Musicians who play melody instruments, such as the flute, often think that music theory is not as important to them as it is to a harmony instrument, such as the piano or the guitar. We as flutists fail to realize sometimes that music theory is helpful to us in in that it:
- Allows us to group notes together instead of reading notes individually
- When we grouping notes it allows us to think through larger passages more quickly
- When we think through passages more quickly, we can play the notes more accurately
- When we play more accurately, we can play at faster tempos
Welcome to this journey into music theory, especially for flute players! We will explore music theory as a melodic instrumentalist, use some playing exercises to learn theoretical ideas in a practical way, and view theory concepts in flute music.
Prepare to be empowered with music theory to supercharge your flute playing!
Navigating the Music Theory Project
The Music Theory for Flutists project contains the following mini-lessons:
- Initial Concepts – Introduces pitch, rhythm, tempo and how these are written in music.
- Avoid Accidents with Accidentals! – Introduces accidentals and their rules.
- Interval Introduction – Introduces the concept of a musical interval, numeric naming and interval quality.
- Tonality and Key – Introduces the concepts of tonality, tonal center and key.
- Enharmonic – Explanation and worksheet about enharmonic notes.
- Seconds – Explanation and worksheets about the interval of the second.
Work through a mini-lesson above using the navigation links at the top and bottom of each page.