Course Descriptions

** Syllabi and Course Texts will be added for each course on this page as they become available.

Music Fundamentals (MPATC-UE 1300)

The development of fundamental musical skills and understanding through creative application of listening, singing, playing, writing, and analysis. Emphasis on aural development as essential to musical growth. Topics include staff notation, clefs, major and minor keys, time signatures, meter and rhythm, intervals, triads, 7th chords, Roman numerals, and rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ear training. Open to all members of the University community.

Prerequisites: None. Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer (online only).   Syllabus: Link to Fall 2023 Syllbus.
Course Texts: Fundamentals Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty).  

Notes: This course is open to all students in the university. Music majors are required to take a placement exam before registering to determine placement. Non-majors and minors may register without an exam unless they wish to pass out of the course and begin at a higher level. Non-majors (but not minors) may alternatively take Music Theory for Non-Majors (MPATC-UE 1022); this course does not require an exam or permission for registration. 

Theory & Practice I: Global Approaches to Music (MPATC-UE 1301)

An introduction to the tools and vocabulary needed for critically engaging with music from a broad range of styles and repertoire in preparation for upper-level courses in the music theory sequence. Topics include rhythmic and metric organization, melodic structure, ornamentation, instrumental families, texture, tuning systems, harmonic syntax, and basic voice-leading techniques representative of music in Western diatonic harmony, popular music and film, and non-Western musics. 

Prerequisite: Music Fundamentals (MPATC-UE 1300) or Placement Exam.   Credits: 2.   
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring    Syllabus: Link to Fall 2023 Syllabus.
Course Texts: Theory & Practice I Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty).  

Aural Skills I: Global Approaches to Music (MPATC-UE 1302)

Techniques of music listening developed through musical sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis. Topics are coordinated with the co-requisite course Theory & Practice I. Students learn techniques for critically listening to, analyzing, and notating elements of rhythmic and metric organization, instrumentation, texture, and diatonic melodic and harmonic pitch structure in a broad range of music from Western classical music, popular music and film, and non-Western music.

Prerequisite: Music Fundamentals or Placement Exam. Co-Requisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) OR Theory I (MPATC-UE 35) . Credits: 1. 
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring   Syllabus:  Link to Fall 2023 Syllabus.
Course Texts: Aural Skills I Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty).  

Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading (MPATC-UE 1311)

Theory and analysis of diatonic common-practice classical repertoire with an introduction to chromatic harmony and small forms. Topics include phrase structure, voice leading, sequences, secondary functions, tonicization, modulation, and advanced topics in rhythm and meter in common-practice Western music. The course builds on composition and analysis skills developed in Theory & Practice I, and introduces students to techniques in four-part contrapuntal writing, arranging, and model composition. 

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) OR Theory I (MPATC-UE 35). Credits: 2.  
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring   Syllabus: Link to Spring 2024 Syllabus
Course Texts: Theory II: Tonal Harmony Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty).  

Theory & Practice II: Popular Music (MPATC-UE 1312)

Theory and analysis of popular music. Popular music, defined broadly,  includes pop, rock, hip hop, rap, metal, jazz, folk, and musical theater and film repertoire. Topics include scales and modes, lead sheet and Nashville number notation, phrase structure, song forms, harmonic syntax, loops and harmonic chord schemas, tonicization and modulation, and rhythmic and timbral analysis in popular music. Students will develop basic proficiency in a DAW and music notation program. This course will culminate in a final composition or analysis project. 

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) OR Theory I (MPATC-UE 35). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring   Syllabus: Link to Spring 2024 Syllabus
Course Texts: Theory II: Popular Music Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty).  

Aural Skills II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading (MPATC-UE 1321)

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. 

Prerequisite: Aural Skills I (MPATC-UE 1302) OR Aural Comprehension I (MPATC-UE 6). Co-Requisite: Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony and Voice Leading (MPATC-UE 1311) OR Music Theory II (MPATC-UE 36). Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring.  Syllabus: Link to Spring 2024 Syllabus
Course Texts: Aural II: Tonal Harmony Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty). 

Aural Skills II: Popular Music (MPATC-UE 1322)

Techniques of music listening developed through musical sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis. Topics are coordinated with the co-requisite course, Theory & Practice II: Popular Music. This course builds on skills developed in Aural Skills I. Students learn techniques for critically listening to, analyzing, and notating musical elements of instrumentation, sound production and timbre, advanced rhythm and meter, loops and harmonic chord schemas, advanced diatonic harmony, and basic chromatic harmony including secondary functions and modulation. 

