Benjamin E. Mays High School

Carnegie Unit 1/Year .5 Carnegie Unit for /Semester Instructor: Ms. G. Penn Class Location: Room 1627 Tutorial Day and Time: Thursday 3:30-5:00 Telephone: 404-802-5123 E-mail: [email protected]

Course Overview: The ultimate goal of an AP Music Theory 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. Upon completion of the course, students are prepared to take the AP® Music Theory Exam. Students planning to major in music in college may be able to enroll in an advanced music theory course, depending on individual colleges’ AP policies. The achievement of this goal may be best promoted by integrated approaches to the student’s development of:  Aural skills through listening exercises  Sight-singing skills through performance exercises  Written skills through written exercises  Compositional skills through creative exercises  Analytical skills through analytical exercises

Course Content This course seeks first to instill mastery of the rudiment, and terminology of music, including:  Notation  Intervals  Scales and keys  Chords  Metric organization  Rhythmic patterns

Students will be required to read, notate, compose, perform, and listen to music. The development of aural skills is a primary objective of the AP Music Theory course. Throughout the course, students will listen to musical works attentively and analytically, developing their “musical memory” and their ability to articulate responses to formal, stylistic, and aesthetic qualities of the works. Performance—using singing, keyboard, and students’ primary performance media—will be a part of the learning process. Although sight singing is the only performance skill that is directly tested by the examination, training in all areas mentioned will help develop the aural skills that are tested. Once again, fluency and quickness with basic materials are essential.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course students will be able to:

 Define basic musical terms and theoretical concepts  Understand and construct major, minor, chromatic, whole tone and modal scales  Demonstrate the ability to construct and analyze all qualities of triads and seventh chords  Aurally recognize and sing scales, intervals, triads and seventh chords, rhythmic pattern and diatonic melodies  Analyze in score elements such as non-harmonic tones, motives, sequences, cadence types, phrase relationships, harmonic structure using Roman numeral analysis and figured bass, and form.  Compose in the style of the common practice period using typical formal elements.  Use musical terminology to discuss elements of form, expressivity and aesthetics in music.

Class Expectations

This class, like the AP test itself, is aurally based. Knowing the theory with pencil and paper is just part of the story--well-trained musicians also know it with their ears. Though no one will be penalized for lack of vocal skills, students should expect to do a lot of singing. The development of aural skills takes long and steady training, but it is worth it! Whatever you end up doing in life, your lifelong enjoyment of music will be enhanced by the hard work you do in this class.

At least one third of class time will be devoted to ear training. This includes drills, exercises, short dictations, sight singing and arpeggiation, and listening to recorded musical excerpts. You will be given material to work through on your own and directed to websites that offer further practice. Additional resources are available for check out. These include books of sight singing examples, melodies from the literature and repertoire excerpts.

Homework loads will vary from student to student at different times of the year. Particularly in the second semester a dated listing of all assignments and tests will be provided so that students may plan out their study time. Students with little background on instruments should expect to spend many hours each week on the homework during the early weeks in order to catch up with those who have more experience. It is important that you use a keyboard or other instrument to play through all exercises and examples. Likewise students who have little experience with singing may have to devote more time to that skill in order to develop solid aural skills. Students who finish work quickly are expected to achieve a higher level of sophistication in the composition and dictation projects assigned periodically during the course.

Each student is issued a textbook with accompanying CD for use during the year. Each chapter will have homework problems in the book, and additional worksheets will be provided for supplement. It is expected that students are responsible and independent enough to do readings and assignments on their own and will be ready to discuss material assigned with some understanding. The last four weeks of the course will be devoted to individual projects composing and conducting an original composition. For these reasons freshmen and sophomores are strongly discouraged from taking the class. Only those with the requisite maturity to work independently will flourish.

Ear Training

In AP Music Theory, students develop the framework for aurally understanding both pitch and rhythm. Students practice to recognize and reproduce rhythmic patterns, intervals, scales, then melodies, individual chords and finally harmonic progressions and outer lines. Students apply their skills in dictation and sight-reading on average 30 minutes a week. Each quiz, unit test and final exam will include aural excerpts for dictation and analysis.

