Music Theory 2010 - 2011

Brief Description of Course

The AP Music Theory course is designed to provide the student with an adequate instruction in the rudiments and terminology of music including, but not limited to: notational skills, intervals, scales, keys, chords, meter and rhythm. The course will start with basic concepts such as notation and progress quickly to more sophisticated topics such as harmonization of a melody, scale analysis, understanding tonality and triadic harmony, phrase construction and structure and forms. In addition to notated music, students will also develop skills in listening critically to various intervals and scales and practice dictation of various melodies as well as sight-singing such melodies. Additionally, through this course a wide variety of Western tonal music will be explored.

Unit Information

Unit Name or Timeframe: 1st Nine Weeks Week 1-2 Music Theory: Elements of Pitch Sight Singing: Simple Meters; The Beat and Division into Two Parts

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Elements of Pitch -The Keyboard -Notation on the Staff -Major and Minor Scales -Major and Minor Key Signatures -Scale Degree Names -Intervals (Perfect, Major, Minor, Augmented and Diminished) -Inversion of Intervals -Consonant and Dissonant Harmonic Intervals Sight Singing: Simple Meters; The beat and its division into two parts -Quarter note as a beat unit, beat note values -Dotted and tied notes -Note values other than quarter notes as beat value

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 1st Nine Weeks Week 3-4 Music Theory: Elements of Rhythm Sight Singing: Stepwise Melodies, Major Keys & Simple Meter

1 Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Elements of Rhythm -Rhythm -Durational Symbols -Beat and Tempo -Meter -Division of the Beat -Simple Time Signatures -Compound Time Signatures -Time Signatures Summarized Sight Singing: Stepwise Melodies, Major Keys & Simple Meter -Major keys, treble clef, the quarter note as a beat unit. Simple Key Signatures -Bass Clef -Various Meters -Duets -Structured Improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 1st Nine Weeks Week 5-6 Music Theory: Introduction to Triads and 7th Chords Sight Singing: Intervals from the Tonic Triad, Major Keys/Simple Meter

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Introduction to Triads and 7th Chords -Triads -7th Chords -Inversions of Chord -Inversion Symbols and Figured Bass -Lead-Sheet Symbols -Recognizing Chords in Various Textures Sight Singing: Intervals from the Tonic Triad, Major Keys/Simple Meter -Major Keys, Treble Clef, Intervals (3rd, 4th, 5th, and Octave from the tonic triad) -Bass Clef -Interval of the 6th, minor 6th, 3 up to 1, major sixth, 5 up to 3, and descending -Half note and eighth notes as beat units -Duets -Key signatures with 5+ sharps or flats -Structured Improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 1st Nine Weeks Week 7-8

2 Music Theory: Diatonic Chords in Major and Minor Keys Sight Singing: Intervals from the Tonic Triad, Major Keys & Compound Meter

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Diatonic Chords in Major and Minor Keys -Minor Scale -Diatonic Triads in Major/Minor -Diatonic 7th Chords in Major/Minor -Modal,Pentatonic and Whole-Tone Scales Sight Singing: Intervals from the Tonic Triad, Major Keys & Compound Meter -Rhythmic Reading: the dotted quarter note as the beat unit -Sight Singing in Major keys, treble clef and Bass Clef -Dotted half and eighth notes as beat units

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 1st Nine Weeks Week 9 Music Theory: Review and 9 Weeks Exam Sight Singing: Review and 9 Weeks Exam

Content and/or Skills Taught: Time will be spent reviewing Chapters 1-4 in the Tonal Harmony book as well as concepts of Sight Singing from Chapters 1-4 of the Sight Singing text.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Students will be given a written exam covering the first nine weeks of instruction. Another component of aural and oral skills will assess the sight singing skills taught in the first semester.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 1 Music Theory: Principles of Voice Leading Sight Singing: Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Principles of Voice Leading -The Melodic Line -Notation Chords -Voicing a Single Triad -Parallel Motion Sight Singing: Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound -Simple and Compound meters -Duets