Prerequisite: Aural Skills I (MPATC-UE 1302) OR Aural Comprehension I (MPATC-UE 6). Co-Requisite: Theory & Practice II: Popular Music (MPATC-UE 1312). Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring. Syllabus: Link to Spring 2024 Syllabus
Course Texts: Aural II: Popular Music Text, Theory Anthology, Aural Anthology. (Please note that these sites are only accessible to NYU students and faculty). 

Advanced Theory & Practice: Chromatic Harmony & Form (MPATC-UE 1331)

Hands-on work with the materials of chromatic tonality and an introduction to complex forms. This course builds on composition and analysis skills developed in Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading, and introduces students to advanced techniques in four-part contrapuntal writing, arranging, model composition, and formal analysis in 18th and 19th century common-practice classical music. 

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading OR Music Theory II (MPATC-UE 36). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall

Advanced Theory & Practice: Post Tonal and Contemporary Music (MPATC-UE 1332)

Introduction to the materials and organizing principles of 20th and 21st century concert music and jazz. Students will engage with a range of analytical methods and compositional techniques applicable to a broad range of repertoire incorporating advanced chromaticism, modes, extended tonality, atonality, jazz harmony, and contemporary techniques in metric organization and form. The course will culminate in a final paper or presentation analyzing a 20th or 21st century work.

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading OR Theory & Practice II: Popular Music OR Music Theory II (MPATC-UE 36). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Spring

Advanced Theory & Practice: Non-Western Music (MPATC-UE 1333)

The study of non-Western theories of music. This course examines topics in pitch, rhythm, and formal structure in selected music from Africa, Latin America, East Asia, India, and the Middle East. Students will acquire a foundational understanding of the transcription and analysis of non-Western art and folk music, as well as a basic introduction to theory and performance practice by guest artists. The course will culminate in a final analysis project.

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) OR Music Theory I (MPATC-UE 35). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall.   Syllabus: Link to Spring 2024 Syllabus

Advanced Theory & Practice: Counterpoint in the Digital Age (MPATC-UE 1334)

Digital audio workstations (DAW), such as Garage Band, Audacity, and Ableton provide students with a hands-on polyphonic platform for studying and composing contrapuntal music. This course aims to bridge traditions and practices to accommodate students in various specializations and to impart a creative understanding of counterpoint and polyphonic thinking relevant to a broad range of musical repertoire. Working in DAW, students practice contrapuntal techniques and styles using different types of audio material. The course culminates in a final composition project.

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) or Music Theory I (MPATC-UE 35). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring

Advanced Theory & Practice: Popular Music (MPATC-UE 1335)

This course builds on material presented in Theory & Practice II: Popular Music. Students explore advanced topics in harmony, rhythmic function, metric dissonance, formal function and ambiguity in song form, tuning practices, vocal and instrumental timbre, texture, recording techniques and sampling, music video analysis, and discussions of identity in popular song. Popular music, defined broadly, includes pop, rock, hip hop, rap, metal, folk, EDM, country, and other genres. Students engage with topics through assigned reading and listening, discussions, and projects.

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice II: Popular Music (MPATC-UE 1322). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring. Syllabus: Link to Fall 2024 Syllabus 

Advanced Theory & Practice: French Music, Belle Époque to 1950 (MPATC-UE 9331) - Offered at NYU Paris Only

This course explores a range of analytical methods and compositional techniques characteristic of French art music from the belle époque to 1950. Topics include French dances and other large forms, rich chords, embellishing chords, the “cadence Fauréenne,” modes and pentatonic collections, and Messiaen’s “additive rhythm” and “modes of limited transposition.” Students gain hands-on practice with techniques for orchestration and transcription and analyze regional and stylistic influences, including those from Spain, Javanese Gamelan, and American blues and ragtime.

Prerequisite: Theory & Practice I (MPATC-UE 1301) OR Music Theory I (MPATC-UE 35). Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring. Syllabus: Link to Fall 2024 Syllabus 

Advanced Aural Skills: Chromatic Harmony (MPATC-UE 1341)

Advanced techniques of music listening developed through sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis. Students develop skills for critically listening to, analyzing, and notating four-part chromatic harmony, chromatic melodies, advanced rhythm and meter, and instrumentation in common-practice 18th and 19th century classical repertoire. Course activities are correlated with topics presented in the co-requisite course, Advanced Theory & Practice: Chromatic Harmony & Form.

