I’ve always had trouble understanding theory. Even to this day, with 20 years of music performance and playing under my belt, I struggle to remember key signatures (which flats go with which sharps? wait… that’s not how it goes…). So I’m always on the lookout for new ideas to help me understand theory more deeply. I can help my students feel the music, dig into their expression of the piece. But as soon as I’m asked how many flats are in the key of Gb, I have to pause and go through all the keys until I get to Gb. “C(0) – F(1 flat) – Bb(2 flats) – Eb(3 flats) – Ab(4 flats) – Db(5 flats) – Gb(6 flats!)”. Grrrrrrr. I’ve never liked this stuff, to be honest.
I just found a book at Barnes and Noble today that I had to share, because I think it’s a brilliant idea. The book is called “Help Your Kids With Music, A Unique Step-By-Step Visual Guide”. Just turning to the first page and I realized that all my students’ parents need to have this book in their homes. 
What I love about it is that it finds a way to make complex music theory concepts easier to understand using colors and graphs. For instance, here is the Circle of Fifths in all it’s colorful glory: 
Here is a page which talks about how the vocal chords work and how you can figure out what rage you sing in based on your lowest and highest note. 
This one helps you keep track of the relationships between whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes.
It also covers topics like instrument families, scales, modes, chords, harmonies, and more.
Any parent who has a child in music lessons and wants to help them during practice time should have this book on hand. Actually, scratch that. Any person who wants a better understanding of music theory and how it all works should have this book: musicians, music lovers, parents, students.
Check it out and leave me a message below. Has this book helped you at all?!