Contemporary Theory Primer

    Contemporary Theory Primer provides an enjoyable and practical introduction to music theory for the novice musician from age 5 and up. The accelerated learning concepts in the book help students gain a thorough grounding in 'general interval' recognition and writing plus an understanding of various time signatures and rhythms. Colour coding is employed to help students write and recognise the music signpost notes and clefs while Margaret Brandman's simplified interval system allows students to grasp the concepts easily. The book includes plenty of practical rhythmic exercises even extending to 5/4 and 7/4 time. Graphic boxes representing the duration of the sound are placed under the notes. Once the student has coloured in the boxes, the exercises can easily be clapped or played. On completion of this primer, students will be ready to progress to Contemporary Theory Workbook Book 1.

    To be used alongside:

    • CONTEMPORARY PIANO METHOD - the Junior Primer and Book 1A
    • CONTEMPORARY AURAL COURSE - Preparatory Set and Set One.
    • PLAYING MADE EASY FOR RECORDER.

  • Click here for a complete chart of Margaret's Aural and Theory Materials

COLOUR CODING FOR REMEMBERING THE SIGNPOST NOTES
This colour coding system enhances memorisation of each of the C's .

Use this system on Pages 16 of Contemporary Theory Primer

Colour coding for the signpost C's.

Highlight colours are as follows:

TREBLE CLEF

  • Very High C - light pink representing a very high female voice in the soprano singing range
  • High C - pink - representing a high female voice in the soprano singing range
  • Middle C - continue to use red, representing a low female voice in the alto singing range
BASS CLEF
  • Middle C - continue to use light blue representing a high male voice in the tenor range
  • Low C - dark blue representing a low male voice in the bass singing range
  • Very Low C - darker blue representing a very low male voice in the bass singing range.


This is the colour chart for the 'Rhythm
Training Boxes'
that students colour in.