Music Theory IFall 2016 Syllabus

Course Number: MU 151 Music Theory I (lecture)Corequisite: MU 151L Musicianship I (lab)

(MS x10 Piano lessons are strongly encouraged)Prerequisites: NoneTime: 8:00 AM–9:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Place: Hill 117Instructor: Dr. Leon W. Couch IIIOffice: Hill 115; 205-226-4958Office Hours: TBAE-mail: ProfCouch@gmail.com or lcouch@bsc.edu Web Pages: http://Teaching.ProfCouch.us/

Course Purpose and Content of Music Theory IThis four-semester course explores how Western listeners perceive their music and

provides a framework for learning such music. The first year concentrates on fundamentalconcepts. After developing professional skill at these, you will gain insight into common-practicemusic and eventually increase your enjoyment of most musical styles. Most important, these skillswill enhance your performance and teaching of music.

The first semester briefly reviews music fundamentals from MU150 such as music reading,scales, intervals, figured bass, and chords before proceeding into standard collegiate material thatevery literate musician must know: harmonic affinity, voice-leading, simple prolongations, andstructural counterpoint in diatonic music. The co-requisite course, Musicianship I (MU151L), willprovide more practical elements necessary for true understanding of this material. To acquire aprofessional competencies in both courses, you should devote time consistently to daily practice torise above a mere knowledge of the material.

Required Texts and Materials for Music Theory Courses1. Blombach, Ann K. MacGAMUT 6 User Disk (ear-training software). Seehttp://www.macgamut.com .2. Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony with Workbook. 7th ed. New York:McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2012. ISBN 97800776582363. Idem. Tonal Harmony: Audio CDs. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2012. ISBN9780077410131 .4. Shumway, Stanley. Harmony and Ear Training at the Keyboard. Wm. C. Brown, 1976. 069703593X / 978-0697035936 . (Available at bookstore.)5. Staff paper and pencils. No pens are allowed. Submission written in pen will not be graded.

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Recommended Texts and Materials for Music Theory Courses10. Fux, Johann Joseph. The Study of Counterpoint. Trans. Alfred Mann. New York: W.W. Norton& Company, 1965. ISBN-13: 978-0393002775 ISBN-10: 039300277211. MakeMusic! Inc., Finale 2013 (notation software). http://www.finalemusic.com/ 12. Randel, Don, ed. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1986. (You really should buy this!)13. Salzer, Felix and Carl Schachter. Counterpoint in Composition. Rev. ed. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1989. ISBN-10: 023107039X ISBN-13: 978-0231070393 Kindle:B003VWBMOC

GradingQuizzes (more than five) 5%Homework (more than twenty) 25%Tests (Test I 10%, Test II 10%, Test III 10%) 30%Final Exam 20%MacGamut ear-training software 10%Participation, In-class performances, and Attendance 10%

Borderline grades will be determined by attendance, class participation, and your attitude.Grading Scale: 97–100 A+, 93–97 A, 90–92 A-, 88–89 B+, 83–87 B, 80–82 B-, 78–79 C+, 73–77 C, 70–72 C, 68–69 D+, 63–67 D, 60–62 D-, <60 F

Attendance Policy and Tardiness for all Music-Theory and Musicianship CoursesAttendance and timeliness are both mandatory and necessary. You may claim an excused

absence only for pre-approved collegiate functions, documented family emergencies, officially-recognized religious observances, or sicknesses documented by a medical doctor or clinic. Youare allowed only three unexcused absences per semester, with additional absences lowering yourcourse grade by 3% per instance. You should reserve your three unexcused absences for timeswhen you cannot provide a qualifying excuse.

Either way, it is greatly to your disadvantage to miss classes, because you will not earnparticipation points (obviously) and because musicianship quizzes will not be “made up”. Moreover, the classroom instruction in this course cannot be easily substituted by reading a text. Nevertheless, whenever you miss a class, you should promptly practice all assigned material onyour own and spend an additional hour in lieu of that you would have spent in class learning.

With unexcused absences, you should not expect your instructor to teach the class over justfor you: You must depend solely on yourself or classmates’ notes. (My help outside of class isgenerously for those who come to class.) Whenever possible, please notify me by email prior toany absence and make arrangements yourself with fellow students to go over missed material.

