How to Choose a Homeschool Music Curriculum
The four kinds of music programs, what each one teaches, and how to tell which your child needs.
By Maestro
Search for a homeschool music curriculum and you will find dozens of options, all promising a love of music. They are not interchangeable. Some teach a child to listen, some to play, some to understand, and a few to create. Knowing which is which makes the choice much easier.
What are the main kinds of homeschool music curriculum?
Most programs fall into four kinds: music appreciation, instrument instruction, music theory, and composition. Each develops a different part of a musical child, and many families eventually use more than one.
1. Music appreciation
Appreciation courses introduce great composers and their music: listening guides, composer biographies, the instruments of the orchestra, the eras of music history. Many follow a Charlotte Mason rhythm of studying one composer for a term.
What your child gains: familiarity with great music and a habit of attentive listening. What it doesn't do: teach a child to read, play, or write music. Best for: young children, families who want a gentle, beautiful introduction, and anyone building a broad liberal arts education.
2. Instrument instruction
Piano, violin, guitar, and voice lessons, whether with a teacher, a video course, or an app.
What your child gains: the ability to perform, and genuine physical skill. What it doesn't do: necessarily explain how music works, or ask the child to make music of their own. Many children play for years without ever writing a tune. Best for: children with a specific instrument they love, and families with a good local teacher.
3. Music theory
Theory courses teach the language of music: reading notation, scales, intervals, chords, and harmony. They are usually workbook or text based and often aimed at older students.
What your child gains: a clear understanding of how music is built, and strong preparation for further study. What it doesn't do: always connect the labels to sound. A student can name every chord on a test and still never write eight bars of music. Best for: older students who already play, and high schoolers preparing for college music study.
4. Composition
Composition curricula teach a child to write their own music. Done well, they include the other three: a child listens closely, learns theory as they need it, and hears what they write played back.
What your child gains: music that is genuinely theirs, and an understanding that comes from using ideas rather than memorizing them. What it doesn't do: replace instrument lessons. Composition and performance are partners. Best for: creative children, children who have lost interest in practicing other people's music, and families who want music to be a subject their child does, not only one they watch.
How do I choose the right one for my child?
Start with what you want your child to be able to do in five years. If the answer is "recognize Bach and Beethoven," an appreciation course is enough. If it is "play the piano," find a teacher. If it is "understand music and make their own," look for theory taught through composition.
A few questions that cut through the marketing:
- What will my child actually do each day? Watching, practicing, filling in a workbook, or writing music?
- Do I need to read music to use it? Many programs quietly assume the parent can explain the concepts.
- Does it start with sound? Children learn music best by hearing it before naming it.
- Will it last? A program that ends after one year means choosing again. One that grows from age six to high school does not.
- Does it count? For high schoolers, check whether a year of the course can be recorded as a fine arts credit. For ESA families, check that it comes with the paperwork your program requires.
Can my child do more than one?
Yes, and the combinations are often the best answer. Appreciation and composition fit together naturally, since a child who studies Bach's music for a term will want to try writing in his style. Composition and piano lessons strengthen each other: the child who writes music understands what they play, and the child who plays has an instrument to hear their own pieces on.
Where Gradus fits
Gradus is a composition curriculum, the fourth kind, built so the other three are woven in. Your child listens closely, learns theory as it unfolded historically, and writes music from the very first lesson. Maestro, your child's personal composition tutor, does the teaching, so you don't need to read music. It grows with your child across three tracks, from age six through high school, and a full year can be recorded as a high school fine arts credit.
Gradus doesn't replace piano lessons. It adds to them.
You can see a sample lesson, read what your child learns, or see pricing.