<p>I've just found this music thread, and am so impressed with the wealth of knowledge here!
I'm hoping to find recommendations for an online beginning music theory course. </p>
<p>My son will be a freshman at a state university this fall. He will be an exercise science major, but would like to minor in music (jazz trumpet performance). The "gatekeeper" (prerequisite) class to begin the minor is a music theory course for non-majors. Unfortunately, because his science courses and labs conflict with the music theory course (school is relatively small for a public university, so his required courses are only offered in one time slot), he can't fit in the theory course either fall or spring semester, which means he can't take any of the other music courses, except performance ensembles.</p>
<p>None of our local community colleges offer music theory during the summer, so I'm hoping to find a way for him to meet the beginning music theory requirement. I don't think that he has to take a course for credit, as they allow students to "place out" of the course by exam.</p>
<p>It occurred to me that he might be able to take an online course this summer to get the background he needs. He has a performance background as a jazz trumpet player, but has never taken a music theory course. </p>
<p>He’s probably caught a bit betwixt a rock and a hard place. If he has a good grounding in theory, he may be able to test out, but the general consensus (at least for BM performance, ed, and composition seekers) is that it may be self defeating and counterproductive to do so.</p>
<p>Most schools teach theory to their own curriculum, and what is covered in an intro course at one may be in a level 2 or 3 course at another. </p>
<p>Theory credits rarely will transfer between institutions. A community college course may help him with some concepts and background, and may well be a starting point, but the credit will most probably not pass the bar as a prereq at his school of matriculation.</p>
<p>Dig deep in the minor requirements, and if necessary check with the department heads. A strong performer may be able to wiggle their way into the minor, with an advisor override, taking the theory intro next year. </p>
<p>Science and performance disciplines tend to have many conflicts between labs and performance/ensemble obligations, both long time blocks, and often within the same time frames. Just an FYI.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how to link a thread, but we had some interest in AP Theory online & found the long discussion under “Has anybody taken AP Music Theory?” to be very useful as well as the threads above. A lot of it is not about high school, but about theory in general. </p>
<p>I was thinking perhaps your son could find a tutor, to help him work toward passing the exam. But you should probably check out any plan with the music department. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you Violadad and Momophony for your helpful responses. Violadad, I really appreciate your links, especially the one about how to search for topics. (I am such a techno-novice, I had a hard time even finding this thread again!)</p>
<p>I’m afraid that you are correct in stating, Violadad, that my son is caught between a rock and a hard place. Ideally, he would love to take a good, semester-long, beginning music theory course, at his college. Given the nature of his major and the school schedule, he already knows this won’t be possible for his freshman year, and possibly even for his sophomore year as well, which means he can’t take any of the other courses he would like to take to develop as a jazz musician (improv, ear-training, etc.) He’s not trying to take short cuts or a crash course to skip what he knows to be a very important course. We are looking for options, however, so that he doesn’t have to wait two years to take the beginning music theory course. If he could take an equivalent course somewhere over the summer, he could then begin to take some of the other classes, which do fit into his schedule.</p>
<p>One of the suggestions on the music theory link was to purchase the textbook for the theory course and study it independently. I’ll have my son look into that when when he visits the campus in a couple of weeks, but I know that he would do much better in an actual course.</p>
<p>We were also looking for a music theory course a few months ago. We followed violadad’s links as well as other CC members suggestions. Berkelee just started their summer session on June 28th. If you don’t need credits for the course, you may try Carnegie Mellon one. It is priced reasonably. That’s what my daughter decided on. It is self paced. I also had an impression that you get to skip the beginning through an assesment test. Otherwise, they start from very basic, how long is a quarter note…</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend considering the option of going to a private theory teacher along with the college’s prescribed theory text for non-music majors. Theory for non-music majors is usually not very tough, so independent study should be quite easy. Having perhaps two lessons a week with a private theory teacher would impose some structure and discipline on the theory study. It is too easy for a 17-year-old to procrastinate if there is no external structure. </p>
<p>I would be inclined to get the text immediately rather than waiting two weeks to begin theory study. Music theory is much like mathematics: it is cumulative in nature and the learning of it does not condense well, unlike most other intellectual disciplines. So the sooner you start, the better. Be certain that your son speaks to someone in the music department about placement tests. Most departments have a sample test or at least a thorough description of what is involved.</p>
<p>I have observed many students who have done both private and independent study of music theory and generally they do very well on external theory examinations.</p>
<p>jgotteach, I don’t think a tutor is a shortcut. Just personalized, so cost & time-effective. Potentially a lot less expensive than a whole course as well. Your son will be using & learning more theory as time goes on I expect.</p>
<p>I had no idea there were private theory teachers! I’ll have him ask his trumpet teacher about this when she returns from her vacation next week. After looking through some of the theory threads, I did look at the Berklee summer online course, but it was pretty expensive. I also looked at the Carnegie Mellon course website (thank you, Iglooo) which was a lot more reasonable, but not very specific about what the course entails, so I would need to email them to get more information. Because procrastination is my son’e middle name :), I think it would be better if he met with a teacher/tutor. I’ll recommend that he email the theory teacher at his college to find out what text they use for the course.
Given the constraints of his schedule, we’re realizing that it may be difficult to fufill the requirements of a jazz studies minor, however, his main goal is to improve as a musician, so if he can supplement jazz band with theory and improv, he’ll be a happy camper.
Thanks to all for the suggestions!</p>
<p>I can relate to the procrastinating son! If you have trouble finding someone to help your son through the theory text, you may want to talk to his band director to see if he can recommend a theory teacher/tutor. If the band director has no suggestions, then you may want to check with some local piano teachers: where I live, many piano teachers also teach some theory or at least can recommend someone that can. In my experience most pianists with a college music major have a fairly good handle on theory and could teach/tutor someone through a first year non-major theory course.</p>
<p>In CMU program, students has to complete the course in 14 weeks once started. It doesn’t solve procrastinating but they can’t put it off forever. My daughter liked that she could self pace the course. We’ll see what that means. Cram it in the 14th week? Hope not but it can happen.</p>
<p>Violindad. Thanks for all of your suggestions. I’ve done some research on local theory/piano teachers, and plan to email one of them in a couple of days. Since my son leaves for college mid-August, however, I’m not sure whether or not any teachers would want to take on a student on such a short-term basis. At this point he could only do a once/week lesson as he is taking a chem class at the local community college and working four days/week. I’ll also have my son to send an email to the theory teacher at his college. (We looked at the college bookstore website, where the fall semester books are already posted, but there is no listing for the theory class.)</p>
<p>Sloveviola, thanks for the link. I’m making a file of these in the event my son wants feels he has the time to pursue an online course once school starts. (First he has to get used to dorm living, etc.!) I believe his school has a long winter break of at least 4 weeks. I’m wondering if any online courses are available during that time?</p>