Typically rhythmic patterns in ear training become integrated with melodic patterns, but sometimes exercises such as listening for the composite rhythm—for example, in learning a cross-rhythm such as 3:4—will be studied. Composite rhythm is studied as an important element of texture and counterpoint.

From the first introduction of triads up through the study of secondary dominants and modulation, harmonic arpeggiation is used to develop the aural recognition and understanding of harmonic progressions in music literature. Students are taught to audiate progressions by singing the bass note on scale degree and the upper notes of the chord on “la” for each chord in a progression, with a number of typical progressions memorized for reproduction in class. Students perform harmonic arpeggiations of musical excerpts analyzed with Roman numerals and figured bass.

Resource Materials Texts used by students in addition to teacher-created materials and projects will include:

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

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

Other Resources Ottman, Robert W: Elementary Harmony. 5th ed. Upper Saddle RIver NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.*

Ottman, Robert W. Elementary Harmony Workbook 5th ed. Upper Saddle RIver NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.* Dworak, Paul E. and Ottman, Robert W. Basic Ear Training Skills Upper Saddle RIver NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.*

Benward, Bruce, and Marilyn Saker. Music in Theory and Practice, 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Benjamin, Thomas, Michael Horvit, Robert Nelson. Music for Analysis: Examples from The Common Practice Period and the Twentieth Century, 5th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Other Resources continued

Burkhart, Charles. Anthology for Musical Analysis, 6th edition. New York: Schirmer, 2003.

Clendinning, Jane Piper, and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis, with Workbook and Anthology. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

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

Phillips, Joel, Jan Piper Clendinning and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician’s Guide to Aural Skills, Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

Technology

Finale Notepad Software Companion with tonal harmony workbook

Online Study Aids

Aural Skills Practice http://www.musictheory.net/ http://www.good-ear.com/ http://www.ossmann.com/bigears/ http://www.emusictheory.com/

Theory Practice http://www.teoria.com/ http://www.tonalityguide.com/ http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/lessons.html www.musictheory.net www.gmajormusictheory.org www.mhhe.com under humanities select music text title tonal harmony click on student online learning center Assignments and Practice Site-Don't forget you must log in to complete an assignment. You can practice without logging in. www.emusictheory.net Software for individual tutorial and remediation:

Alfred Essential Music Theory Volumes 1, 2, and 3 Musica Practica Music Ace Volume 1 and 2 Aurelia Semester 1

Unit 1 Rudiments: Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, and Tempo

Students will practice foundational elements of music theory. Skills developed are necessary for building, expanding and linking future concepts.

Week Chapter Content 1 1 Rudimentary terminology such as staff, clef, octave identification, accidentals, intervals, duration, meter, metric classification, time signature, beat divisions, beaming, tie, dot, dynamic markings, notational conventions.

Aural Skills: Rhythmic Dictation 2-3 2 Pitch class, scales (major; natural, harmonic and melodic minor; chromatic; church modes; pentatonic; relative and parallel relationship of scales, scale degrees and function, circle of 5ths, major and minor key signatures.

Aural Skills: scale degree recognition and melodic fragment notation. 4 3 Intervals, classification by number and quality, enharmonic intervals, compound intervals, complementary (inverted) interval relationships, and transposition/tonal and real, imitation.

Aural Skills: Interval Recognition Melodic Dictation 5-6 4 Chords, harmony, triads (major, minor, augmented, diminished), inversions (root, first, second), scale degree classification, Roman numeral chord analysis, pitch inventory, figured bass

Analysis: Roman numeral analysis of compositional score excerpts. 6 Unit Review

UNIT 2: Melody, Phrase and Texture.

Students study how melodies and phrases are constructed, covering topics such as non- harmonic tones, cadences, motives, segments, phrase members, sequences, extensions, climax and phrase shape. Students study how phrases are assembled into larger units such as periods and how phrases relate to each other. They learn how to provide the Roman numeral analysis for a chorale. Finally students learn different categories of textures and analyze their type with score and aural excerpts.