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Tardiness is disruptive to your classmates’ learning and especially irritating to instructors. Two late arrivals constitute an unexcused absence, and excessive tardiness will promptunannounced quizzes to permanently remedy the issue. Please be considerate!

Preparation for Class and Classroom Procedures in Music Theory CoursesYou should expect to study at least two hours outside of class for every hour in class.

Those with deficiencies may spend more time and need to work regularly with the tutor. You canoften save time, increase your enjoyment, and enhance your learning by working regularly with awell-selected classmate. All your work, however, should be reflect your effort and berepresentative of your understanding and skill.

Any graded assignments will be in the “outbox” next to my office door or on a stand as youwalk through the door. I will not hand back papers during class. This allows us to begin promptlyand give you the full hour you paid for.

Each class begins with a brief review of the previous class, answers to students’ questions,or ear-training, as time permits. The majority of the class normal involves exposition on newmaterial with any extra time devoted to practicing relevant skills together or individually. Becauseof limited class time, most of your learning will be done outside of class, similar to lessons.

To get the most from concentrated lectures, you must have studied the assigned reading,listened or played the musical examples in the text prior to the class as well as any assignedhomework to be turned in. You should be doing the self-tests before any homework assignments.(These may be evaluated and graded at any time and without forewarning.) After class, youshould review your class notes immediately, and start homework early.

By keeping up with the class and putting in sincere effort, most students can be successfulin this course. It requires daily work and tackling problems areas immediately, by seeking helpand putting in the necessary time.

Participation in ClassAlthough the instructor may call upon you at any time, you are expected to volunteer to

answer questions, contribute to discussions, demonstrate skills in front of the class, and so forth. Itis your willingness to perform as well as how often you perform that contribute the most to thisgrade. The quality of your in-class work is not the largest factor of participation grades. But, ifyou seem unprepared, you will loose all participate points for the relevant performances, at thediscretion of the instructor.

You can also earn participation by giving quality feedback and providing relevantcomments in class, when appropriate. But, once again, let everyone get their chance. Whether ornot you are right, you should give your evaluations of performances, suggestions, and opinions (ina constructive way) and thereby earn participation. We will help you become a better thinker,listener, and teacher this way.

Unlike Musicianship, the participation grade is a smaller but important component of yourcourse grade. It is up to you solely to take advantage of what the class offers, and it is up to you toearn your participation grade.

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Tests and Quizzes for Music Theory IHomework and quizzes evaluate how well you have understood concepts and, more

important, how well you have acquired skills through your daily studies and homework. If you aredoing well on these items, you will perform well on tests. Homework and quizzes are often goodpredictors of how you will do in this and future classes.

In addition to the cumulative final exam, there will three music-theory tests and severalquizzes. All tests are cumulative. Although primarily written, they may have a performancecomponent (keyboard primarily) or ear-training component (harmony primarily). The written willoccur during class, while performance components may occur in the instructor’s office.

In addition to the cumulative final and midterm exams, you will take many quizzes. Mostquizzes are announced, but they may be unannounced. These quizzes identify weaknesses beforeit’s too late and gives you feedback on your progress. To emphasize learning above grades,quizzes affect your course grade very little, at 5%. Furthermore, course provides a generous droppolicy: one grade for every five quizzes will be dropped. (This also mitigates the effect of the “nomake up” policy.) The wise student will request as many quizzes as possible.

If you miss a theory exam or quiz, you may schedule a time to take them later at thelearning (or download them) and submit them for half credit within a week. There are no make-upperformance exams. To compensate for these rules, at least one quiz grade will be dropped. (Historically students have benefitted from one dropped quiz for every five quizzes.)

Cheating on any quiz or test will result in legal action in accordance with university’spolicies. A minor violation will result in a zero on the evaluation or assignment—at the minimum. A large violation or repeated violations may result in an “F” in the course and stiff academicconsequences. These sort of punishments apply to plagarism. Please see the policies outlined bythe institution.

