One of the perennial challenges in the modern music theory classroom is convincing students that the material we study in class has a direct relevance to their performance studies and future careers. This lack of perceived relevance has negative effects on our students. In the best scenario, students who don't see the connection simply "survive" the class without integrating the material into their daily musicianship. Students who fail to see relevance often experience frustration with their music theory studies, their grades suffer and, in extreme cases, some students will even change career paths. In order to assess the effects of perceived relevance on student achievement in music theory and to seek methods for increasing perceived relevance, I developed and conducted a survey of undergraduate music majors. The survey was based on the work of M. Rusty Jones and Martin Bergee and on the learning styles research of David Kolb. The survey reveals that, of all the tested factors (including: college major, career goal, primary instrument, and pre-college music theory experience), the issue most closely correlated with student achievement is his or her perceived relevance of the material. The survey also reveals that student achievement and perceived relevance correlate with student learning style as defined by Kolb's Experiential Learning Model. For the music theory instructor, these correlations open a wealth of research on strategies designed to increase perceived relevance and promote a rich, balanced approach to music theory instruction. In the presentation I will discuss these strategies as they relate to the music theory classroom and suggest methods that our department is devising to address shortcomings revealed by the study. The hope is that all students will gain an appreciation for how music theory can inform their musical decisions and feel encouraged to engage in regular analysis.