Aaron publications are proud to be listed as exhibitors at Rhinegold’s Music and Drama Education EXPO 2018 which takes place at London Olympia on 22nd and 23rd of February 2018 . Our listing can be seen at http://musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/london/exhibition/exhibitor-list/96/.  Music and Drama Education EXPO is Europe’s largest conference and exhibition for anyone involved in music and drama education. Moreover we are proud to celebrate our recent partnership with Victoria College of Music Examination Board, who are basing their forthcoming new music theory syllabus entirely on the All-In-One music theory books (All-In-One is “Best music theory” say Victoria College of Music Examination Board).

Rhinegold’s Music and Drama Education EXPO 2018 will be an important occasion for us, helping us raise awareness of the All-In-One series of music theory books. ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ coincide with the relatively new publication; ‘All-In-One to Grade 5 – THIRD edition’ (published July 25th 2016), on which they are based, containing extra exercises throughout. All-In-One (…and one for ALL!) Music Theory is suitable for a wide range of students; for child or adult and any instrumentalist. It is ideal material for students preparing to take exams with any of the main examination boards (or none at all) including graded checklists for both ABRSM and Trinity College London (our books will soon also feature a ‘ Victoria College of Music’ Graded checklist). One distinctive feature of All-In-One music theory is its distinctive ‘integrated, yet progressive approach’ , exploring patterns which apply across the grades thereby dispensing with the traditional rote learning . The ‘Trinity Supplement’ has also received a complete overhaul and contains many more exercises, all carefully graded so that our books are now as equally appealing to Trinity College London students as Associated Board students.

Our books present THE most effective method for learning music theory and are so different to other music theory books in many ways. Read why here. Customer reviews can be read at www.aaronpublications via clicking on the Reviews page. Students and teachers already familiar with the All-In-One music theory books may be interested to read here about the differences between the new THIRD (2016) edition of All-In-One to Grade 5 and previous editions.

If you happen to be in London between the 22nd and 23rd of February 2018 please pop along to see us at music and Drama EXPO 2017, stand M29. You will receive a warm welcome and can chat to the author (Rachel Billings) who will be very happy to answer your questions . The event will feature special one-off show prices for All-In-One music theory books.

Reasons to try All-In-One: Grades 1-3  and/or All-In-One: Grades 4-5 music theory book

Most of our customers choose ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ book, which is very popular. Not as many people are aware the split grade books exist, namely the ‘All-In-One: Grade 1-3’ and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ books, and even fewer people seem aware about the benefits of using this material. The purpose of this blog is not to explain why All-In-One music theory is such a different and highly effective method (to read about this click here), rather to make a brief comparison of the three main books in the All-In-One series (All-In-One to Grade 5, All-In-One: Grades 1-3 and All-In-One: Grades 4-5). Equipped with information, people who are already considering owning All-In-One music theory can make an informed decision about which book is most suitable for their needs.

♦ ‘All-In-one: Grades 1-3’ (158 pages) and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ book (166 pages) contain many more exercises than found in ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ (278 pages).
All-In-One: Grades 1-3 contains all the exercises found in grades 1-3 of ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ PLUS 99 extra exercises throughout. All-In-One: Grades 4-5 contains all the exercises found in grades 4-5 of ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ PLUS 113 extra exercises.

This means that students who own both the All-In-One: Grades 1-3 AND All-In-One: Grades 4-5 book benefit from all of the material found in the All-In-One to Grade 5 book PLUS 212 extra exercises. To read more detail about these books please click https://aaronpublications.co.uk/all-in-one-music-theory-books-shop-page/  *

♦ ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ are the most cost effective option
Each of the split grade books is priced £9.99.  For students who own both books (‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ AND ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’) this is the same as owning ‘All-In-one to Grade 5’ and the ‘Trinity Supplement’ book combined, PLUS 61 extra exercises.
 

♦ All-In-One: Grade 4-5 book is ideal for all students post grade 3, including those who feel rusty regarding their knowledge of previous grades.

