The AMusTCL Music Theory Course is a year of advanced music theory study designed to take you through the Trinity Music Diploma syllabus. Topics covered include:
- The Lutheran Chorale
- Classical Orchestration
- Early Romantic Pianoforte
- 20th Century Popular Song
- 20th Century Melodic Composition
- all 5 prescribed works for 2025
All of this is done within the context of an online group setting, where participants can engage in deep musical discussion that makes learning vivid, memorable and fun! Receive weekly feedback on your compositions, so you can advance quickly. Feel confident on exam day, and reap the long-term benefits to your musicianship.
Your Instructor
I have been teaching music theory and composition since I began my
graduate education in 1999. While studying for my MA in Music
Composition at the University of Pennsylvania, I started
teaching music theory to Penn
undergraduates. I have since taught music theory and composition at
Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, Plymouth University (UK), Dartington
College of Arts (UK), and in my own studio at home. I own and operate
the Totnes School of Piano.
I entered my undergraduate studies completely focussed on studying piano
performance, but I quickly found that studying music theory improved my
sight-reading and my ability to memorise music; it heightened my
musical expression and understanding at the piano; and it eventually led
me to composing music.
I hold dual undergraduate degrees in piano performance and music theory, an MA and PhD in composition from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and two MFAs in performance (improvisation emphasis) and electronic music and recording media from Mills College in California, where I won the Flora Boyd Piano Performance Prize in 2011.
But most importantly, I have a passion for teaching music theory. I
believe it is the key that unlocks all musical treasures. It can be
engaging in its own right, but music theory, for me, is best viewed as a
means toward greater musical expression and creativity.