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For the past year, I've been working with Ruth Alberici and Garreth Brooke on a project that grew out of a problem all three of us had encountered as teachers. There can be a real disconnect between the way students learn to play music and the way they learn music theory. Too often, theory is presented primarily through written exercises: students learn the symbols, complete the questions and perhaps even pass the exam, but they may never really hear what those concepts sound

Last Saturday, one of my teenage students actually cheered when I said, “Let’s hear your scales.” In 30 years of teaching, this was a first. I couldn’t help but laugh — because honestly? I’ve never cheered at the thought of playing scales. For most students (and teachers!), scales and technical work tend to fall into the “necessary but boring” category. But this year, I invented a secret weapon. Instead of treating scales, keys, and harmony as isolated technical exercises,