All-In-One: Grades 4-5 duplicates ten of the coloured reference pages found in All-In-One: Grades 1-3 (with other reminders throughout the book). These Reference pages are easy to find quickly and can just as easily be skipped over if a student already feels secure in these areas. This means that students who are not familiar with ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ will nevertheless have a clear understanding of foundational topics such as Simple Time, Compound Time, Key Signatures and the Circle of 5^th (topics already introduced in grades 1-3). It also means that students using All-In-One books may come to them from a diverse background; it is not necessary to be familiar with All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ book prior to using All-In-One : Grades 4-5’ book.

So, which All-In-One music theory book is most suitable for your needs?

We hope the above information has been helpful. In summary, If you wish to focus on Grades 1-3 we recommend you buy ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3′ only. If you wish to focus mostly upon grades 4-5, buy ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’, regardless of whether you use ABRSM or Trinity College London syllabus. If you think the extra exercises unnecessary buy ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ which nevertheless contains plenty of practice material.

* Of the ninety-nine extra exercises in ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’, twenty-four of these are for all grades 1-3 students (i.e. ABRSM, Trinity and others) whilst seventy-five of the exercises are topics outside the scope of the Grade 3 ABRSM Syllabus (the book already contains all Grade 1-3 material from the ‘Trinity Supplement’ booklet, found in the Appendix,  therefore it  is not necessary to buy this book separately) 

* Of the one hundred and thirteen extra exercises in ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’, thirty-seven of these are to be completed by all students (ABRSM and Trinity students and others) whilst seventy-six of the exercises are topics outside the scope of the Grade 5 ABRSM Syllabus (the book already contains all Grade 4-5 material from the ‘Trinity Supplement’ booklet, found in the Appendix,  therefore it  is not necessary to buy this book separately) 

All-In-One music theory is also for Americans!

I recently received a message from an American music teacher who wanted to know if my music theory books are suitable for her students because of a few different words we use in the United Kingdom for musical terms. Her only real concern was about note values because Americans describe them, quite sensibly, using fractional names (‘Whole, half, quarter…’ )  as opposed to UK musicians who not so sensibly (in fact quite illogically!) describe notes as ‘Semibreve, minim, crotchet’ etc. (Other differences in terminology are quite minor). This music teacher had seen a sample page on my website from All-In-One music theory book which uses both US and UK terms for note values and she wished to know my preference and the terms predominantly used elsewhere in my books. I have copied and pasted my reply below.

‘Thanks for your query. In the case of note values All-In-one music theory (Chapter 2; Time) provides several pages of exercises for both terminologies in use. A1) paper is titled ‘Traditional Name: Semibreve, Minim, Crotchet, Quaver and Semiquaver’ and A2) paper is called ‘Fractional Time Name: Whole, Half, Quarter, Eighth and Sixteenth’ (the Demisemiquaver/ Thirty-second and Breve / Double-whole are dealt with elsewhere in the book in Part Two). In Paper B) it states that students may answer questions using either method. These papers are then followed by a paper specifically about ‘Time Signatures’ (so it links into that). In my view it is necessary to have a very clear understanding of the US fractional terms because it helps with the understanding of Time Signatures. Elsewhere in the book UK (’Traditional’) terms are used (I am from the UK) but I have sought to make the book usable for all English-speaking students. Towards the beginning of the book (in the Foreword) there is a table listing ‘The Major Terminology Differences in Music Theory’ because some different words are used in English-speaking countries which mean the same thing. In footnotes throughout the book I have also provided equivalent terms. For example on page two I have written STAVE on the page in the main body of text, but this is followed by a footnote which says in small print at the bottom of the page ‘The word “staff” is preferred in some countries, including the USA with “staves” as the plural.’ I hope this helps. Best wishes, Rachel’

Another stumbling block to American readers may be the titles of my books because some Americans are not familiar with the graded system and examination boards we have in the UK.  The main books in the All-In-One series are ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’, ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ (The latter books are based on All-In-One to Grade 5 yet contain a significant number of extra exercises). In the UK ‘Grade 5’ is a significant bench mark and the All-In-One music theory books comprehensively cover both ABRSM and Trinity College London syllabus Grades 1-5. They also contain further topics (marked ‘optional’) outside the scope of both examination boards since, although my books feature graded checklists, they are not confined to syllabus requirements. To give you some idea; they are equivalent to RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) music theory Grade 6 level which is used throughout Canada and in many parts of Northern America. They also include numerous topics from RCM Grade 7 and some from grade 8.