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

3 Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 2 Music Theory: Root Position Part Writing Sight Singing: Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Root Position Part Writing -Part Writing with Repeated Roots -Part Writing with roots apart by a 4th, 3rd & 2nd -Instrumental Ranges and Transpositions Sight Singing: Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound -Simple and Compound meters -Duets

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 3 Music Theory: Harmonic Progression and Sequence Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant Triad, Major and Minor/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Harmonic Progression and Sequence -Sequences and the Circle of 5ths -I and V chords -II Chords -VI Chords -III Chords -VII Chords -IV Chords -Common Exceptions and Difference in the Minor mode -Progressions involving 7th Chords -Harmonic Sequences and Harmonizing a Simple Melody Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant Triad, Major and Minor/Simple and Compound Meters -Intervals of the third from the V triad in major and minor keys -Intervals of the fourth and fifth from the V triad in major and minor keys -Interval of the sixth from the V triad -Compound Meters

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 4 Music Theory: Triads in First Inversion

4 Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant Triad, Major and Minor/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Triads in First Inversion -Bass Arpeggiation -Uses of 1st inversion triads -Parallel Sixth Chords -Inversions in Lead Sheets -Part Writing 1st Inversion Triads -Soprano-Bass Counterpoint Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant Triad, Major and Minor/Simple and Compound Meters -Intervals of the third from the V triad in major and minor keys -Intervals of the fourth and fifth from the V triad in major and minor keys -Interval of the sixth from the V triad -Compound Meters

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 5 Music Theory: Triads in Second Inversion Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Triads in Second Inversion -Bass Arpeggiation and the Melodic Bass -The Cadential 6-4 -The Passing 6-4 -The Pedal 6-4 -Part Writing for 2nd Inversion Triads Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters -Single-line melodies -Bass lines -Duets -Structured Improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 6 Music Theory: Cadences, Phrases & Periods Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters

5 Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Cadences, Phrases & Periods -Musical Form -Cadences and Harmonic Rhythm -Motives and Phrases -Mozart "An die Freude" -Periods -The Sentence Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters -Single-line melodies -Bass lines -Duets -Structured Improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 7 Music Theory: Nonchord Tones 1 Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Nonchord Tones 1 -Classification of Nonchord tones -Passing tones -Neighboring tones -Suspensions and Retardations -Embellishing a simple texture -Figured bass and lead-sheet symbols Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters -Complete dominant 7th chord -Interval of the minor 7th, 5 up to 4 or reverse -Interval of the tritone -Other uses of diatonic intervals of the seventh -Structured improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 8 Music Theory: Nonchord Tones 2 Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters

6 Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Nonchord Tones 2 -Appoggiaturas -Escape Tones -The Neighbor Group -Anticipations -The Pedal Point -Special problems in the analysis of nonchord tones Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters -Complete dominant 7th chord -Interval of the minor 7th, 5 up to 4 or reverse -Interval of the tritone -Other uses of diatonic intervals of the seventh -Structured improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 2nd Nine Weeks Week 9 Music Theory: Review and Semester Exam Sight Singing: Review and Semester Exam

Content and/or Skills Taught: Time will be spent reviewing Chapters 5-12 in the Tonal Harmony book as well as concepts of Sight Singing from Chapters 5-9 of the Sight Singing text.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Students will be given a written exam covering the first eighteen weeks of instruction. Another component of aural and oral skills will assess the sight singing skills taught in the first semester.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 3rd Nine Weeks Week 1-2 Music Theory: The Dominant 7th Chord Sight Singing: Intervals from the Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: The Dominant 7th Chord -General voice-leading considerations -The V7 in root position -The V7 in three parts -Other resolutions of the V7 -The inverted V7 chord -The V6/5 chord -The V4/3 chord -The V4/2 chord -The approach to the 7th

