MUSC 107 Section 001 Music Fundamentals
Fall 1999 TuesThurs 2:00-3:15 CA 248
Professor: Kathleen Pierson
Office: CA 455 Office hours: MW 11:00-11:30, Thurs 3:15-4:00, other times by appointment.
Contact:
Text: There is no required text for this class: instead, YOU will be constructing your own well-ordered textbook/notebook which will be collected and graded (counting as one third of your final grade for this class).
Materials: By the second meeting of class, you must have both regular notebook paper AND music manuscript paper ("staff paper," available in the bookstore over on the left near science supplies), in a looseleaf binder which is dedicated to this course only
OR
alternatively, you could use two spiral bound notebooks (one of regular notebook paper and the other of music manuscript paper, realizing that before semesterŐs end you may need to buy second or even third notebooks to contain all of the material we will be covering).
Remember that you are creating an orderly notebook WHICH WILL BE COLLECTED FOR GRADING and must be this-course-only, not mixed in with notes from other classes.
You are welcome to use either pencil or pen, but you must have either good erasers or white-out for making neat corrections.
Do not lose your notebook. You might want to put name/address/phone on your notebook and/or (if you are prone to lose things) "xerox as you go" for safekeeping. The notebook counts heavily toward your final grade. Notebooks will be briefly checked in class from time to time (so you will know that you are on the right track and so that it is seen that you are in fact keeping up with this assignment), but the formal finished product is important and needs to be safely kept.
Absence: The final grade may be reduced in the case of more than two absences, or in the case of habitual lateness to class. Bring notes (doctors' notes, etc.) explaining absences. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU MISSED. YOUR NOTEBOOK STILL NEEDS TO INCLUDE THAT DAYŐS MATERIAL. "I wasnŐt there" is never an excuse.
Resource: The Music Lab, upstairs, 387A. Early in the semester we will take some class time to go visit the lab. I HEARTILY RECOMMEND time in the lab, although it is not a requirement. The lab has synthesizers and musical software that help put the "fun" in "fundamentals." For example, there is a game called Noteplay which awards points, flashes stars and colors, etc. as you practice sight-reading very simple pitch notation, and a game called Rhythm Ace which can be played competitively by two at a time. A good way to practice!
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Regardless of your "starting point" (whether you have studied music in the slightest ever before or not), by semester's end you should be able to:
- know enough about pitch to understand the ideas of scales, melody, Common Practice chord accompaniment, and what it means to be "in a key"
- understand the concept of PATTERNS of scales and modes so as to correctly play on piano any scale or mode while allowed to reference its pattern
- memorize the pattern of major scale so as to play on piano any major scale from memory (note: but without regard for pianistŐs fingerings, just accurately moving from pitch to pitch)
- play on piano the triads drawn from the diatonic scale, with Roman Numeral identification
- make up little melodies based on the scales and modes
- choose chords to accompany those made-up melodies
- know enough about the keyboard to easily name and locate the notes
- know enough about using your own voice to feel comfortable singing
- know enough about drumming to feel comfortable drumming
- know enough about rhythm to understand the ideas of beat, meter, etc.
- play on percussion interesting rhythmic patterns in various meters
- choose interesting rhythmic patterns for the made-up melodies mentioned earlier
- practice playing piano "by ear" enough to be able to figure out simple familiar melodies without reference to notated music
- know enough about notation to be able to write down and ("slowly" is ok) read simple music
- be able to notate your own music that you make up
- be able to look at simple music (such as might be found in children's songbooks) and (slowly) read it, recognizing key, meter, and general phrase structure, performing it (after practice) correctly, steadily, and strongly.
- consider additional elements - such as tempo, dynamics, texture, tone color, general form, broad style characteristics, emotional effect - and apply these elements to "creative listening"
That is quite a huge and cumulative agenda, requiring regular attendance and constant review on the part of all students. Those various objectives will be interwoven rather than treated separately, so we will not be "doing pitch" on such-and-such a date or "waiting to do rhythm until October." Diverse aspects (piano, composing, drumming, notation, etc.) will all be unfolding at once, so you MUST FIND OUT WHAT YOU MISSED after any absence.
GRADING: (NO +/- GRADING)
33.3% Notebook, as described on page one of this syllabus
33.3% Classroom participation/attitude/progress, including frequent "unannounced" quiz-like performance testings of practical musical skills, such as "play the major scale beginning on B" or "play the I chord in G major" or "drum a steady rhythmic pattern in triple meter."
33.3% Final Exam, a written (not performance) test on Tuesday December 21st at 12:30. For instance, you might be asked to "write the notes of the major scale beginning on B" on music manuscript paper, or be asked to look at a melody written on the test page and recognize it as either "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Row Row Row Your Boat," or "Mary Had a Little Lamb," or to write out a rhythm pattern after you hear it clapped...
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