Aural Skills II:

Course Description

Techniques of music listening developed through musical sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis. Topics are coordinated with the co-requisite course, Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading. This course builds on skills developed in Aural Skills I. Students learn techniques for critically listening to, analyzing, and notating four-part diatonic harmony and basic chromatic harmony including secondary functions and modulation, advanced rhythm and meter, chromatic melodies, and instrumentation. 

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Sight-sing diatonic progressions in simple and compound meters, that also incorporate chromatic embellishing tones, secondary dominant harmony, and modulation.

• Transcribe melodies, chord progressions, and basslines examples from the repertoire that include diatonic harmony, tonic prolongation, modulation, secondary dominants, diatonic sequences. 

• Perform rhythms and conduct accurately in simple and compound meters that include subdivisions, ties, syncopation, and hemiola, as well as rhythms in asymmetrical meters and simple and compound meters using less common beat notes (e.g. 2/2, 6/16, 4/8, etc).

• Improvise simple melodies and countermelodies over a given diatonic chord progression, incorporating embellishing tones and rhythmic motives.