Piano Parent Podcast: helping teachers, parents, and students get the most of their piano lessons.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Sanette Brems, a piano mom in my studio. Listen to Sanette's parent interview with me on Episode 019. In her email, Sanette said, "I saw this and immediately thought of you!" The link in the email took me to the Kickstarter page for a new music theory game called, "Lord of the Chords". Their website declares that they are the "geekiest, punniest music theory game in the world".

I love puns and really love games that help my students learn and use music theory so I did a little research and was able to contact the developers of the game. Jonathan Ng, one member of the development team, responded to my email and we set up our interview within days and now I am pleased to share that interview with you!

Jonathan started violin when he was eight years old but never felt a strong connection to the violin. By ten, Jonathan wasn't really enjoying the violin but his wise mother made him stick with it! (Way to go, Mom!!)

He took ABRSM exams from age 9-18, ultimately passing Grade 8.

He did not enjoy the music theory aspect of the exams; his goal was just to pass the exam. He didn't see music theory as the wonderful tool and language that he now recognizes it to be.

Jonathan also started learning guitar and began jazz guitar lessons. He says, "To really play jazz, you've got to know your music theory." Thanks to his jazz guitar teacher, Mr. Bay, Jonathan learned the rules of theory and how to use them to "play the game of music".

Jonathan shared the things he learned about music improvisation with his friend Jun Yu because he wanted someone to jam with. Jun Yu, a pianist, advanced to ABRSM Grade 8 as well but had a similar experience with dry music theory. Once he understood the way he could use music theory to make music with his friend, Jun Yu and Jonathan set out to find a way to replicate this knowledge.

How could they gamify music theory?

Read more about Jonathan's musical journey as well as the evolution of Lord of the Chords in this article on Medium.com.

Finally, another friend joined the Lord of the Chords team. Keith is an amazing illustrator and designer who had zero musical knowledge before working with Jonathan and Jun Yu. Through playing the game, Keith learned not only the rules of the game and how he could earn triads and steal his opponent's cards but he also learned elements of music theory.

This actually gave him an advantage in being able to explain elements of the game to others because he didn't have the "curse of knowledge".

https://youtu.be/l6rzPBjI12o

The basic game comes with 150 note cards and action cards in a beautiful three-dimensional box along with accidental tokens.

Students are limited only by their imagination in all the fun ways they can use the cards to play games. The more music theory they learn, the more they can adapt the game.

Booster packs will be available to add even more challenges and aspects of the game.

Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing your story with us today. I am truly excited about your new game and look forward to supporting your Kickstarter.

Piano Parent, if you would like to support Jonathan, Jun Yu, and Keith, check out their Kickstarter page at www.LordoftheChords.com.

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