Introduction to Music Theory--15 Week Plan
Note: Parts in boldface in the weeks after Week 1 (Day 1) would mean new material
is added.
PART I
Week 1--Day 1
Introduction of the class
What is theory?
The 12-tone temperment system
Consonance and dissonance
Names of the intervals (minor second, minor fifth)'
Quarter notes, whole notes, dotted half notes and half notes
Assignment: Identify the names of the intervals on the staff, and tell also if the intervals are consonant or dissonant.
Week 1--Day 2
REVIEW:
What is theory?
The 12-tone temperment system
Consonance and dissonance
Names of the intervals (minor second, minor fifth)
Quarter notes, whole notes, dotted half notes and half notes
Dotted eighth notes, dotted quarter notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes
Key identification or pitch identification
MIDI-note
Note with number (for example, C6)
Frequency of the note (for example, A-440)
Assignment: For given notes on the staff, write down the MIDI-note number.
Also give the note identification for each of the given notes.
Week 2--Day 1
REVIEW:
Key identification or pitch identification
MIDI-note
Note with number (for example, C6)
Frequency of the note
Scale degree identification
Tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone,
octave
Introduction to the major and minor triad
The Ionian major scale and the Aeolian minor scale
Guido d'Arezzo's solfège system
Movable Do
Fixed Do
Numbers system
Letter system
Identification of rests (quarter rests, half rests, sixteenth rests, thirty-second rests)
Assignment: For a given note passage, identify the solfege syllable in the notes using
a Fixed Do.
Week 2--Day 2
REVIEW
Scale degree identification
Tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone,
octave
Introduction to the major and minor triad
The Ionian major scale and the Aeolian minor scale
Guido d'Arezzo's solfège system
Movable Do
Fixed Do
Numbers system
Letter system
Identification of rests (quarter rests, half rests, sixteenth rests, thirty-second rests)
Introduction to the ostinato and the passcaglia.
Introduction to simple meter (2/4, 3/4, 4/4)
Ostinato, Passacaglia
What is Counterpoint?
What is a Canon?
What is polyphony?
What is a tuplet?
What is a triplet?
"Passacaglia for Keyboard in G minor" (Handel)"
"Canon in D major for String Orchestra" (Pachelbel)"
More identification of rests: whole rests, multimeasure rests, dotted rests
Assignment: Define the words: counterpoint, canon, polyphony, ostinato,
passacaglia, tuplet, triplet, whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rests,
dotted rest, multimeasure rest, sixteenth rest, thirty-second rest, Ionian major scale, Aeolian minor scale, movable do, fixed do, solfège.
Week 3--Day 1
REVIEW
Ostinato, Passacaglia
What is Counterpoint?
What is a Canon?
What is polyphony?
Introduction to simple meter (2/4, 3/4, 4/4)
Introduction to the augmented and diminished triads
Introduction to compound meter (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 6/4, 9/4)
Canon
"Frère Jacques" (Traditional French folk song)
"Totentanz"--Canon part (Liszt)
Assignment: Do an original canon for two voices.
Also, define: augmented triad, diminished tried, simple meter, compound meter.
Week 3--Day 2
REVIEW
Canon form
Introduction to the augmented and diminished triads
Rondo Form
Sonata in C major, K. 545, third movement (Mozart)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra (Saint-Säens)
Assignment: Do an analysis on where the parts (A,B,C, etc.) occur in Mozart's
Rondo in A minor, K. 511, for piano. Also, define: augmented, diminished,
major, minor, triad, tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant,
submediant, leading tone, canon, rondo form.
Week 4--Day 1
REVIEW
Rondo Form
Sonata Form
"Waldstein" Piano Sonata in C Major, op. 53, first movement (Beethoven)
"Moonlight" Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, op. 27, no. 2 (Beethoven)
Assignment: Do a part analysis of the Symphony no. 7 in A major, first movement
(Beethoven), figuring out where the introduction, exposition, development,
recapitulation, and coda are.
Week 5--Day 1
Prepare for Quiz 1
Review material covered for weeks 1-4
Week 5--Day 2
Quiz 1
Quiz will involve dictation, analysis and also written material. 30-40 minutes per
student.
PART II
Week 6--Day 1
Four Part Voice Leading, Part I, according to Gioseffe Zarlino
Good voice leading examples
Bad voice leading examples
Forbidden parallel motion in the voices, according to Zarlino
Octaves, fifths, and unisons
Requirements of movement of the leading tone
Assignment: Do a four-part voice composition in 4 measures following Zarlino's
rules.
