together make the C major chord.

When children learn each part

The order and the pace depend on the teacher and the program.

Two exam systems tie theory to playing. In the Royal Conservatory of Music program, written theory exams start to count at Level 5. The chart is in RCM theory requirements by level. In the ABRSM system, a student must pass a Grade 5 exam in Music Theory, or one of two other listed subjects, before entering Grade 6, 7, or 8. That rule is explained in ABRSM grades explained for parents.

Some approaches teach reading later. A Suzuki student plays by ear first and reads after. A Kodály class sings and claps rhythms before the notes are written down. The guide to teaching methods compares them.

How to help when you do not read music

Ask your child to teach you one thing after each lesson. Explaining it out loud is practice.

Keep the keyboard chart near the piano for the first months. Then put it away for one song at a time.

Write music together. Print big staff paper for kids and let your child draw notes on the lines and in the spaces. Older children can use blank staff paper or set their own layout with the staff paper maker.

Clap the rhythm of a song before playing it. Set the metronome to a slow speed and clap along with the click.