Westviewhighschoo L

N131, 8^th period

Course Description

AP Music Theory is designed to prepare students for the College Board's Advanced Placement Exam in Music Theory. The curriculum is adopted from that of a typical 101-level college music theory course. Focus is directed toward developing notational, analytical, compositional and aural skills. With guidance, students will be expected to sing and compose music as a part of this course.
Equity & Access

All students with a genuine interest in music theory – and a willingness to work hard – are welcome. Ideally, students enrolling in this course are comfortable reading sheet music in at least one clef. Those who cannot read sheet music will need to invest additional time and effort outside of class learning to do so, but can be equally successful on the AP exam.

By the end of this course, students will be able to…

• 
  Notate music.
  
• 
  Define theoretical terms and concepts.
  
• 
  Construct and analyze scales and chords.
  
• 
  Construct and analyze harmonic progressions.
  
• 
  Recognize and audiate scales, intervals, melodies and rhythms.
  
• 
  Sing mostly diatonic melodies at sight.
  
• 
  Identify basic musical forms and cadences.
  
• 
  Compose music in four parts.
  
• 
  Use roman numerals and figured bass to analyze written music.
  

Texts

• 
  Koskta, Stefan & Payne, Dorothy. Tonal Harmony. 6^th ed., Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009.
  

Materials

Bring the following materials to every class meeting:

• 
  Pencils – Never pens!
  
• 
  High-quality 'art gum' eraser
  
• 
  A 1.5" 3-ring binder containing loose-leaf staff paper (visit www.blanksheetmusic.net to print out your own staff paper)
  
• 
  Notebook
  

This course begins with rudiments, but quickly moves on to more complicated concepts and procedures. Multiple absences can easily hinder a student's progress and comprehension. Music theory is complex by nature, and requires time and effort to be fully appreciated. Students often demand clarity, but are really seeking simplicity. In most cases, to simplify a musical concept is to distort it – remember, you are studying an art form, not a science! The patient, open-minded theory student is typically the most successful one.

1. 
   Do your work.
   
2. 
   Respect others.
   
3. 
   Be honest and open-minded.
   
4. 
   Do not plagiarize the work of other musicians, living or dead!
   
5. 
   COMPLETE ALL HOMEWORK ON TIME. Arrange late-work before the due date.
   
6. 
   Complete revisions in a timely manner.
   
7. 
   Always come to class with required materials and TAKE NOTES.
   
8. 
   Ask questions during/after class, after school, or by email.
   
9. 
   Complete all assessments; schedule make-ups and re-takes as soon as possible.
   
10. 
    Keep electronics Off & Away.
    

Grading

90% + =A

70-79%=C

1. 
   Writing – notating music and labeling its features.
   
   1. 
      Notate and label…
      
      1. 
         Pitches in 4 clefs: treble, alto, tenor and bass.
         
      2. 
         Rhythm in duple, triple, quadruple and irregular meter, in both simple and compound time.
         
      3. 
         Scales…
         
         1. 
            Major, minor and chromatic.
            
         2. 
            Whole-tone, pentatonic and octatonic.
            
         3. 
            Modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
            
      4. 
         All major and minor key signatures and scale degrees.
         
      5. 
         All major, minor, diminished and augmented intervals.
         
      6. 
         Triads in root position and first and second inversion (major, minor, diminished and augmented).
         
      7. 
         Seventh chords in root position and first, second and third inversion (major, major-minor [dominant], minor, half diminished and fully diminished).
         
      8. 
         Cadences in major and minor keys (authentic, plagal, half, Phrygian and deceptive).
         
   2. 
      Transpose a melody into another key.
      
   3. 
      Use and define common tempo markings.
      
   4. 
      Use and define common expression markings.
      
2. 
   Listening – hearing music and identifying its features.
   
   1. 
      Hear and identify…
      
      1. 
         Simple and compound rhythm in duple, triple and quadruple meter.
         
      2. 
         Scales…
         
         1. 
            Major, minor and chromatic.
            
         2. 
            Whole tone, pentatonic and octatonic.
            
         3. 
            All modes.
            
      3. 
         All major, minor, diminished and augmented intervals within an octave.
         
      4. 
         Triads in root position and their inversions.
         
      5. 
         Seventh chords in root position and their inversions.
         
      6. 
         Cadences in major and minor keys.
         
      7. 
         Non-chord tones (passing tones, neighboring tones, anticipations, suspensions, retardations, appoggiaturas, escape tones, changing tones [cambiata], and pedal tones.)
         
   2. 
      Hear and notate…
      
      1. 
         A major-key or minor-key melody, up to 8 bars, mostly diatonic, in simple or compound time, in any clef, within 3-4 playings.
         
      2. 
         The bass and soprano voices in a 4-part harmonic progression.
         
   3. 
      Detect…
      
      1. 
         The tonal quality of a piece (major, minor, modal or other).
         
      2. 
         Modulations in key and meter.
         
      3. 
         Pitch and rhythm errors in written music from given aural excerpts.
         
      4. 
         Texture quality and devices…
         
         1. 
            Monophony, homophony, polyphony.
            
         2. 
            Position of voices (highest, lowest, inner).
            
         3. 
            Voice independence, density, timbre.
            
         4. 
            Imitations, canons.
            
      5. 
         Formal organizations…
         
         1. 
            Phrase structure, period, form.
            
         2. 
            Motifs, themes and variations, repetition, contrast.
            
3. 
   Analyzing – seeing and/or hearing music, then identifying, defining, explaining and justifying its features.
   
   1. 
      Recognize and name scale degrees (tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, leading tone)
      
   2. 
      Identify…
      
      1. 
         Tonicizations
         
      2. 
         Harmonic and rhythmic modulations
         
      3. 
         Non-chord tones (passing tones, neighboring tones, anticipations, suspensions, retardations, appoggiaturas, escape tones, changing tones [cambiata], and pedal tones.)
         
      4. 
         Tonal centers and key relationships
         
4. 
   Singing – audiating and vocalizing music.
   
   1. 
      Utilize the moveable-"Do" and "La"-based minor solfege systems to sing melodies and/or label harmonies. Know both diatonic and chromatic syllables.
      
   2. 
      Hear a pitch played and vocalize a given interval above or below that pitch up to an octave.
      
   3. 
      Sight-sing a melody up to 8 bars, in any major or minor key, mostly diatonic, in any clef, in simple or compound meter, using correct solfege syllables.
      
5. 
   Composing – creating and blending melodies, harmonies and rhythms.
   
   1. 
      Realize a figured bass line.
      
   2. 
      Realize a roman numeral progression into four voices using good voice-leading technique.
      
   3. 
      Compose a bass line for a given melody and analyze the implied harmonies. Add inner voices.
      
   4. 
      Organize and develop harmony using…
      
      1. 
         Non-chord tones.
         
      2. 
         Sequences and cadences.
         
      3. 
         Tonal centers and secondary dominants.
         
      4. 
         Modulations.
         
      5. 
         Forms.
         
      6. 
         Transposing instruments.
         
   5. 
      Organize and develop melodies using…
      
      1. 
         Motifs and patterning.
         
      2. 
         Borrowed tones ("exotic" tones).
         
      3. 
         Retrogrades and inversions.
         
      4. 
         Phrases, periods and forms.
         
   6. 
      Organize and develop rhythm using…
      
      1. 
         Simple and compound time.
         
      2. 
         Augmentation and diminution.
         
      3. 
         Retrogrades and inversions.
         
      4. 
         Motifs and patterns.
         
      5. 
         Hemiola.
         
      6. 
         Phrases, periods and forms.
         

It is my sincere hope that all students enrolled in this class take