Finally I should mention that my books have been tried and tested by a few American citizens with great results.

One music teacher from Indiana wrote:

“There are “Britishisms” in the book, but not so many to discourage American students…Perhaps the best endorsement comes from the fact that my test subject is thriving, and progressing rapidly. He is absorbing the material quickly, and is enjoying the journey.”

(K. Maven – Indiana) ,

For more reviews please go to… http://www.aaronpublications.co.uk/reviews-of-all-in-one-to-grade-5/).

If you have any questions about the All-In-One music theory books please don’t hesitate to contact me using the contact form on this website. Aaron publications also has a Facebook page where more sample pages can be seen (and you can message me) Simply click here: https://www.facebook.com/aaronpublications/photos/a.10157337714735128.1073741829.302347270127/10159509384310128/?type=3&theater

Our twitter handle is Aa_music theory.

Best wishes, Rachel Billings

Why I wrote All-In-One Music Theory

I thought it may be helpful to write down a few thoughts in response to questions I’ve occasionally been asked (usually in relation to All-In-One to Grade 5 book, the first book I wrote and most familiar, although there are ten books in total which make up the All-In-One music theory series ).

Q. Why did you decide to write All-In-One music theory?
I didn’t ‘decide’ to write any music theory book/s, rather the material developed gradually from “a collection of individual, self-contained worksheets which were written originally to help my own students and free up valuable lesson time for the instrumental work it supports’ (quoted from the Preface page in All-In-One to Grade 5).

I started gathering my ideas during my first year of teaching in 2001-2002 (during my last year as a post graduate student at the RNCM) and, over the course of several years, the work sheets became numerous.

The Preface page in All-In-One to Grade 5 also explains my motivation behind writing the material… ‘Most music theory books can be wordy and daunting for the beginner (especially if they are young) and often information is presented in an unrelated way through a graded system, which, in essence, relies on dry repetition and rote learning of facts’.

To solve this problem I sought an ‘integrated yet progressive’ approach. All-In-one…  ‘maintains an overall progressive approach whilst never failing to expose the simple rules and patterns which underlie music theory. These patterns, once understood, are understood once and for all by the pupil, applying as much in the later grades as the former’…All material was written with the conviction that pupils gain satisfaction and enjoyment from their work if they understand why rules or conventions exist and, from the start, students are equipped with the bare bones of information needed to work things out for themselves independently of the teacher.’

All-In-One was intended to be a flexible, time saving method which keeps the focus, as it should be, on the music itself and learning to play the instrument:

‘teachers can introduce topics when best suits the need of the individual pupil; for instance in relation to pieces a pupil is learning’.

Ultimately, the driving force behind writing All-In-One music theory books was sheer frustration! I desired a fuss free and enjoyable approach and I couldn’t find the material I wanted for my students therefore I ended up writing my own.

Q. How long did it take you to write All-In-One to Grade 5 (and the books based upon this)?
From the time I wrote down my first ideas until the current, 2016 edition (and the new books based upon this) it has taken fifteen years in total. The first edition was completed in Sept 2008 after five/six years of compiling my material, but since then the book has undergone considerable revisions and substantial improvements in certain areas.

Q. Were there any memorable moments or particular challenges you encountered when writing All-In-One to Grade 5?
Yes. Problems fell into one or the other of two categories:

1) Writing the actual book.
Once the individual papers were written it was very difficult to decide the structure of the book, meaning the order of the worksheets and how they link together. This is especially true regarding the THIRD edition which contains substantial changes, especially to Chapter Three to make it ‘more suitable for students taking the individual grades en route to grade 5 without, most crucially, losing All-In-One’s integrated approach’. These changes created challenges when altering the ‘Graded checklists’ for ABRSM and Trinity students (click here to read about the substantial differences between the third and previous editions of All-In-One to Grade 5). All problems were finally resolved, but it took me some time to work out how it was possible to achieve what I wanted to achieve.

I also found it challenging to write the puzzles, especially ‘Crossword Grandioso’ in Chapter Four. People may find it amusing that it was originally intended to be half the size but ended up so large (81 words) because of my continual failure to square it off! It kept growing and growing as I struggled to prevent words from sticking out here or there, until finally, somehow, I managed to get everything to fit.

