Are you interested in studying music theory or composition?
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I teach online through Interlochen Center for the Arts, working with teens and adults who want to understand music from the inside out. Whether you’re writing your first piece, preparing for auditions, or finally learning what those chord symbols actually mean, there’s a place for you here.
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Music theory has a reputation for being boring.
Ear Training has a reputation of being extremely difficult...
...just sets of rules to memorize and tests to see how "good" your ear is, all before you’re allowed to create anything interesting. That's not my philosophy, and I think theory and ear training are genuinely fun...and I teach them so that you will too!
Music is a vibrant, universal human experience made up of different musical languages. Once you understand the grammer of a particular language, you can actually name what you hear in different musical contexts, explain what you understand to another musician, and build a soundworld you’ve been carrying around in your head but haven't been able to communicate yet.
Music theory and ear training are the keys that unlock musical grammer. That’s true whether you’re a classical performer, a songwriter, a producer, or someone who just loves listening closely and appreciating music deeply.
Everything below runs through Interlochen Online, part of Interlochen Center for the Arts. Courses are fully online and designed to fit around whatever else your life is holding.
Ear Training has a reputation of being extremely difficult...
...just sets of rules to memorize and tests to see how "good" your ear is, all before you’re allowed to create anything interesting. That's not my philosophy, and I think theory and ear training are genuinely fun...and I teach them so that you will too!
Music is a vibrant, universal human experience made up of different musical languages. Once you understand the grammer of a particular language, you can actually name what you hear in different musical contexts, explain what you understand to another musician, and build a soundworld you’ve been carrying around in your head but haven't been able to communicate yet.
Music theory and ear training are the keys that unlock musical grammer. That’s true whether you’re a classical performer, a songwriter, a producer, or someone who just loves listening closely and appreciating music deeply.
Everything below runs through Interlochen Online, part of Interlochen Center for the Arts. Courses are fully online and designed to fit around whatever else your life is holding.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are the most flexible choice. You bring what you’re working on and we build from there.
Students come to me to:
Students come to me to:
- Strengthen the theory behind the music they already play;
- Develop their compositional voice, whether that's acoustic, acousmatic, or somewhere in between;
- Work through a piece they’re stuck on;
- Prepare a portfolio for college applications or competitions;
- Get honest, specific feedback on their writing.
Music Courses
These are real courses, not video libraries. You’ll get personalized feedback on your work from me every week, plus optional live class meetings and a cohort of fellow students to talk shop with. Sections run separately for teens and adults, and new sessions start throughout the year. The most common course sequence students explore is Music Theory Basics I, Ear Training I, Music Theory Basics II, then Music Theory Basics III. More courses are being added. If you are interested in seeing more ear training courses devleoped, then feel free to email [email protected].
MUSIC THEORY BASICS 1
Start here. We cover the fundamentals (e.g., clefs, notation, intervals, pitch, and musical texture) drawing on music from over four centuries. You’ll learn the core principles of melody and harmony, get comfortable with basic rhythm and meter, and write your own short melodies by the end.
Good for: complete beginners, self-taught musicians filling in gaps, anyone who plays well but has never been taught why things work the way they do!
Start here. We cover the fundamentals (e.g., clefs, notation, intervals, pitch, and musical texture) drawing on music from over four centuries. You’ll learn the core principles of melody and harmony, get comfortable with basic rhythm and meter, and write your own short melodies by the end.
Good for: complete beginners, self-taught musicians filling in gaps, anyone who plays well but has never been taught why things work the way they do!
EAR TRAINING 1
Train the skill everything else depends on. Progressive work in rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation, sequenced carefully so it builds instead of overwhelms. You’ll start with beat-level rhythms and stepwise intervals, then finish by notating four-measure phrases with real confidence. Weekly dictation assignments come back with individual feedback, and there’s an optional live meeting each week for real-time drills and skills.
Train the skill everything else depends on. Progressive work in rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation, sequenced carefully so it builds instead of overwhelms. You’ll start with beat-level rhythms and stepwise intervals, then finish by notating four-measure phrases with real confidence. Weekly dictation assignments come back with individual feedback, and there’s an optional live meeting each week for real-time drills and skills.
MUSIC THEORY BASICS 2
Harmony, in depth. Four weeks on intervals, scales, triads, seventh chords, harmonic progression, and two-voice counterpoint. By the end you’ll be building your own chord progressions and hearing how harmony drives a piece forward.
Prerequisite: Music Theory Basics 1 or equivalent experience.
Harmony, in depth. Four weeks on intervals, scales, triads, seventh chords, harmonic progression, and two-voice counterpoint. By the end you’ll be building your own chord progressions and hearing how harmony drives a piece forward.
Prerequisite: Music Theory Basics 1 or equivalent experience.
MUSIC THEORY BASICS 3
Where it gets colorful. Extended chords (i.e., 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, added-tone and suspended chords) plus lead sheet notation, chord inversions, and the principles of musical form and motivic development. Lead sheet fluency alone is worth the course if you play with other musicians!
Prerequisite: Music Theory Basics 1 and 2, or equivalent experience.
Where it gets colorful. Extended chords (i.e., 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, added-tone and suspended chords) plus lead sheet notation, chord inversions, and the principles of musical form and motivic development. Lead sheet fluency alone is worth the course if you play with other musicians!
Prerequisite: Music Theory Basics 1 and 2, or equivalent experience.
These Courses Add Up to Something
Taken together, my courses build toward Interlochen Online’s certificate programs. Music Theory Basics 1, 2, and 3 complete the Music Theory Fundamentals certificate; Basics 1 and Ear Training 1 count toward the Musicianship Skills certificate. Adults come away with a credential worth putting on a résumé. Students under 18 receive an accredited certificate and an official transcript their school can consider for high school credit.