Homework policies in Music Theory CoursesAlthough one may absorb ideas easily from listening to the instructor in class, music-

theory skills truthfully can not be acquired through these means, without a great deal of practiceand effort on one’s own. And, since the homework assignments aim merely towardsunderstanding, I encourage you to attain true skill by selecting exercises beyond the courseassignments from the workbook, http://musictheory.net, and MacGamut written drills, until youare both fast and accurate at each topic.

Working with well selected classmates outside of class will also aid your comprehensionand save valuable time, but remember that your homework must always reflect your own efforts,abilities, and understanding. Those with weak backgrounds can make up the distance with a extraeffort and time put in towards the beginning of the semester. If any homework assignmentrequires excessive amounts of time, however, you should seek help immediately rather than lettingproblems snowball. In such a cases, plan to visit office hours for guidance and additional help.

To encourage a focus on learning and relieve worries about grades, the instructor may giveyou the opportunity (at his discretion) to resubmit graded homework assignments for a highergrade within a week of receiving an assignment back from me. You, of course, must incorporateany instructor feedback to benefit from such submissions. Your newest score will be averagedwith your initial score. (In rare cases, a redo assignment might require a new exercise on the same

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or a similar topic.)Late homeworks accrue a -10%/day penalty and may not be resubmitted for higher grades.

This policy encourages you to keep up with the class, rather than falling hopelessly behind becauseof procrastination. A wise student in this course will turn in homework on time for instructorfeedback, whether or not the work is correct.

Your time is valuable. So, remember to maximize your learning at every moment byplanning time explicitly to listen to, or play, the music you are analyzing or composing! Gettingdone faster does not always result in getting more done. Keep the long-term vision of becoming amusic profession in mind.

Computer Software: MacGamutEar-training skills are vital to every musician, no matter who you are and what you choose

to do. Certainly professional musicianship need to be competent. With advice given in class, youwill learn aural skill primarily at home with the aid of a computer. Daily repetition over the spanof many months is the only proven way to attain the required ear-training competencies.

Fortunately, you can work at your own pace without penalty during the semester until youeventually master ear-training skills with the required software, MacGamut 6 (MG). You willreceive ample credit for your daily work, because your progress will be graded every Thursdaymorning during the semester, to ensure that you do this task responsibly. These “checkups” andyour final MG submission constitute 10% of the lecture course grade.

Although you ideally will earn full credit by passing all the skills assigned for each week,particular skill levels will probably elude you for several weeks. In such cases, you must log atleast 30 minutes on each skill that is not up to level, in order to earn full credit (100%!). If you’vepassed the highest assigned level on a skill, however, you are not required to log any time towardsthat skill. By the final checkup of the semester, your diligence should pay off with mastery of allthe assigned ear-training skills!

Your grade for the final submission is based purely on accomplishment. This finalsubmission counts more heavily than the checkups. And, of course, your skills will be evaluatedon quizzes and tests. I.e., you will want to take MG seriously and learn the skill, not merelylogging in time for submissions.

Experience proves again and again that skills can not be learned quickly in a few lengthysessions before due dates and exams! Let me emphasize this again by example: Fifteen minutes aday for a week would help you much more six hours in one fell swoop before a piano lesson. Youknow this already. Being a skill, ear-training requires the same disciplined approach.

Despite whatever feelings you may have about MG, this grading method consistentlyyields a high level of student competency and higher grades. So, make sure you’re doing it . . .daily!

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Learning Outcomes for the Music Major

Upon completion of the music major, students will be able to1. Hear, identify, and work with musical elements—rhythm, pitch, harmony, structure,timbre, texture;2. Read and apply musical notation through performance;3. Recognize and articulate an understanding of compositional process and musical stylewith reference to artists, technologies, events, cultural forces through the major periods ofhistory;4. Use research tools an analysis to develop, defend judgements, and write about music;5. Demonstrate a trajectory of continuing growth in applying skills and musicalperformance; and,6. Apply particular pedagogical skills to teach others.

