Dr. Balbinder Singh Bhogal- The Tao of Music Learning?

Teaching students to love and play music is much easier when they are placed, as agents, at the center of music narration and comprehension. Eric teaches them an elementary vocabulary and grammar that gives students a voice they never knew they could have. That is refreshing and inspiring. Teaching students how to learn rather than merely what to learn is superior and is the significant advantage of his approach. The fact that you have experienced musicians praise his method as deceptively simple yet empowering and illuminating speaks volumes of a possible lacuna in how music is taught at most if not all, educational levels.

I have no musical expertise per se, but as a layperson who has carefully listened to Eric’s views on several occasions, I am happy to highly recommend his innovative and carefully elaborated approach, not only for the elegance and accessibility of its design but because it gives students a fresh and empowering grammar to gain the confidence to explore life itself as a musical interplay of consonance and dissonance; not unlike how Daoist sages spoke about the singular Way (Dao) via the interplay of yin and yang. (Dr. Balbinder Singh Bhogal (Chair in Sikh Studies, Professor of Religion, Hofstra University, NY)

 

Len Antinori-

I wish I had this resource when I started teaching music 10 years ago. As a beginner in the classroom, my education program trained me by concentrating more on performance and less on the instruction of music theory. This course definitely fills in that gap.
Thanks Eric, my students will benefit greatly from your approach.

 

Bob Gentile-

I am a graduate of Berklee College of Music, with a Bachelor of Music (BM) Degree. I play and teach the Bass and guitar. I read through this book and as clearly stated, this book is designed as a pre-requisite, as a 'before you start to learn' course. It will teach you the language of music and show you how others have communicated their ideas. I recommend this as a must read to all intermediate to advance musicians. I absolutely see this being used at the first-year music college level. This would have been a good read along with everything else I was leaning in my freshman year at Berklee College of Music.

 

Roberta Lewis- Life Changing Concept

I can't recommend this book strongly enough. The concept is simply outstanding! This universal rule of music is not only fascinating but is written to be easily comprehended. Whether you're an advanced learner or a beginner, this concept is a priceless tool for all. As an elementary educator currently teaching on Long Island, I always look for innovative ways to teach my students. This book does just that! The innovative concepts of this book make it easy and clear for the learner to comprehend how music works, regardless of background musical knowledge. It will enhance prior knowledge and make understanding music so much easier. If you have always wanted to understand music but thought it would be too complex, this is a perfect tool. This course is enjoyable and will leave you wondering why learning the foundations of music felt so complex.

 

 Brett Pomercovo- Musician, teacher, and blogger. Founder of livekeyboardist.com

“Eric's approach takes lofty musical concepts and makes them accessible by relating them to ideas that most people have directly experienced in life. This approach would make a fantastic prerequisite to any music class because it will give students a lens through which to view things. It seems to be quite a promising curriculum not just for general music but for musical technology as well, as it does a great job of allowing a student to interact with musical concepts in an isolated way to gain an understanding of foundational things like tempo, and pitch so that when it comes time to put it all together, kids are excited and ready to jump in.”

 

Susan the Grouch-

Learning how sound and music work has been made painless.

 

Mike Santucci- The best way to teach music theory to kids of adults at any level

I am a music performer, recording artist, and songwriter. I’m also the primary music teacher for two young daughters. This course made musical concepts like consonance and dissonance, volume, intervals, harmony, repetition and tone so much more accessible and easy to discuss. This unique and relatable method has my kids improvising with dynamics using and interchanging various musical elements now because we have a better language enabling us to discuss and demonstrate these concepts for each other.