Week 6--Day 2
REVIEW
Four Part Voice Leading, Part I, according to Gioseffe Zarlino
Good voice leading examples
Bad voice leading examples
Forbidden parallel motion in the voices, according to Zarlino
Octaves, fifths, and unisons
Requirements of movement of the leading tone
Four Part Voice Leading, Part II, according to Gioseffe Zarlino
Open Chords
Closed Chords
Rules of Doubling
Rules of Resolution
Assignment: The teacher will give an already-composed 4-part composition to the students, giving examples of stuff that would not be acceptable under Zarlino's rules. (for example, parallel 5ths). Those unacceptable stuff should be marked with a red circle.
Week 7--Day 1
ABA Form
Funeral March Sonata, third movement (Chopin)
Fantasie-Impromptu (Chopin)
Assignment: Do a part analysis in Chopin's "Ecossaise in D major".
Week 7--Day 2
REVIEW
ABA Form
Prepare for midterm exam.
Review stuff covered in the first 7 wekks.
Week 8--Day 1
Midterm Exam
Each student will have 40 minutes. Parts of the exam will include analysis, dictation,
and performance
Week 8--Day 2
AABA Form
"Bydlo" from Pictures At An Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
"Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" from Pictures At An Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
Assignment: Do a part-analysis for the "Variation for the Prince" from The Nutcracker Ballet (Tschaikovsky).
Week 9--Day 1
REVIEW
AABA FORM
ABACA Form
"Pathetique" Sonata in C Minor, op. 13, second movement (Beethoven)
"Symphony no. 7 in A Major, second movement (Beethoven)
Assignment: Do a part-analysis on "Lost Illusions" from Songs Without Words
(Mendelssohn).
Week 9--Day 2
REVIEW
ABACA FORM
Variation Form
Spanish Rhapsody, beginning, skipping the introduction into the Folies d'Espagne
"Appassionata" Sonata, op. 57, second movement (Beethoven)
Assignment: Do a part analysis of the Paganini Etude no. 6 in A minor (of Franz
Liszt), numbering each variation, and also writing down where the coda and
introduction to the main theme are.
PART III
Week 10--Day 1
REVIEW
Variation Form
Polyrhythms
"Slavonic Dance in G minor" (Dvorak)
Bulgarian Dance For One Piano, Four Hands (Bartok)
Assignment: Do an original clapping piece that uses polyrhythms.
Week 10--Day 2
Bichordal elements
"Rite of Spring" (Stravinsky)
* Dance of the Young Girls (beginning)
* The Ritual of Abduction
* The Sacrifice--Introduction (beginning)
* Sacifical Dance of the Chosen One (beginning)
Assignement: Detect and circle bichordal elements in the "Dance of the Old Ox-Driver" from the Three Argentine Dances (Ginastera).
Week 11--Day 1
REVIEW
Bichordal elements
Recurrent Themes
"Symphony From The New World" (Dvorak)
"Eroica Symphony in E-Flat Major, no. 3, final movement (Beethoven)
Assignment: Look at the "Dance sacrale" from The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky),
and look at the beginning measures, and mark the measures at the end of
the music that have the recurring themes.
Week 11--Day 2
REVIEW
Recurrent Themes
Folk Scales
The Arabic scale
The Hungarian folk scale
"Hungarian Rhapsody no. 12 in A Minor for Piano" (Liszt)
"Toccata" (Khachaturian)
Assignment: Locate areas of the Hungarian gypsy scale in "Hungarian Rhapsody
no. 19 in D minor" (Liszt)
Week 12--Day 1
REVIEW
Folk scales
Dodecaphony
How to recognize 12-tone
"Sonata no. 1", second movement (Ginastera)
Week 13--Day 1
REVIEW
Dodecaphony
How to recognize 12-tone
Quartals and Quintals
"The Sunken Cathedral" (Debussy)
"Fanfare for the Common Man" (Copland)
Assignment: Find and circle quartals and quintals in "Pagodes" (from Estampes) for Piano (Debussy).
Week 13--Day 2
REVIEW
Quartals and Quintals
Fixed Pentatonic Elements
"The Little White Donkey" (Ibert)
"The Fountains of the East Village", from "Years of Pilgrimage" (Liszt)
Handout of Italian music terminology for students to know (for example,
"espressivo", "adagio", "legato", "staccato", "forte", "piano")
Week 14--Day 1
Review for Final Exam, Part 1
Material covered from Weeks 1-6
Week 14--Day 2
Review for Final Exam, Part 2
Material covered from Weeks 7-13
Week 15--Day 1
Final Exam
Each student will have 40 minutes.
Week 15--Day 2
Make-up final exam for those students who miss the final.