2) Computer-processing the book.
By 2007, after five years of compiling my teaching material, all of the work sheets in ‘All-In-One to Grade 5’ existed in their basic form (i.e. meaning they were basically the same as found in the first/2008 edition) but still it was all hand written and not one page was on computer. An enormous amount of work needed to be done to get the book to ‘first edition’ status (Even at that stage, there remained a huge amount of work to do before the 3^rd/2016 edition existed). Convenience dictated that my work should be on computer so that I could print out sheets quickly for students whenever I wanted (I was so fed up of having to take numerous trips to photocopy shops to photocopy everything for each student!). I approached a technically savvy ex post graduate music student to do the work but that idea was a mistake. The problem, as I discovered early on (which is the reason I chose to self-publish), is that I like to remain in full control of everything; I know what feels right in terms of layout, spacing, font etc. …. I soon discovered it is nigh on impossible for one person to dictate their intentions to another, and expect them to be fulfilled in each and every way on every page. After the unsuccessful attempt to get someone else to computer-process my book, I then made the decision to do it myself. On hindsight, this was the first step to self-publishing, but at the time my primary thought was that I had to teach myself how to computer process my material if I wanted to achieve anything  (in terms of appearance and layout) which approximated the results I desired. I knew it would not be easy because my knowledge of computers at that time was very poor (in 2007 I had only basic knowledge of Microsoft Office Word). It did take me a long time to master the Desktop publishing and Music Notation programmes and I  worked late each night after finishing teaching, often well into the early hours of the morning ( I discovered helpful people on the help forums as I learnt how to use their software). The advantage of all this was that I was not dependent upon anybody and I could make changes to my work whenever I want to very easily. I loved the freedom that my new computer skills gave me. Very often an idea would occur to me whilst teaching and as soon as my lessons were over I would dash to the computer to make the necessary adjustments whilst fresh in my mind. One change might lead to another change and in turn affect material in other papers. My computer programmes and the skills I was learning in fact inspired creativity because I was able to make adjustments so easily and therefore write in such a free and unhindered way that would simply not have been possible had I continued with only pen/pencil and paper (I no longer had to tear up paper after every adjustment and spend hours rewriting everything from scratch by hand!!). I imagine my books would have been extremely different if l had been dependent upon someone else to computer process them and the process less spontaneous/inspirational. It is almost certain that the last (3^rd ) edition would not exist because it would have been too hard for me to wrap my mind around its new structure which is more complex (beneath the surface) than previous versions (Chapter Three especially). The third edition would simply have not been possible without the help of computer programmes which made adjustments easy for me to do.

Q. Is the reason you self-published that you didn’t get accepted by a large national publishing company?
No (This is not a question I have actually been asked but I am aware that people may think it because, perhaps understandably, self-published books can be viewed with suspicion).  I hope that my answer to the above question reveals the natural process by which All-In-One music theory came to be written. My primary concern in 2007 was to get things just as I wanted and therefore that, of necessity, led to me learning how to computer process my written work. One thing just led to another. I kept delaying sending my work to a recognised publisher (although that thought was at the back of my mind) as I was propelled forward by the desire to make my intentions (regarding format/layout etc.) crystal clear. On hindsight, my issue was clearly one of wanting ‘control’ over every part of the process; I was concerned about details that most people would leave to a publisher to decide. When I ended up with a finished product I was happy with the next step (in September 2008) was finding a printer to print the smallest amount of books I could get away with (120) so as to equip my own students with my book, yet without being considerably out of pocket (meaning that if I had bought fewer books -as ideally I would have wished- the price per book that I paid to the printer would have been significantly more than the price I felt comfortable charging each student). I unavoidably had excess stock which I sold or gave away to friends and colleagues. I also advertised my books for sale in the members section of the ISM journal (‘Incorporated Society of Musicians’). I was unsure what would come of all this, but was pleasantly surprised when, soon after the article was published, Rhinegold approached me to ask if they could write a review. I received a very successful write up in February 2009 which led to more people wanting books, which resulted in hurried preparation for another print run. Once the initial orders started coming in I felt that I had already done much of the work a publisher would have done plus I was rather curious to see what would happen if I continued doing things myself.  I decided to call this emerging enterprise ‘Aaron publications’.… The rest is history.

