Your guide to the “Music Theory Made Simple” YouTube Channel!
Whether you’re a musician looking for extra practice between lessons, a parent wanting to support your child’s musical development, or a music teacher looking for additional resources for your students, I’ve created a growing collection of free music education resources on YouTube.
Finding good music practice resources can make a huge difference to a student’s progress.
The Music Theory Made Simple YouTube channel has just reached 1,000 subscribers and 75,000 views, and I am thrilled!
This is a wonderful milestone demonstrating consistency and persistence — and a perfect excuse to remind you that the channel is there for you to use!
I regularly create videos designed to help musicians practise skills, reinforce what they’re learning in lessons and become more confident musicians.
What can you find on the YouTube channel?
There are resources for a range of different musical skills, so whether you have five minutes to practise or are looking for something to work on during the week, there may be something useful for you.
Rhythm Reading
Rhythm reading is one of those skills that gets easier with regular practice.
The YouTube channel includes rhythm-reading exercises that students can play along with, helping them become more confident at reading and performing rhythms accurately.
These can be particularly useful for students who find rhythm reading challenging or for teachers looking for additional practice material.
Sight-Reading
Sight-reading improves through practice — but finding suitable material isn’t always easy.
The channel includes sight-reading resources to give students opportunities to practise looking at unfamiliar music, working out the rhythm and notes, and developing the confidence to just have a go.
I have created sight-reading exercises for flute, clarinet, saxophones and bassoon. A lot of those resources are stored under each instrument on the website.
Instrument Tutorials
Sometimes you need to hear or see something explained in a different way.
You’ll find tutorials covering musical concepts, notation, technique and other areas that can help students understand what they’re learning rather than simply trying to remember it.
The most popular are the total beginner clarinet videos, demonstrating how to assemble the instrument and make your first sounds.
Scale Play-Alongs
Many students come to me asking for help with auditions and in those requirements, students are always expected to play scales, arpeggios and the chromatic scale. Scales are an important part of learning an instrument, but they can be a lot of consistent work to master!
The scale play-alongs are designed to make scale practice a little more engaging, giving students something to play along with as they work through their scales. Many videos have been created with the audition in mind. Recently a series of videos were posted to help students preparing for the Florida All-State auditions. The scale requirements and speeds are pretty intense!
Many of the scale videos for woodwind players have accompanying worksheets that can be found on the website.
Warm-Ups
A good warm-up can make a real difference to a practice session, especially for the new musician.
You’ll find a series of specially created warm-up exercises on the channel that students can use before playing their pieces, which will help them develop and improve fundamentals.
Original Music
The channel isn’t just about exercises and tutorials.
I also share some of my own original composed woodwind music that I have created for my students.
Don’t forget the sheet music!
One of the things I really want to make easy for students, parents and teachers is finding the music that goes with the videos.
For many of the resources on the channel, you’ll find the accompanying sheet music or practice material available free on my website.
So if you find a video you’d like to use, check the description and visit the website to see whether there is a downloadable resource to go with it.
That means you can watch the video, download the music and practise along with it.
Useful for lessons, home practice and the classroom
These resources are designed to be flexible for all musicians.
For students:
Use them as extra practice between lessons, particularly when you want something specific to work on.
For parents:
If you’re not a musician yourself, YouTube can be a really useful way of giving your child some additional guidance during their practice time without having to teach them yourself.
For music teachers:
The videos and free accompanying resources can also be useful as additional practice material, homework, revision or warm-up activities for your classrooms and students.
You don’t need to use everything. Just find the resources that are useful for you and your students.
Thank you for helping the channel grow ❤️
Reaching 1,000 subscribers and 75,000 views this week is a lovely milestone for the channel, and I’m very grateful to everyone who has watched a video, subscribed, shared a resource or used one of my videos with their students.
But the most important thing isn’t really the numbers.
It’s knowing that these resources are helping people all over the world learn, practise and enjoy making music.
So if you haven’t explored the channel recently, don’t forget to take a look. There are already lots of resources available — and I’m continuing to create more.
Visit Music Theory Made Simple on YouTube and see what you can use for your next practice session.
And don’t forget to check the Passionate About Music Education website for free sheet music and other music education resources to support your learning.
Here’s to the next 75,000 views!