How do I teach music theory to someone with no understanding of music?

Petrokov · 09-06-2012, 08:52 PM

I recently agreed to try to teach piano to a girl that I know. However, I quickly realized that she has no understanding of what a major third or a perfect fifth or a semitone is. I believed until a few months ago that everyone (except tonedeaf people) could intuitively understand the relative pitch that appears in music. For example, I thought that if anyone listened to Happy Birthday, they could immediately hear the relative tones (5 5 6 - 5 - 1 - 7 - - - 5 5 6 - 5 - 2 - 1 - - - 5 5 5 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 6 - 4 4 3 - 1 - 2 - 1) and that people who didn't sing it right just wanted to look cool by not trying. So basically I intuitively understand relative pitch and intervals and pretty much all aspects of music theory, and I have since I was a little kid, so I don't know how to explain any of it.

I know this girl isn't tonedeaf because she can hear dissonance and resolution. I honestly don't know if she can remember what songs sound like because she REFUSES to sing or hum.

I need a way to explain it simply because her English isn't that great. Any help would be very much appreciated.

09-06-2012, 08:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
Petrokov Groupie Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 5	How do I teach music theory to someone with no understanding of music? I recently agreed to try to teach piano to a girl that I know. However, I quickly realized that she has no understanding of what a major third or a perfect fifth or a semitone is. I believed until a few months ago that everyone (except tonedeaf people) could intuitively understand the relative pitch that appears in music. For example, I thought that if anyone listened to Happy Birthday, they could immediately hear the relative tones (5 5 6 - 5 - 1 - 7 - - - 5 5 6 - 5 - 2 - 1 - - - 5 5 5 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 6 - 4 4 3 - 1 - 2 - 1) and that people who didn't sing it right just wanted to look cool by not trying. So basically I intuitively understand relative pitch and intervals and pretty much all aspects of music theory, and I have since I was a little kid, so I don't know how to explain any of it. I know this girl isn't tonedeaf because she can hear dissonance and resolution. I honestly don't know if she can remember what songs sound like because she REFUSES to sing or hum. I need a way to explain it simply because her English isn't that great. Any help would be very much appreciated.