AP

Course Overview The AP® Music Theory class meets during Period 1 every day. The purpose of this course is to develop a student’s ability to recognize, understand, and describe the basic materials and processes of music that are heard or presented in a score. These abilities will be developed through aural skills, sight-singing, written music, composition and analysis of existing compositions. This course is for the highly motivated student with a prior background in music.

Course Objectives At the end of the course, students should be able to do the following: Understand and be able to write pitch and Read and identify melodic and harmonic music in treble, bass and movable C Identify all major, minor, chromatic and modal scales. Written and aural Identify all major, minor, augmented and diminished intervals. Written and aural Understand and be able to implement the rules of composition Compose a bass line for a given melody Compose music in three and four part textures Identify major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Written and aural Dictate a performed melodic line Identify and dictate a . Written and aural Transpose a written melodic line Analyze music with Roman Numerals and Identify and construct cadences. Written and aural

Primary Text Kostka, Stefan, and Dorothy Payne. 2004. Tonal with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ottman, Robert. 2004. Music for Sight-Singing, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Addition Resources Ricci Adams’s interactive tutorials: www.musictheory.net Tonal Harmony student interactive website, http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072852607/student_view0/index.htm Benward, Bruce and Saker, Marilyn. 2003. Music in Theory and Practice, 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill

Written Concepts Triad/seventh inversions September Figured Bass Rhythmic Element (TH – Chpt 2) Species I, II counterpoint o Note and Rest Values (TH – Chpt 8)

o Time Signatures November o Meter, Meter Patterns Voice leading/four part writing o Rhythmic Patterns; (TH – Chpts 5&6) simple/compound o Voice Doubling o Related Vocabulary o Voice leading errors Basic Notation (TH – Chpt 1) . Illegal Parallels o Musical alphabet, staff, ledger . Hidden/Direct 5ths lines . Spacing o Grand staff, clefs, letter names . Resolution of LT o Signs, symbols, abbreviations . Resolution of 7ths Major Scales (TH – Chpt 1) . Cross Voices o Whole and Half steps Dominant 7th Chords o Key signatures, Circle of Fifths – (TH – Chpt 13) Major o Resolution of 7th Minor Scales(TH – Chpt 1) o Root position/inversions o Natural, harmonic, melodic Non-harmonic tones minor (TH – Chpts 11 & 12) o Key signatures o Passing/neighbor o Relative vs. parallel key o Ant, App, Pedal point relationships o Escape, Suspension Intervals (TH – Chpt 1) Composition and analysis o Minor, major, diminished, (TH – Chpt 7) augmented, perfect o Roman Numeral Realization o Consonant and dissonant th Secondary Dominants/Diminished 7 October Diatonic 7th chords Harmonic Elements (TH – Chpt 3) (TH – Chpt 14 & 15) o Triads: major, minor, Voicing, voice leading, resolution of 7th augmented, diminished Secondary triads in M/m

Cadences (TH – Chpt 10) December (TH – Chpt 10) o Authentic, half, plagal, Melodic Structure Deceptive, Phrygian Half o Shape, phrase Triads in Diatonic Major (TH – Chpt 4) Structure/Form o I, ii, iii, IV, V, iv, vii o Phrase/Period Triads in Diatonic Minor (TH – Chpt 4) Parallel, Contrasting, Double Periods o Natural/Harmonic o Antecedent/Consequent o i, iv, V in root o o Melodic and other scales (TH Chpt 28) o i, ii , III, iv, V, VI, vii o Blues, Pentatonic, Chromatic, o whole tone

Seventh Chords in Major and Minor January Figured Bass (TH – Chpt 11) May/June o Chromatic Original Composition o Secondary Dominant o Composed using Sibelius o NHT’s Aural Skills Development o Melodic Devices September/October Accidentals, symbols, chromatic Rhythmic Dictation alterations Beginning Listening and Sight-Singing o Realization of Figured Bass Melodic Dictation Motive and Variations 1-4m Scale Patterns (TH – Chpts 18 & 19) Meter Recognition

o Sequence, inversion, November/December ornamentation, augmentation, Sight Singing diminution, Retrograde, Rhythmic Dictations contraction Scale Patterns Structure and Form (TH – Chpt 20) Mode, scale patterns, phrase ending o Binary, ternary, rounded binary, Melodic Dication fugue, Theme and variations o Major February o Minor Modulation Dictation of familiar melodies (TH – Chpts 18 & 19) Sight Singing o Phrase/Direct o Major o Common Tone o Minor o Pivot chords Recognition of Chord Types

