• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Breaking Barlines

Online Music Theory Lessons: Turn Sound Into Skill

  • Home
  • Teaching Samples
  • Music Theory Lessons
  • Blog
  • About Aron Bernstein
  • FAQ
  • Membership Account
    • Log In
    • Your Profile
    • Membership Billing
    • Membership Cancel

Learn music theory

May 21, 2021 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

What Makes Us Give Up On Music?

We give up on ourselves.  We capitulate to that inner voice, telling us we’re no good, we’re not musical. But here’s the good news: that voice is not ours.  We weren’t born hearing it.  We probably got it from someone else. And whoever told us not to sing, not to dance––they weren’t being malicious.  They just didn’t realize the lasting impact it would have.

The truth is, musical ability is far more common than people think.  And, if you’re thinking about music lessons now, you’ve already taken the first step.  You’ve decided to challenge that voice from long ago.  The part of you that wants to learn music, that’s the voice I want you to listen to.  Because that is your voice. Give the real you a chance.

Filed Under: Learn music theory Tagged With: breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, popmusic

April 5, 2021 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

An Auspicious Opening!

Twenty-eight years ago today, I walked into the town library and checked out two books on music notation.  In so doing, I took my first step toward becoming a musician, composer, and educator.  Now, on a beautiful April morning, I’m excited to bring you more than a quarter-century of teaching insight and experience.  Breaking Barlines is open and ready for subscriptions! 

[Read more…] about An Auspicious Opening!

Filed Under: Learn music theory Tagged With: aronbernstein, breakingbarlines, chromatic, counterpoint, diatonic, harmony, music, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo

February 18, 2020 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

Not Every Good Boy Does Fine

If you’ve had piano lessons before, there’s a good chance your teacher taught you to read music with “Every Good Boy Does Fine” for line notes, and “F-A-C-E” for space notes.  I used these mnemonic tools for a long time as a teacher, and with surprisingly limited success.  The reality is, students who stop to consider the name of every note end up being very slow sight-readers.  I should know––that’s how I read music for years!  Here are some reasons why it doesn’t work well.

[Read more…] about Not Every Good Boy Does Fine

Filed Under: Learn music theory Tagged With: aronbernstein, breakingbarlines, lessons, music, musiclessons, musictheory, piano, pianolessons, reading, sight, sightreading, theory

February 4, 2020 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

The Toxic Now

We live in a culture of now.  With the unprecedented speed and convenience of the internet, there isn’t much premium on patience.  And when it comes to learning music online, you’ll find sites that pander to our thirst for “instant results” around every corner.  Learn piano in just three weeks.  Master music theory in an hour. It sounds so enticing.  

[Read more…] about The Toxic Now

Filed Under: Learn music theory

January 28, 2020 By Aron Bernstein Leave a Comment

Learn the Language with Music Theory

I don’t speak German.  At all.  Over the years, though, I’ve phonetically learned some German: the words for Beethoven’s Ode To Joy or Brahms’s Requiem.  And I sing it well enough that someone from Germany might think I passably speak the language.  But if that person came up and tried to converse with me in German, I’d have to jump for the nearest hole in the ground and stay there for a week.  Simply because I’ve memorized some text and practiced reciting it doesn’t mean I’ve learned the language.

[Read more…] about Learn the Language with Music Theory

Filed Under: Learn music theory

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Contact Breaking Barlines

  • Tell us about yourself. What is your experience level in music? What would you like to see in an online music theory course? Your input will become future video lessons.

Copyright © 2023 Breaking Barlines · WordPress Website by Waterlink Web