Benefits of Learning Chords and Scales

As an experienced piano instructor, John Stonko helps students to understand how music theory contributes to better playing skills and a deeper knowledge of musical structure. John Stonko stands out as the developer of a proprietary method known as Cogent Playing Patterns.

Music students often ask, or wonder, what the end goal is in learning chords, scales, and other elements of theory. Many students learn these skills in isolation. They practice major scales and minor scales, as well as arpeggios, before they open their repertoire books and begin to play their pieces, and many students never make the connection between the two. However, a close examination of even intermediate-level pieces will reveal that scale passages, broken chords, and other such patterns appear throughout the repertoire.

Once they are able to identify chord types and scales, students then develop the capability to see and hear these patterns within a piece. They also learn to hear where the tonal center of a piece is and identify where the piece modulates, creates dissonance, and resolves again. This helps the student to create an informed interpretation and bring out the nuances of the music.