Keith Swanwick believes that any knowledge must follow several steps that are related to the psychological development of the student. Since music is a type of knowledge like any other, Swanwick splits the learning of this knowledge into different age groups (from 3 to 15 years).

It is worth mentioning that the research was carried out for four years with students of different classes, different ethnicities (from Asian to African). Most importantly, this work was carried out with focus on the music workshop, in accordance to the theories of several educators including John Paynter and Murray Schafer, who work with the "creative line" of music education, which explores the creativity of the student using all types of sound materials.

The TECLA system is defined as follows:

• T - Technique (handling of instruments, musical notation, listening)
• E – Performance (singing and playing)
• C – Composition / creation
• L – Literature (history of music)
• A – A - Appreciation (recognition of styles / shape / tonality / degrees)

The activities of Execution, Composition and Appreciation are crucial for this learning together with the activities of Technique and Literature.