 

Kat Diresta-

I rarely leave a review, but I felt compelled to share my experience with this music theory course.
I took piano lessons as a kid and never stuck with it because it was more about structure, hand placement, and memorization- versus enjoying the process or feeling connected to the music.
Last year I signed up for lessons with Eric for a presentation at the Sea Cliff Arts Council. He needed someone that hadn’t taken music classes or music theory, to show how effective the book is.
Right away, it made learning about music and music theory much more accessible. I was able to understand the structure of all music as layers of music elements that can be varied in endless ways.
We presented how much I had learned to a group of music educators at the Arts Council. They were very impressed when I was able to explain why every interval and every scale is able to evoke a different mood, feeling, or emotion -after only 4 hours of lessons!
Instead just playing music, I now understand what I am playing. One woman who is employed a very successful music department in a prestigious high school said she would love to implement this into their curriculum after our presentation... Whether you’re a beginner or a teacher, I highly recommend this course. Thank you Eric!

 

Immediately empowering!

I’ve taken piano lessons as an adult so I could play classics I’ve longed to play. Since, I can read music but have had NO idea how to just sit down and play music. I thought that I’d need to go to music school or take lessons for many years before I could do that. Until I found this book. The first few pages alone helped me understand music theory in a way that has forever changed the way I think about music. The book became addicting and very quickly I was able to sit down and play music without a sheet of music to read in front of me. I highly recommend this to anyone who’s been curious to learn music theory but felt intimidated like I did. This book has changed my life and I’m so grateful. It’s opened the doors to be able to get out of the perfection model I used to be in with playing music, loosen up, and be able to FEEL music that I play and express! Isn’t that what we all crave with playing music?

 

Mark- Really Good Book

Despite the description, I was a little skeptical at first, but it's actually really helped. It's very simple and has had me exploring elements of music that I don't consciously consider when I compose. For anyone struggling with theory and how to apply it, this is a great starting point.

 

Johannes Widén - Thorough-book

A comprehensive book on the theory of music.

 

 Kandice Rotach- Huge confidence builder

I want to start by saying that I am not very musically inclined and am usually intimidated by learning music. I have tried to learn how to play multiple instruments in the past and have yet to be successful. I would do well in the beginning but become discouraged and disinterested. I would finally quit before I would make anything of it. After reading and navigating this course, however, everything seemed to click. Every concept became clear and was made simple. Before I knew it, I was playing the piano! With every section, my confidence was built higher and higher, and I felt quitting wasn't an option. This book doesn't just teach you how to learn and play music, but it also teaches you WHY the concepts are the way they are. Most people who try to learn are just shown music and told to play it a certain way. With this book, you will learn why music is played the way it is and how it is played, all while learning how to improvise and create your own music! Best of all, this theory book was easy to read, comprehend, and enjoy. I look forward to more theory books like this in the future.

 

Jon Benett- Great Course

If you are new to music theory, this is a course for you. Concise, clearly explained, and filled with understandable exercises demonstrating each concept, it is an excellent course. It is a quick course and more than worth the time.

 

Charles L.- Awesome Learning Experience-

I absolutely loved this book! When I was a kid, I had a bad experience with music lessons. Fast forward forty years, and it feels like a complete turnaround. In the past, the lessons involved endless drills trying to get my fingers to follow the notes on the page. But this time, with the help of this book, I was encouraged from the start to hear the notes being created, making me feel like I was already a part of a new magical world. It's so exciting to feel like I am already creating and conversing with this thing called music. I'm looking forward to exploring even more!

 

Anonymous-

A must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of music! This book is easy to read and understand. The diagrams make learning the concepts much easier. This book takes the stress out of learning a challenging topic. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in such a short period of time!

 

Mary Fortin-

I found this instructional music theory concept a very inspiring and easy to navigate way to understand what lies beneath the musical sounds we hear. This is a wonderful prelude to start to learn about music or a knowledge refresher.

 

Mitty-

As someone who was already familiar with the concepts presented in this book, I found it very easy to follow. That being said, I think the explanations should be very approachable to many. If you have even the slightest interest in music theory but with no prior knowledge of it, I think you'd find this book to be insightful.

 

Anonymous-

If you've found other theory courses dull or overwhelming or just want a unique approach to the subject, try this book. The author's passion is evident and comes across as something of a mission to ease the stress students feel tackling music theory. The eBook, combined with video companions let's you move at your own pace and would be a great fit for beginners as well as more advanced musicians looking for a highly unique perspective. Just try it!