7 Sight Singing: Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound -Simple and Compound meters -Duets

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 3rd Nine Weeks Week 3-4 Music Theory: -Week 3- The II7 and VII7 Chords -Week 4- Other Diatonic 7th Chords Sight Singing- Intervals from Tonic Triad, Minor Keys/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 3: The II7 and VII7 Chords -The II7 Chord -The VII7 Chord in Major and Minor Music Theory Week 4: Other Diatonic 7th Chords -The IV7 Chord -The VI7 Chord -The I7 Chord -The III7 Chord -Seventh Chords and the Circle of Fifths Progression Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant Triad, Major and Minor/Simple and Compound Meters -Intervals of the third from the V triad in major and minor keys -Intervals of the fourth and fifth from the V triad in major and minor keys -Interval of the sixth from the V triad -Compound Meters

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 3rd Nine Weeks Week 5-6 Music Theory: -Week 5- Secondary Functions 1 -Week 6- Secondary Functions 2 Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 5: Secondary Functions 1 -Chromaticism and Altered Chords -Secondary Functions and Tonicization -Secondary Dominant Chords -Spelling Secondary Dominants -Recognizing Secondary Dominants

8 -Secondary Dominants in Context Sight Singing: Further Use of Diatonic Intervals/Simple and Compound Meters -Single-line melodies -Bass lines -Duets -Structured Improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 3rd Nine Weeks Week 7-8 Music Theory -Week 7- Modulations Using Diatonic Common Chords -Week 8- Some Other Modulatory Techniques Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 7: Modulations Using Diatonic Common Chords -Modulation and Change of Key -Modulation and Tonicization -Key Relationships -Common-Chord Modulation -Direct Modulation Music Theory Week 8: Some Other Modulatory Techniques -Altered Chords as Common Chords -Sequential Modulation -Modulation by Common Tone -Monophonic Modulation -Direct Modulation Sight Singing: Intervals from Dominant 7th Chord/Other Diatonic Intervals of the 7th/Simple and Compound Meters -Complete dominant 7th chord -Interval of the minor 7th, 5 up to 4 or reverse -Interval of the tritone -Other uses of diatonic intervals of the seventh -Structured improvisation

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 3rd Nine Weeks Week 9 Music Theory: Review and 9 Weeks Exam Sight Singing: Review and 9 Weeks Exam

9 Content and/or Skills Taught: Time will be spent reviewing Chapters 13-19 in the Tonal Harmony book as well as concepts of Sight Singing from Chapters 5-9 of the Sight Singing text. Review for Sight Singing will include a varied repertoire of Western tonal music in addition to the exercises in the book.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Students will be given a written exam covering the first twenty-seven weeks of instruction. Another component of aural and oral skills will assess the sight singing skills taught from the beginning of the school year.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 1-2 Music Theory -Week 1- Binary and Ternary Forms -Week 2- Mode Mixture Sight Singing: The Subdivision of the Beat: The Simple Beat into Four Parts, Compound Beat into Six Parts

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 1: Binary and Ternary Forms -Formal terminology -Binary forms -Ternary forms -Rounded binary forms -Other Forms with a Ternary Design -Sonata and Rondo forms Music Theory Week 2: Mode Mixture -Borrowed Chords in minor -The use of the flat 6 in Major -Other borrowed chords in major -Modulations involving mode mixture Sight Singing: Rhythmic Reading beginning in simple meters working towards reading in compound.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 3-4 Music Theory -Week 3- The Neapolitan Chord -Week 4- Augmented Sixth Chords 1 Sight Singing: Melodic Dictation

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 3: The Neapolitan Chord -Conventional Use of the Neapolitan Other Uses of the Neapolitan Music Theory Week 4: Augmented Sixth Chords 1

10 -The interval of the Augmented Sixth Chord -The Italian, French and German Augmented Sixth Chords -Other uses of conventional augmented sixths. Sight Singing: Melodic Dictation -Using exercises from the text and from various pieces of Western tonal literature we will explore methods and tactics for creating melodic dictation.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 5-6 Music Theory -Week 5- Augmented Sixth Chords 2 -Week 6- Enharmonic Spellings and Enharmonic Modulations Sight Singing: Harmonic Dictation