Week Chapter Content 7-8 5 Cadences (perfect & imperfect authentic, half, plagal, deceptive) and non- harmonic tones (passing, neighbor, escape, anticipation, suspension, retardation, appoggiatura, pedal; unaccented and accented).

Analysis: non-harmonic tones in a musical excerpt. Sight sing: scale patterns in step wise motion Aural Skills: Rhythmic Dictation 9-10 6 Melodic organization (motive, sequence, phrase, period, extension, elision, truncation, augmentation). Analysis: Roman numeral analysis, non-harmonic tones, cadences and phrase structure in a Bach chorale. Sight sing: phrases with Major and minor thirds Aural Skills: scale degree recognition and melodic fragment notation. 11 7 Texture (monophonic, homo- phonic, homo rhythmic, polyphonic) and textural reduction.

Analysis: identify textures in musical excerpts. Sight sing: phrases recognizing a perfect 5th Composition: create a melody with harmony using period construction. Aural Skills: Interval Recognition Melodic Dictation 12 Unit Review

Unit 3: Composing with One to Four Voices.

For four-voice textures students learn the rules of proper voice leading and apply these rules to compose chorales from figured bass progressions.

Week Chapter Content 13-15 8 Voice leading, church modes, cantus firmus, contrapuntal motion (parallel, contrary, oblique, similar), musica ficta, two-voiced

Aural Skills: Rhythmic and melodic Dictation 16-17 9 Voice leading in four voices, chord doubling in root position and inverted triads, usages of the 6-4 chord, SATB vocal ranges.

Analysis: Voice leading error detection in SATB chorales. Compositions: Realize a figured bass in four voices. Aural Skills: scale degree recognition and melodic fragment notation. 18 Semester Review

Second Semester

UNIT 4: Harmonizing with Diatonic Seventh Chords. Harmonic progression, harmonic rhythm, dominant sevenths, leading-tone seventh tri-tone resolution, non-dominant sevenths, jazz and popular chord progressions.

Students study the relationships of chords in progression and how to harmonize a melody. They learn the voice leading principles and functional use of dominant, leading tone and other seventh chords in chord progressions including the circle of 5ths. They are also introduced to the use of seventh chords in jazz, blues and popular music.

Week Chapter Content 1 10 Harmonic rhythm; root relationships; root movement by second, third, fifth; circle progressions; tonic, dominant, sub- dominant functions; harmonizing a melody; blues progressions. Ear Training: arpeggiate progressions of triads using root movement by second, third and fifth.

Compositions: harmonize melodies in SATB form. 2 11 Dominant seventh chord in root position and inversion (cadential, lower neighbor, passing, upper neighbor), resolution of the tri-tone, figured bass notation for seventh chords.

ET: arpeggiate 4 dominant seventh functions in context.

Analysis: Roman numeral church modes; pentatonic; relative and parallel relationship of scales, scale degrees and function, circle of 5ths, major and minor key signatures. 3 12 Leading-tone sevenths in major and minor, tri-tone resolution, unequal fifths.

ET: arpeggiate chord progressions with degrees 1 to 5, 5 to 1. 4 13 Part writing with non-dominant seventh chords, resolution of the seventh factor. ET: arpeggiate circle of 5ths progression in major and minor. Analysis: Roman numeral analysis of compositional score excerpts. 5 Unit Review 6 Group composition & performance. Composition: students in groups of two transpose a familiar melodic line to the relative major or minor key adding necessary chord progressions of 1, 4 and 5 where appropriate.

Unit 5: Secondary Dominants, Modulation and Form.

Students will learn how to create secondary dominants in order to tonicize chords other than the tonic. They will examine music that changes keys and learn how to identify the point of modulation and the technique used for modulating to near related keys. They will study the principles of simple musical forms, the vocabulary used to label formal segments and a procedure for creating a graphic reduction of the form. Finally they will be introduced to forms such as rondo, theme and variation and sonata/allegro.

Week Chapter Content 7-8 15 Tonicization, secondary dominants, secondary leading tones, treatment of secondary function chords in four-part writing.

