Musicianship Class Levels
As part of the core curriculum, all students take a music theory or improvisation class. We are very excited to be able to offer teacher lead, self-paced learning in laptop computer labs using Sibelius software. To ensure students receive the most effective experience, the following minimum levels have been defined.
Please consult with your teacher to determine your child’s appropriate level and indicate it on the registration form. Your teacher will also be asked to submit confirmation email. If you are unsure whether a student is ready for the next level, register the student at the lower level. Do not split levels, such as B/C or B+C-.  These levels refer to theory skills and are not necessarily related to reading levels.
Students at this level are new to music notation symbols or have had a little introduction to music symbols. This musicianship class level focuses on learning note names, note lengths, rhythm relationships, pitch-matching, drawing these symbols, and other introductory music theory activities.
Reading skills include an ability to visually recognize note and rest values, identify notes on a staff and recognize skips and steps on the staff. Ear-training/aural skills include the ability to match pitch vocally and to hear and accurately echo short melodic patterns vocally. Students should also be able to demonstrate a steady beat in a variety of tempi, understand the difference between beat and rhythm, and be able to transition from half to quarter to eighth notes.
Reading skills include visual recognition of different interval sizes on the staff, different note values in simple meter including dotted rhythms, and recognition of notes on the staff and two ledger lines above and below as well. Ear-training/aural skills include the ability to recognize intervals including unisons-perfect fifths as well as differentiate between major and minor chords and tonality. Students should also be able to follow a steady beat with a metronome and conductor’s beat pattern, understand time signatures, major key signatures, as well as be able to identify and name different dynamics and articulations.
Reading skills include understanding of note values and syncopations in simple and compound time, note names on the staff multiple ledger lines above and below and also recognize intervals on the staff by size and quality. Ear-training/aural skills include the recognition of intervals within one octave by size and quality, and identification of major, harmonic minor, melodic minor, natural minor and chromatic scales. Students should also be able to understand the concept of phrasing, identify major key signatures, understand the names of famous composers and be familiar with musical style, genre and era.