This book is for anyone who wants to enjoy learning music is an easy, fast way. It takes the frustration out and explains how music works in a way never before heard. If anyone has tried to learn to play the piano but never quite got there — try this. It works!

 

Anonymous- Fantastic Book For Beginners

I really enjoyed reading this book. The content of the book is easy to read and understand. I‘ve gained an understanding of the different concepts that have enabled me to improve my piano skills. Highly recommend reading this book.

 

Mike G- Amazing book! I wish I’d bought it earlier

This makes my studies so much easier. I really think this is the future of musical instruction. It's completely different than anything I've seen before. Truly wonderful!

 

Becca- Highly recommend this new way of learning music

The approach of What you need to Know before you Learn Music Theory, unlike any other, uses easily relatable tools, and helps one to love and learn music with ease and joy

 

Jaime-

Beautifully written. The content was very detailed & knowledgeable.

 

Paul B-

Great start for your music theory journey.

Helpful

 

Joe Bonvicino- Teacher and chairperson at Great Neck North High School, N.Y.

As an educator, I can clearly see that Eric's method is impressive. Eric used this method to teach my 8 and 11 year old kids.

The material is presented in an oversimplified, relatable, and easily digestible language. lesson unfolds naturally; my kids would take what they learn from one lesson and immediately apply it to the next. Because of this, they seem to easily retain the information and learn exponentially faster. Lastly, not only were they not intimidated, but they actually gained confidence as the course progressed.

I have recommended this course to our children’s school so that other children can benefit as our children did.

 

Matt Giordano- I wish Berklee College of Music used this book

As a Berklee alumni, I have studied music and music theory from many teachers. What I came away with was the skill of Mathematics, which is fun but lacks the essence of music itself. This book is the first and only system I have ever experience that fuses MUSIC with the Math without separating the two. All theory is taught through experiencing it directly, and feeling it. Eric doesn’t just teach about “Dissonance” he has you feel it, hear it and experience the actual tension it provides for the player and the listener. This approach is not an approach to to learning the mathematics of theory it is a way of experiencing theory through music. This should be THE way music is taught.

 

Dylan Charles- Clearest Intro to Music Theory Out Today

Having been a student of music at Berklee School of Music, I would like to share that this approach to theory has a multitude of advantages for students and educators alike. Mr. Fine’s book and approach both makes theory attainable and accessible because it makes clear how everything is related and connected. Because of this you never feel lost or confused, rather inspired to learn more.

 

Thom Addison- A Fresh Approach to Learning Music Theory

I wish I had this book when I taught music theory and composition at New York City’s Mannes College of Music ---its novel idea of approaching the often confusing process of learning music theory gives students that much-needed “aha” moment when everything they are struggling to learn seems to fall into place magically ---leading to an understanding of not just what music theory “is” but WHY it is what is as well. Eric Fine has done a great job translating a complex language—highly recommended!

 

Nicole G.- elementary teacher Dream course for students and teachers alike!

With relatable examples and simplified terminology, complex music theory concepts are made approachable and accessible for all audiences desiring to learn, play, construct, and teach music. The free printable charts for easy reference and study are a great teaching tool - both for personal use and instruction.

 

Donna Drake- I wanted to learn for over 20 years. This course made it possible- I cried with happiness!

I have been using this book to learn the basic elements of music and sound. As a singer, I have always desired to play an instrument. I have owned a piano for over two decades without taking lessons. Finally I am taking action. This book is a comprehensive thoughtful way to engage your mind in a step by step process. The book allowed even my 58 year old brain the ability to learn and retain. I can play music and I believe if you buy this book and follow it with just 15 minutes a day you also will play. If you sing, think of it as allowing your fingertips to be your voice. It is fun and very emotionally satisfying! Best wishes!

 

S.S-

This booked turned music theory on its head for me. Thoughtfully explained and easy to follow, it made sense of concepts that were once confusing and really got me excited to dive deeper into music.