Summer Theory Preparatory Course: 2026

June 10, 2026

Led by Maria Kouznetsova, the Summer Theory Preparatory Course is designed for incoming Faculty of Music students. The course will help students improve their foundational theory skills and set them up for success at Laurier. Incoming music students at post-secondary institutions other than Laurier who wish for a music theory refresher are welcome to enroll.

Dates: Tuesdays, 6:30 to 9 p.m.

• Module 1: July 7 – General Introduction, Notation
• Module 2: July 14 – Rhythm and Meter Part 1
• Module 3: July 21 – Scales and Key Signatures
• Module 4: July 28 – Intervals
• Module 5: August 4 – Rhythm and Meter Part 2
• Module 6: August 11 – Triads
• Module 7: August 18 – Seventh Chords
• Module 8: August 25 – Introduction to Chord Progressions and Functional Harmony, Testing Strategies, Practice Test

Cost: $210

Delivery Mode

Each module consists of a live online tutorial with the instructor, which will be supported by take-home assignments based on that week’s topic. The live tutorials will occur via zoom on Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm-9:00pm.

Tutorials will be recorded and posted for students who may not be able to attend on a given week, or for students to review while working on their assignments. Each live session will begin by answering questions from the previous week’s assignment, followed by a tutorial on that week’s topic. Students are welcome and encouraged to ask questions in real-time during these sessions. The instructor will also be available to answer questions via email through the week.

Course Expectations

It is expected that students are ready to dedicate at least 5-30min per day for homework (depending on the topic and existing fluency level), 5 days per week. Some students will benefit from more time per day. The main benefits of the course are received from regular homework completion.

It is understood that everyone has unique circumstances—e.g., goes on vacation, has a job, etc.—the course is flexible in accommodating most situations. For example, most of the homework is possible to do without an internet connection, if downloaded or printed in advance. The instructor is available to provide support in the creation of a plan for staying on top of or catching up on homework in the event of an absence or other circumstances.

Is this course for me?

To gauge whether this course would be helpful to you, please try the following exercises. The software is programmed to move on to the next question after 12 seconds—try each exercise a few times to get used to how the software works, how the answer buttons are laid out, and where to click to indicate the answer you wish to indicate. Once you are comfortable with the layout, check your score against the information provided below.

Exercise 1: Key signature identification

Exercise 2: Interval identification

Exercise 3: Triad identification (use only the top four options for your answers—ignore the “sus2”, “sus4”, and “major (b5)” options) 

(Note: these exercises are just a sample and do not cover all topics in the course.)

If you have completed your Grade 8 RCM theory exam within the last couple of years and scored above 85 percent, or if you score 7 or 8 out of 8 on each exercise above, the summer theory preparatory course will likely not be helpful to you in preparing for first-year music theory.

If you score 6 or lower on the above exercises, or if you were unsure how to answer some of the exercises, this course is likely to be of benefit to you—it is designed to increase fluency where you know what to do but it takes you a while to generate the answer, and also to teach you topics that you may not be familiar with. We will work up to being able to complete identification and construction questions in all of the module topics with fluency.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

Please note: the minimum number of students for the course to run is eight (8). If fewer than eight students register, the course will be cancelled and a full refund will be provided to all registrants. If eight or more registrations are received, the course will run and no refunds will be provided for any reason.

Register now!