Music Theory I
Designing custom, hands-on learning experiences with everyday tools.
Introduction
A small, faith-based university sought to transform its Music Theory I course from a traditional 14-week, face-to-face class into a fully online, asynchronous experience delivered in just seven weeks. The course, originally organized around sequential textbook chapters, required a complete redesign rather than a simple conversion. I partnered with a subject-matter expert—who was also teaching online for the first time—to design the course, create multimedia and interactive learning materials, and prepare detailed implementation documents for the Canvas LMS build.
The course was specifically designed for Worship Leadership majors and minors, many of whom entered with little or no formal music theory training. Working without a budget for additional software or tools, we relied on Canvas’s built-in features and carefully selected free tools to create an engaging, interactive learning experience while maintaining instructional quality.
Identified Challenges & Needs
Redesigning for a new delivery mode
Built for in-person instruction, the course needed a full rework for asynchronous delivery with no live instructor to clarify concepts.
Moving beyond the textbook
The chapter-by-chapter structure worked in person, but broke down for a compressed, asynchronous format — especially with a first-time online SME.
Designing for a highly visual subject
Chord qualities, intervals, and notation rely on visual relationships that stock imagery couldn’t accurately capture.
Interactivity without interactive tools
Active practice was essential, but Canvas had no notation software, H5P, or plugins — every interaction had to be built natively.
Instructional Design Solution
Uncovering the Real Course
Early in the project, the SME and I talked through her existing course — what worked, and where students got stuck. She mentioned wanting to move one topic earlier, since the textbook’s order didn’t match how she actually wanted to teach it. That was the opening for backward design: since this course served online worship leadership students, not classical performance majors, I encouraged her to build around what those students actually needed rather than the textbook’s fixed sequence.
That shift made room for practical, student-relevant content — including the Nashville Number System, a tool worship musicians use constantly but her textbook never covered. The conversation didn’t just shape the course; she later told me it changed how she thinks about teaching the material in person, too.
AI tools supported early brainstorming throughout the design process — for example, generating creative directions for a piano interval assignment that became a three-level, game-like scavenger hunt. Every concept was shaped, tested, and finalized based on instructional judgment.
Building the Solution
From there, the build took shape around a few key pieces:
Custom Visual Library
Music theory is highly visual, and stock imagery couldn’t capture notation-heavy content accurately — so I hand-built 134+ custom graphics in Canva, as well as 10+ min of video. Memorable metaphors, like ‘sunny’ and ‘rainy’ imagery for major and minor chord qualities, and ‘anchor’ imagery for perfect intervals, reduced cognitive load and made abstract concepts easier to retain.
Self-Coded Interactive Accordions
With no interactive content tools available in Canvas, I taught myself to code interactive accordion elements from scratch, using them to build low-stakes ‘check yourself’ practice right after new content was introduced. Framed as mini challenges — figure out the answer, then click to reveal — the accordions gave students a way to actively test their understanding instead of just reading passively. Each element was tested before delivery, and I provided the building team with copy-paste-ready code and full documentation.
Quick check: Build a chord! If you start on C and stack a Major 3rd (4 half steps) followed by a minor 3rd (3 half steps), what chord do you get?
👉 Click to reveal the answer!
C Major!
Starting on C, count up 4 half steps to E (Major 3rd), then up 3 more half steps to G (minor 3rd). C–E–G is a C Major chord — warm, bright, and stable.
34-second demo: identifying major vs. minor chords by ear, using the tool’s real-time audio playback.
A Gamified Theory & Ear Training Tool
Ear training requires audio-based, real-time interactivity — something no built-in Canvas feature or static content could provide. I researched and selected a free, gamified music theory and ear-training platform that filled that gap, offering ear-training and sight-reading drills alongside a built-in digital piano, so students without access to a physical instrument could still practice. Teacher dashboards and student leaderboards let them build these skills independently between content pages.
Accessible Alt Text
For visual music theory questions, alt text needed to describe the image accurately without revealing the answer. I described only the structural elements — note positions, shapes, spacing — without naming the musical concept they represented. For a question asking students to identify a major versus minor chord, for example, the alt text described the notes’ spacing without naming the chord quality itself, meeting accessibility standards while preserving each activity’s instructional integrity.
Exercise: Identify the major or minor chord.
✗ Gives away the answer
“A D-minor chord shown on the treble staff.”
✓ Preserves the challenge
“A treble clef staff showing three whole notes stacked vertically. The first note is on the space directly below the staff. The second note is on the first space of the staff, and the third note is on the second space.”
Reflection
This project reinforced something I already believed but hadn’t tested under pressure: that good instructional design holds up even without a big budget or specialized tools, as long as the thinking behind it is sound. Backward design, low-stakes practice, and a willingness to build from scratch when the right tool doesn’t exist got us to a finished, fully asynchronous course.
Good instructional design holds up even without a big budget or specialized tools.
It also surfaced a question I’m still sitting with. My own music background meant I did more of the hands-on content creation myself than I might have otherwise — partly because it was faster, and partly because it’s what the institution was counting on when they brought me in. Looking back, I’d want to delegate more of that work. But I’m genuinely unsure what that looks like on a future project where I don’t have subject-matter expertise to fall back on — where I’d have to lean more fully on an SME’s judgment rather than my own. That’s a real question I’m carrying into whatever comes next, not one I’ve already answered. It’s part of why I’m looking for opportunities to practice that muscle deliberately going forward.
Music is a language, and like any language, it takes practice to become fluent. So does instructional design. This course pushed me to build things I’d never built before — and reminded me that the tools matter far less than the willingness to keep learning them
Tools Used for This Project: Custom Interactive Coding · Musicca · Canvas LMS · Canva · CapCut · YouTube