Musicianship from Day One: A Sequence for Teaching Music Theory to Suzuki Violin Students of All Ages

The purpose of this project is to develop a sequence of goals to help the Suzuki violin student understand and use music theory. Goals include music theory concepts that should be taught by the teacher that the student will encounter within their musical studies. These topics should be taught by establishing a consistent harmonic language and vocabulary and by having discussions about concepts of harmonic function and theory early in the development of the student. This paper first explains the purpose of the sequence, presents the sequence in its current form, and then gives instruction of how to incorporate the sequence into private lesson teaching, and group class instruction.