Eight years of hard work later (fifteen since I first started compiling my material) I occasionally wonder what would have happened if I had explored having my work published by a large recognised publisher, but nowadays it certainly doesn’t feel right to do so. Funny that at the point when it could have felt ‘just right’ (just after the first 120 books were printed) my mind was occupied with other matters. It came as a big surprise when Rhinegold requested to publish a review of my book/s, just after the appearance of my add in the ISM Journal in August 2008 (it had never once occurred to me that people other than music teachers read the ISM journal!). I was delighted yet this put the pressure on; sales were already good yet I was acutely aware I was simply not yet ready for a larger print run. My book was still only in its draft/preliminary edition which was heavy and cumbersome. It weighed over 1kg and cost me a fortune in postage to send (The initial 120 hardback books I subsidised and paid part postage costs myself so I was infact selling at loss). I was beginning to wrap my mind around the practicalities of sending my book/s if I was to meet public demand; the chief concerns being weight and size. I spent many hours, days and weeks editing to adjust both margin and content, so that the text size would not be affected in a significantly smaller, lighter and user friendly edition. The hardback cover was replaced with a thick plastic protective shield which is equally durable, but that created further difficulties because not all printers are equipped with the machinery needed to fit this sort of cover combined with the tough spiral binding I wanted. Therefore several months of delays ensued before the paperback version could be printed. ‘Aaron publications’ became officially registered as a business in February 2009 in part so that my books could receive an ISBN number and be registered by the British library. I became a publisher out of necessity and public demand, largely aided by Rhinegold’s nice review.

The attractiveness of a large marketing campaign is appealing but I do not even know if it’s too late to request a big recognised publisher to publish my work (considering it’s ‘published’ already, albeit by myself). However my biggest concern is that  I don’t think I could bring myself to hand over all my original computer files to another person/organisation (and with it, I presume a degree of copyright). The passing years have given me an increased sense of protectiveness about ‘my baby’( yes, I view All-In-one music theory somewhat as a child, born out of much labour and love) and I wouldn’t want another publisher to take credit for ten years of computer processing work which they have not done. Rightly or wrongly that is how I feel. Anyhow, I really like the name ‘Aaron publications’ and I don’t want to lose that name! (anyone who wants to know why I chose this name, just pop me an email!)

(All-In-One music theory books are available at www.aaronpublications.co.uk .To see a list of shops (which we know about ) which stock All-In-one music theory books, as well as schools using my material please go to http://www.aaronpublications.co.uk/stockists-of-all-in-one/  Not all shops selling All-In-One Music Theory are listed on this website since many get their books through our music distributor Music Exchange

Aaron publications at Music and Drama Education EXPO 2017 !

Aaron publications are proud to be listed as exhibitors at Rhinegold’s Music  and Drama Education EXPO 2017 which takes place at London Olympia on the 9th and 10th of February 2017.  Music and Drama Education EXPO is Europe’s largest conference and exhibition for anyone involved in music and drama education.

http://www.musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/exhibitors/aaron-publications

Rhinegold’s Music and Drama Education Expo EXPO 2017 will be an important occasion for us, helping us raise awareness of the All-In-One series of music theory books. We celebrate the launch of two new books and three new editions (published July 25th 2016). ‘All-In-One: Grades 1-3’ and ‘All-In-One: Grades 4-5’ coincide with the new publication; ‘All-In-One to Grade 5 – THIRD edition’, on which they are based (containing extra exercises throughout). The ‘Trinity Supplement’ has also received a complete overhaul and contains many more exercises, all carefully graded so that our books are now as equally appealing to Trinity College London students as Associated Board students (and of course the other new edition is the Answer Book, which has had to be revised accordingly and contains answers to all the above books).

Our books present THE most effective method for learning music theory and are so different to other music theory books in many ways.  Read our reviews page at www.aaronpublications.co.uk to learn more. Details also can be downloaded about the differences between the new THIRD (2016) edition of All-In-One to Grade 5 and previous editions.

If you happen to be in London between the 9th and 10 of February 2017 please pop along to see us at music and Drama EXPO 2017. You will receive a warm welcome and can chat to the author (Rachel Billings). The event will feature special one-off show prices for All-In-One music theory books.