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory Week 5: Augmented Sixth Chords 2 -Other Bass Positions -Resolutions to Other Scale Degrees and to other chord members -Other types of augmented sixth chords Music Theory Week 6: Enharmonic Spellings and Enharmonic Modulations -Enharmonic Spellings and Reinterpretation -Enharmonic modulations using the Major-Minor Seventh Sonority -Enharmonic Modulations Using the Diminished Seventh Chord -Other Examples of Enharmonicism Sight Singing: Harmonic Dictation -Using exercises from the text and from various pieces of Western tonal literature we will explore methods and tactics for creating harmonic dictation.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 7 Music Theory: Further Elements of the Harmonic Vocabulary Sight Singing: Harmonic and Melodic Dictation

Content and/or Skills Taught: Music Theory: Further Elements of the Harmonic Vocabulary -The Dominant with a Substituted 6th -The Dominant with a raised 5th -Ninth, Eleventh and Thirteenth Chords -The Common-Tone Diminished Seventh Chords -Simultaneities -Coloristic Chord Successions

11 Sight Singing: Harmonic and Melodic Dictation -Using exercises from the text and from various pieces of Western tonal literature we will review methods and tactics for creating harmonic and melodic dictation.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments through student workbook will allow for the student and teacher to ensure that progress is being made and concepts are being fully understood.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 8 Music Theory: Review and AP Exam Preparation Sight Singing: Review and AP Exam Preparation

Content and/or Skills Taught: It is anticipated that the AP Music Theory exam will be scheduled during this week or at the beginning of the following week. Therefore, this last week will be spent doing a comprehensive review of the core material in preparation for the AP Exam.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Daily assessments will be continued during this week, but the primary focus will be review work.

Unit Name or Timeframe: 4th Nine Weeks Week 9 Music Theory: Review and AP Exam Sight Singing: Review and AP Exam

Content and/or Skills Taught: Students will continue any final review needed prior to taking the exam.

Major Assignments and/or Assessments: Students will take the AP Exam as their final assessment for the course.

Textbooks

Title:Tonal Harmony: Sixth Edition

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Published Date: 2009

Author: Stefan Kostka

Second Author: Dorothy Payne

Description: For nearly two decades Tonal Harmony has been the leading music theory text. Used at over 800 schools, it has been consistently praised for its practicality and ease of use for student and instructor alike. The straightforward approach is supported by well-chose examples and thoughtful exercises and the total presentation is compatible with differing teaching styles and theoretical points of view. In addition, outstanding ancillaries, which include a collection of audio examples on CD for both the text

12 and workbook and an extensive Instructor’s Manual, round out the comprehensive teaching package.

Title:Music For Sight Singing

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Published Date: 2011

Author: Robert Ottman

Second Author: Nancy Rogers

Description:

Websites

URL:http://www.musictheory.net

Description: A website that reviews and assesses most of the skills students will require for a passing score on the AP Exam.

URL:http://www.emusictheory.com/practice.html

Description: A paid website with an extensive free section that reinforces many of the ideas taught in the AP Music Theory course.

Additional Information

Requirement:Grading Policy

How Course Meets Requirement: Your grade will be 50% tests and 50% homework/classwork. Classwork and homework is usually rated 10 points per assignment. Quizzes are 20 and tests 30. Work will be accepted up to the end of each grading period.

Requirement:General Classroom Policies

How Course Meets Requirement: Class will begin when the bell rings and will finish when the release bell rings unless otherwise notified. Be in your seats with your books/assignments ready to go. Assignments for the day will be posted on the board as you enter. No food, drink or gum outside of water is allowed inside the classroom. Do not speak over the instructor during instructional time. Be respectful of all class members, particularly during sight singing. DO NOT USE PENS on any assignment. Much work will require you to adjust mistakes regularly. Assignments in pen will be returned to you. All school policies regarding late work/missed tests apply. All students will be required to sing almost everyday. Students who fail at this requirement will have a very limited chance of success on the AP Exam. Each student will receive the Tonal Harmony workbook for assignments. This workbook will be

13 collected at regular and announced intervals and as such must be present with the student every day in class.

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