ET: arpeggiate chord progressions with secondary dominants. Analysis: Roman numeral analysis of a literature excerpt employing secondary dominants. Compositions: realize a figured bass in four voices; harmonize a melody with secondary dominants. 9 14 Modulation to closely related keys, modulation types (phrase, direct, common/pivot chord, chromatic), and analysis of modulations. ET: arpeggiate the harmonic progression of a phrase that modulates.

Dictation: write the bass line in scale degrees and the Roman numeral analysis of a popular song the bridge of which modulates to another tonal area. Composition: write a short piece in keyboard format that modulates from and returns to a central key. 10 16,17 Modulation to closely related keys, modulation types (phrase, direct, common/pivot chord, chromatic), and analysis of modulations.

ET: arpeggiate the harmonic progression of a phrase that modulates.

Dictation: write the bass line in scale degrees and the Roman numeral analysis of a popular song the bridge of which modulates to another tonal area.

Composition: write a short piece in keyboard format that modulates from and returns to a central key. 11 Rondo, theme and variation, sonata/allegro (exposition, development, recapitulation). Analysis: using a line graph, create a formal reduction that labels the sections and tonal centers of a movement in sonata/allegro form. 12 Unit Review

Unit 6: AP Exam Preparation and Final Composition Project. Course review, practice test, introduction to 20th century composition techniques, and individual project.

Students will be introduced to a variety of 20th century compositional styles and techniques. They will review elements of the course and take a practice test in preparation for taking the AP Music Theory Exam. Finally students will compose an original piece for three instruments, rehearse it with selected student musicians and conduct the piece in performance.

Week Chapter Content 13 Brief introduction to 20th century composition techniques: Impressionism (extended tertian chords, quartal harmony, chord planning, modal cadences), tonal extensions (bimodality, polytonality, pandiatonicism, polyrhythm, polymeter), texture based composition (clusters), atonality (serialism), minimalism, indeterminacy. Music listening in class. 14 Review course materials. Practice test: take released AP Music Theory Test 15-18 Original composition. Composition: Write an original piece for instrumental trio in the style of “contemporary art music,” rehearse it and conduct it in performance at a year-ending concert.

The Examination The AP Examination in Music Theory tests the candidate’s understanding of musical structure and compositional procedures through recorded and notated examples. Strong emphasis is given to listening skills, particularly those involving recognition and comprehension of melodic and rhythmic patterns, harmonic functions, small forms, and compositional techniques. Most of the musical examples are taken from standard repertoire, although some examples of contemporary jazz, or vernacular music, or music beyond the Western tradition are included for testing basic concepts. The examination assumes fluency in reading musical notation and a strong grounding in music fundamentals, terminology, and analysis.

Examination Format Four kinds of questions are ordinarily included in the examination: multiple choice questions based on recorded music played within the examination; multiple-choice questions without aural stimulus; written free-response questions both with and without aural stimulus; and sight-singing; the written free-response and sight-singing sections are scored by the College Board.

Grades Theory grades are based on a combination of in-class performance, performance on tests, quizzes written assignments and projects. Semester grades take into account performance in all three grading periods. There is no extra credit offered except rarely as part of an exam.

Grading Policy:

A: 90 – 100%; B: 80 – 89%; C: 70 – 79%; F: Below 69%.

ACADEMIC HONESTY Students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic honesty. Plagiarism occurs when a student uses or purchases ghost-written papers or products. It also occurs when a student utilizes ideas or information obtained from another person without giving credit to that person. If plagiarism or another act of academic dishonesty occurs, it will be dealt with in accordance with the academic misconduct policy as stated in the Atlanta Public Schools Handbook and the Benjamin E. Mays High School Handbook

*The 10 points added for AP Courses will not be added to final average grades below 83.

Final Evaluation: Student Final Grade will reflect the following: AP GRADE QUALIFICATION Daily Classroom Participation (quizzes, unit test) 35% 5 Extremely Well Qualified Completion of Homework by due date 20% 4 Well Qualified Sight Singing/Ear Training (melodic & rhythmic dictation) 25% 3 Qualified Special Projects 10% 2 Possibly Qualified Midterm/Final Exam 10% 1 No Recommendation ______100%