Course-specific Competencies for Music Theory I

Students will be able to demonstrate the following skills by the end of the course on thefinal exam and a final project.1. Students will be able to do standard music-fundamentals exercises, such as reading keysignatures, recognizing/spelling major/minor scales, identifying/spelling intervals,identifying/spelling chords, use figured bass symbols, use standard music notation, etc. (review)2. Students will be able to identify and label all standard cadences, by ear and on paper.3. Students will be able to describe, and label diatonic harmonic functions in given passages withtriads in any inversion (visual and/or aural analysis). 4. Students will be able to design progressions and phrases, including any standard cadences. 5. Students will be able to write four-part harmonizations of diatonic triads with traditional voice-leading and progressions, from given Roman numerals, figured basses, or melodies.5. Students will be able to critique counterpoints with 1:1, 2:1, and suspensions (Species I, II, IV).6. Students will be able to write counterpoints specified above.7. Students will be able to describe the relationships between counterpoint and diatonic harmoniesin given passages.8. Students will be able to write fluent phrases balancing harmonic and countrapuntal needs.9. Students will be able to perceive the such relationships in real (but simple) diatonic music, i.e.,rudimentary reductive techniques. (Music Theory II depends upon this understanding whenencountering non-harmonic tones, embellishment & reduction techniques, and texture analysis.)

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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF TOPICS & TESTS

Week Dates Monday Wednesday Friday Week 1 8/24 8/26 CH 1(2)MG1Week 2 8/29 8/31 9/2 CF(1) MG2 Species I(3)Week 3 9/5 9/7 9/9 [Labor Day] MG3Week 4 9/12 9/14 9/16 CH3(3) MG4Week 5 9/19 9/21 9/23 CH4(2) CH2(1) MG5Week 6 9/26 9/28 9/30 Species II(2) MG 6 Test IWeek 7 10/3 10/5 10/7 CH5(2) MG7 [FallBreak]Week 8 10/10 10/12 10/14 CH6/F.B(3) MG8 Week 9 10/17 10/19 10/21 Sequences CH7(3) MG9Week 10 10/24 10/26 10/28 Species IV(2) MG10 Test II Week 11 10/31 11/2 11/4 CH8(2) Sequences MG11Week 12 11/7 11/9 11/11 CH9(3) MG12Week 13 11/14 11/16 11/18 cntpt&harm(2) projects MG13Week 14 11/21 11/23 11/25 Test III [Thanksgiving] MG14Week 15 11/28 11/30 (MG due) Week 15 12/6 Final

Final MacGamut scores due by Test II of the associated Musicianship (MU151L) course. Final Exam at the time listed by the registrar: Tues., Dec 6, 8:00–12:00 noon.

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Webpages and E-mailAs a BSC student, you are entitled to (and pay for) an email account and internet access.

You are expected to check your email regularly, because I often answer questions immediately,clarify assignments, make quick changes, and send helpful reminders to everyone.

You will also find syllabi, assignments, solutions, practice exams, and handouts on thecourse webpage. Please use the password given in class to open the PDF documents.

Miscellaneous InformationPlease visit my office hours. They are for you!!! You may discuss your concerns about the

class, life at college, your musical future, or whatever with me privately. We can also merelyreview your past and upcoming assignments and tests. I would like to know each of you andcontribute in any way I can towards your success.

I will be out of town for professional engagements a few times during the semester, andclass will meet these days to cover important material. Remember that your professors’professional travels contribute to the reputation of the school and therefore to the value of yourdegree.

Right to ModifyThe instructor and the college reserve the right to modify, amend, or change the syllabus as

the curriculum or program requires.

Disability StatementThe Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that

provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things,this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment thatprovides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disabilityrequiring an accommodation, please contact the appropriate campus office.

Honor CodeUpon accepting admission, students immediately assume a commitment to uphold the

Honor Code, to accept responsibility for learning and to follow the philosophy and rules of theHonor System. Students will be required to state their commitment on examinations, researchpapers, and other academic work. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any member of thecommunity from the requirements or the processes of the Honor System. For additionalinformation, please refer to the student handbook. On all course work, assignments, andexaminations, you must agree and sign that: “On my honor, I have neither given nor receivedunauthorized aid on this academic work.” If this statement does not appear, it is assumed.

Copyright StatementAll materials generated for this course, which include but are not limited to syllabi,

quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials, review sheets, web pages, and additional problemsets, are copyrighted. Because these are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy ordistribute the handouts, unless the instructor expressly grants permission.

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