Prerequisite: Aural Skills II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading (MPATC-UE 1321) OR Aural Comprehension II (MPATC-UE 7). Co-Requisite: Advanced Theory & Practice: Chromatic Harmony & Form OR Music Theory III (MPATC-UE 37).  
Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Fall 

Advanced Aural Skills: Post Tonal and Extended Chromaticism (MPATC-UE 1342)

Continued development of sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis skills developed in the prerequisite course, Advanced Aural Skills: Chromatic Harmony. Students will critically listen to, transcribe, and perform music incorporating modes, chromatic and jazz harmony, extended tonality, and atonality. Advanced rhythmic topics include polyrhythm, syncopation, swing, mixed meter, and metric modulation. 

Prerequisite: Aural Skills II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading (MPATC-UE 1321) OR Aural Comprehension II (MPATC-UE 7). Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Spring

Advanced Aural Skills: Sight-Singing (MPATC-UE 1343)

Practice in advanced melodic and rhythmic sight-singing. This course builds on skills developed in Aural Skills I and II, emphasizing the performance of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material using solfège. Students learn strategies for improvisation and advanced sight reading in a broad range of styles and genres including repertoire from  jazz, classical, and popular music. 

Prerequisite: Aural Skills II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading OR Aural Skills II: Popular Music OR Aural Comprehension II (MPATC-UE 7). Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Fall

Advanced Aural Skills: Popular Music Transcription (MPATC-UE 1344)

Practice in the critical listening and transcription of popular music. Advanced topics in instrumentation, sound production, rhythm and meter, and harmonic chord schemas. Students learn techniques for transcribing richly layered-material in popular music, including contemporary technologies and industry-standard notational practices. Defined broadly, “popular music” includes pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, blues, rap, disco, indie, metal, jazz, folk, and musical theater and film repertoire. The course will culminate in large transcription & production projects.

Prerequisite: Aural Skills II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading OR Aural Skills II: Popular Music OR Aural Comprehension II (MPATC-UE 7). Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Spring

Advanced Aural Skills: French Music, Belle Époque to 1950 (MPATC-UE 9343) - Offered at NYU Paris Only

Techniques of music listening developed through sight-singing, transcription, and aural analysis. Topics are coordinated with the co-requisite course, Advanced Theory & Practice: French Music and include French dances and other large forms, added and extended chords, embellishing chords, the “cadence Fauréenne,” modes and pentatonic collections, and Messiaen’s “additive” rhythms and “modes of limited transposition.” Students will learn aural strategies for describing form, characteristic features of French dance, and stylistic and regional influences. 

Prerequisite: Aural Skills I (MPATC-UE 1302) OR Aural Comprehension I (MPATC-UE 6).; Co-Requisite: Advanced Theory & Practice: French Music, Belle Époque to 1950. Credits: 1.
Semesters Offered: Fall & Spring. Syllabus: Link to Fall 2024 Syllabus 

Music of East and Southeast Asia, Past and Present  (MPATC-UE 1086 / MPATC-GE 2086)

A survey of traditional and recent music making from areas of East Asia (China, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Mongolia), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar) and the Indian subcontinent. In addition to examining the musical systems and techniques that define specific practices, readings and discussions cover issues from Asian American cultural studies. Open to undergraduate and graduate students familiar with music terminology and notation. 

Prerequisite: None. Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Spring. Syllabus: Spring 2025 Syllabus

Music History: Gender and Sexuality in Music (MPATC-UE 1048 / MPATC-GE 2248)

This course explores the history of music as a space for signaling, performing and imagining gender and sexuality. We consider expressions of gender and sexuality in Western classical music (medieval era to the present) as well as in popular music (disco, glam rock, hip hop, synthpop), and in film. While course readings include essays from a variety of research areas, emphasis will be placed on a critical reading of current discourse against what we hear and see in the musical works.  

Prerequisite: None. Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Spring.  Syllabus: Fall 2024 Syllabus 

Global Soundscapes: A Survey of Musical Traditions (MPATC-UE 1123 / MPATC-GE 2323)

This course introduces students to selected musical sounds and practices from cultural groups around the world. Through exposure to distinct musical cultures, from traditional to transnational, students learn to define and apply musical concepts such as rhythm, timbre, melody, and form. The socio-cultural context and relevance of musical practices are also examined, touching on issues such as race, gender, embodied participation, technologies of production and circulation, and relationship to religion, the state, and other social structures. 

Prerequisite: None. Credits: 2.
Semesters Offered: Fall.  Syllabus: Fall 2024 Syllabus