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A music curriculum
Kids fall in love with music when they write their own.
Gradus teaches your child to compose from the very first lesson — turning practice into pieces that are truly theirs. This is the surest path to a lifelong love of music.
Ages 6+
A complete curriculumEar training, notation, theory, and composing — not an app.
ESA-eligibleParent-reimbursable, with the paperwork ready to file.
Follow along your wayA dashboard anytime — or a daily note in your inbox.
Safe to watchMasterworks play in a sealed player — never open YouTube.
High school fine arts creditA year of Gradus fulfills your requirement — all necessary documentation included.
Alongside their lessons
Gradus doesn't replace piano lessons — it adds to them. Their teacher keeps them playing; Gradus adds the composing, and with it, an appreciation and love for music.
The Practice
Not videos. Not a game.
Gradus builds the real discipline and craft of composing — through simple daily practices, a few focused minutes at a time. Ear training, notation, theory, and writing their own music, one small step a day.
Hear it
Ear training
The ear leads every lesson — they hear it before they name it.
Read it
Music notation
Real notes on the staff — reading and writing music by hand.
Know it
Music theory
The why behind the music, taught the way it was discovered.
Write it
Composing
Every lesson ends with a piece of their own. That’s the point.
One method, three stages
A track for every age — and it grows with them.
Gradus meets your child where they are and matures alongside them — the same method, three stages, from a six-year-old's first melody to a teenager writing real counterpoint.
Ages 6–9
Young Composers
First melodies, rhythm, and reading music — composing by ear, the joyful way in.
Ages 10–13
Junior Composers
Two voices, harmony, and the composer’s real tools, at a faster pace.
Ages 14+
Gradus Composers
The full Gradus method — counterpoint, form, and the masters, bar by bar.
For the Parent
You don't have to be a musician.
Maestro — your child's personal tutor — guides every lesson. He reads what they write, answers their questions, and nudges them forward, the way a good teacher would. The teaching never depends on you knowing music.
"Lovely — that leap up to the high note is the heart of your phrase. Next time, try landing it a step gentler and listen to how it settles."
— Maestro, your child's tutorProgress sent to your inbox each day
All your children, one dashboard
And when a lesson calls for a great recording, it plays right inside Gradus — a sealed player with no comments, no recommendations, and no way out to YouTube. The masterworks, none of the rabbit holes.
For ESA Families & Transcripts
Ready for your ESA — and your transcript.
Most ESA states reimburse curriculum at the parent level — you submit your own receipts, no vendor approval needed. Gradus arrives with everything your file needs, so it drops straight into your submission.
And a full year of Gradus counts as a high school fine arts credit — Music Theory & Composition, the transcript category recognized in every state and valued in college admissions. You award and record the credit; Gradus gives you the rest: the course names to use, the credit-hour math, standards alignment, and a printable hour log. It may be the simplest — and most affordable — fine arts credit on the transcript.
When you enroll, your ESA kit includes:
- Course syllabus
- One-page syllabus
- Scope & sequence
- Sample lesson
- Invoice & paid receipt
When the music is theirs, they can't wait to play it.
Music in their own hand, from the very first lesson.
Gradus — School of Music Composition · Maestro's Journal · About