Structure and Form Chord Inversions o Canon, Invention January/February March Chord Progressions

Fugue (TH Chpt 8) o Cadences Sonata/Sonatina (TH Chpt 20) o From Sibelius Theme and Variation Melodic Dictations Common Abbreviations, Symbols, Harmonic Dications Terms o Minor Take released AP multiple choice o Major question test Soprano, Bass Dictation April Phrase, Cadence, Mode Structure and Form Harmonic Dictation All Diatonic Triads o Ground Bass Analysis of standard repertoire o Pop Form o Sonatas o Blues Form o Hymns o Form o Symphonies May Take more released AP Multiple choice March/April questions AP released Free Response Questions Practice released AP Sight Singing The students are exposed to a variety of musical examples throughout the Tonal Harmony textbook. This is a strong point of the text because the students are able to place a musical piece to a theory concept. Whether it is the idea of Roman numerals or interval relationships the text does a terrific job of relating the concept to a piece of Western music

In conjunction with the repertoire development, every Friday we spend an entire class working on aural skills development. This is not to say that we do not touch on aural skills during the week, but we devote one full period a week to the proper development of the ear and voice necessary for the AP Exam. I use Sibelius as my composition and playback device to assure a constant performance quality. I vary the timbre of the instruments that I select so the students do not get used to the sound of one instrument group.

At the end of the year, after the AP Exam, the students are asked to write their own composition employing the techniques and concepts that have been taught throughout the duration of the class. Each student is given a computer (when available) and they are given the entire period to compose their music. There are periodic checks on their progress in private and in a group setting. The importance of the group review is so that the students can positively analyze each other’s progress.

Each student is expected to be an active participant in every class period. I expect the students to write their answers on the black board, as well as discuss and explain their understanding of the topics we cover on a daily basis. Each student is expected to have a three ring binder for all of the handouts that are given throughout the year. The student will be given a grade for the thoroughness of their notebook.

Teacher Strategies I expect my students to develop a strong understanding of the topics we cover in our daily class sessions. To ensure that they understand each topic I have them write their work on the chalkboard or give verbal responses. In my classroom, I do not have a chalkboard or whiteboard with staves, so I use my projector to give the students staves. As the students are writing their responses I switch the projector to a freeze mode so I can type in their response to the music software. Once they are done writing out the exercise, I have the program play the response in order to give the students an aural understanding of the written notes. I find this to be very effective for the students in the class. There have been many instances where the students may have missed an illegal parallel or voice leading error that they did not see, but could clearly hear.

I use a similar practice when teaching aural skills. I project the sight singing question onto the board and use my keyboard to give the first note and . Each student is given the chance to sing the melody using a “La” syllable. Once each student has sung the melody we review it and discuss ways to improve our sight singing abilities. Before the students get to this level I use the website MusicTheory.net to drill the students on their aural understanding of intervals. I have found that MusicTheory.net is an essential teaching tool that the students can use to practice not only at school but at home. During the class period each student is given the chance to respond with the correct interval identification in an attempt to earn the class a perfect score. I have found that the students really like using the website and love getting instant feedback on their progress.

In preparation for the AP Exam, we take two full AP Released Exams over many class periods. In the months of April and May I have the students practice with free response problems from released exams or problems I have developed based on AP Exam-type questions. We also discuss the best way to approach multiple choice questions and how to properly budget their time during the testing period. The students need to understand how to use the process of elimination and how to properly read and answer any and all questions.

As I have previously mentioned I encourage the students to use resources outside of the text. I run a music department website that includes many links just for the AP Theory class. Many of the links I offer were attained from the week long summer study course for AP Music Theory. I find it is important to give the students choices when it comes to their private practice; what works for one student may not be suitable for all. On a regular basis I use MusicTheory.net and the web companion to the Tonal Harmony textbook to further the students’ understandings. Each student is also given the companion CDs that are packaged with the Tonal Harmony textbook and workbook so they can listen to the musical excerpts on their own as well as in class. I also create Scorch files so the students can access assignments at home from the web.

Student Evaluation Each student is tracked through their homework assignments and class participation. I also give quizzes on a regular basis to check the students understanding of the current topics. I want to see an effort on the part of the student and they need to show retention of the materials that we cover. As I stated earlier, each student has a theory notebook that they need to show me on a regular basis to make sure they are clearly understanding the topics and also keeping a glossary for their own review. The grading is broken down as follows:

25% - Class participation 20% - Class work 15% - Homework 20% - Project 20% - Tests