Unit Objectives

By the end of this unit, students will be able to: 

• Categorize and explain the approach and resolution of embellishing tones, analyze their occurrence in repertoire, and compose a melody incorporating embellishing tones from various categories.

• Spell major and minor blues scales, describe their relationship, define "blue notes," analyze examples from the repertoire using blues scales, and compose a call-and-response melody over a 12-bar blues progression.

• Articulate common strategies for harmonizing melodic lines, create a melodic skeleton for reharmonization, and compose a chord progression to harmonize a given melody.

• Explain the concepts of coordinated structure and textural stratification, define melodic-harmonic 'divorce,' and identify instances of these in popular music examples.

• Analyze popular music examples to identify and describe various textural layers, including melody, harmony, rhythm, and additional instrumental or vocal lines, discussing how these elements contribute to the overall texture and emotional impact.