AP Music Theory. Course Description. Course Objectives. Rachel Pack

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1 AP Music Theory Rachel Pack Course Description This course is intended for students who have previous experience reading music. Students should have a firm understanding of pitch and rhythm. The ultimate goal of this course is to develop a student s ability to recognize, understand, and describe the basic materials and processes of music. Topics covered will include: melody, harmony, texture, rhythm, form, analysis, elementary composition, history, and style. There will also be a focus on listening skills and sight-singing. Course Objectives Musical Terminology Terms for intervals, triads, seventh chords, scales, and modes Terms pertaining to rhythm and meter, melodic construction and variation, harmonic function, cadences and phrase structure, texture, contrapuntal devices, small forms, and musical performance Notational Skills Rhythms and meters Clefs and pitches Key signatures, scales, and modes Intervals and chords Melodic transposition Basic Compositional Skills Four-voice realization of figured-bass symbols and Roman numerals Composition of a bass line (with chord symbols) for a given melody Musical Analysis (from a printed score or with aural stimulus) Small-scale and large-scale harmonic procedures Melodic organization and developmental procedures Rhythmic/metric organization Texture Formal devices and/or procedures Aural Skills Sight-singing Melodic dictation Harmonic dictation Identification of isolated pitch and rhythmic patterns Detection of errors in pitch and rhythm in one-and two-voice examples Identification of processes and materials in the context of music literature representing a broad spectrum of genres, media, and styles

2 Primary Texts Burkholder, J. Peter, and Claude V. Palisca. The Norton Anthology of Western Music. New York: W. W. Norton, [SC 19] Clendinning, Jane Piper, and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician s Guide to Theory and Analysis, with Workbook. New York: W. W. Norton, [SC 19] Ottman, Robert. Music for Sight-Singing, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, [SC 16] Class Expectations: 1. Be supportive and respectful of others. 2. Be on time and prepared for class. 3. Cell phones and other electronic devices need to be put away during class unless instructed otherwise. Required Materials Blank Sheet Music (Can be purchased online or printed for free at BlankSheetMusic.net ) A pencil with a good eraser book paper for note taking and assignment completion A binder or a section within a binder to keep assignments and notes Daily Work/Homework In the course, you will be required to complete written assignments in class and at home as well as online assignments at home. In addition, students will be required to practice aural skills at home with links that will be provided in class. Format of Each Class Period: Introduction/Go Over Target Aural/Oral Skills Contextual Listening Exercises [SC 15] Dictation (Melodic, Rhythmic, and/or Harmonic) [SC 15] Sight-Singing [SC 16] Error Identification [SC 15] Written Skills (Lecture & Practice) [SC 17] Questions/Assign Homework Class Participation Students will be required to participate in class periodically through the verbal answering of questions, group work, sight-singing, and written work. All interactions in class will be respectful and supportive of an inclusive learning environment for all students. Students are encouraged to speak to Ms. Pack about any concerns they may have about classroom participation and classroom dynamics.

3 Course Grading Assessments = 40% Assignments = 30% Class Participation = 30% Grade Marks 93% - 100% A 90% % A- 87% % B+ 83% % B 80% % B- 77% % C+ 73% % C 70% % C- 67% % D+ 60% % D 00% % F Test Retakes If a student is not satisfied with their grade, retakes are available for all assignments and assessments. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the student must meet with Ms. Pack and explain the process that was taken to study/learn the necessary material. The student is responsible for working with Ms. Pack to set up a suitable retake time. All assignments and assessments must be retaken within three weeks of their original due date and a week before the end of any given grading period.

4 Course Outline Unit 1 - Building a Musical Vocabulary Content Text/Materials 1, 2 Syllabus, Review (Pitch ID, Major and Minor Scales, and Major and Minor Keys), Memorize Interval Songs and Unit 0 Exam [SC1] [SC7] 3 Basic Written Notation (Beaming), Pentatonic Scales, Whole Tone Scales, Modes, and Transposition [SC1] [SC7] 4 Simple and Compound Meters, Regular and Asymmetrical Meters [SC1] MG Chapters 1, 3, and 5 MG Chapters 3 and 5 MG Chapters 2, 4, and 35 5, 6 Intervals, Triads, and Seventh Chords [SC 10] MG Chapters 6, 7, and 8 7 Basic Musical Analysis using Roman Numerals/Figured Bass and Unit 1 Exam [SC 4] [SC 5] MG Chapters 7 and 8 Literature from IMSLP.org 8 Catch Up N/A 1, 2, 3 Level 1 4, 5, 6 Level 2 7, 8 Level 3 Interval Dictation and Identification, Scale/Mode Identification, and Chord Quality Dictation 1, 2 Major and minor scales 3, 4 Modes, Chromatic Scale, Pentatonic Scale 5, 6 Intervals (unison, m2, M2, A4, P5, m7, P8) and Triad Qualities 7,8 ADD Intervals (m3, M3, P4, m6, M6, M7) and Seventh Qualities

5 Unit 2 - Counterpoint, Choral Harmonization, and Composition Content Text/Materials 9, 10 Two-Voice First and Second Species Counterpoint MG Chapter 9 and Chorale Style: Soprano and Bass Lines, Phrases, and Cadences [SC 8] MG Chapter Writing a Melody for a Given Bass Line and Writing a Bass Line for a Given Melody [SC 2] MG Chapter 11 Teacher-Created Exercises 13 The Basic Phrase Model: Tonic and Dominant Voice Leading MG Chapter 12 14, 15 Choral Harmonization, Figured Bass, Cadences and Unit 2 Exam [SC 2] [SC 3] [SC 4] [SC 5] [SC 8] MG Chapter Catch Up N/A 9 Level 3 10, 11, 12 Level 4 13, 14, 15 Level 5 Harmonic Diction 9 Level A 10 Level B 11 Level C 12 Level D 13 Level E 14, 15 Level F

6 Unit 3 - Further Expansion of the Harmonic Vocabulary Content Text/Materials 17, 18 Expanding the Basic Phrase: Leading-Tone, Predominant, 6/4 Chords, Tonic Expansions, Root Progressions (including the realization of Roman numeral progressions), the Mediant Triad, and Cadences [SC 4] MG Chapters 14 and Embellishing Tones (Non-Harmonic Tones) [SC 9] MG Chapter Voice-Leading Chords, Expansion of the Basic Phrase MG Chapter Phrase Structure and Motivic Analysis [SC 6] [SC 13] MG Chapter Diatonic Sequence MG Chapter Secondary Dominant and Leading Tone Chords and a Brief Look at Modulation Types [SC 11] [SC 12] MG Chapter 20 and Analysis of Musical Examples, Review and Unit 3 Exam [SC 5] Literature from IMSLP.org 25 Catch Up N/A 16, 17, 18, 19 Level 6 20, 21, 22, 23 Level 7 24, 25 Level 8 Harmonic Diction 16 Level G 17 Level H 18 Level I 19 Level J 20, 21 Level K 22, Level L 25 Level M

7 Unit 4 - Musical Form and Interpretation Content Text/Materials 26 Brief Look at Popular Song, Art Song, and Folk Song, Canon (Strophic, Verses, Refrain, Etc.) [SC 14] MG Chapter 29 Teacher-Created Exercises 27 Theme and Variation and Rondo [SC 14] MG Chapters 25 and 33 Teacher-Created Exercises 28 Binary (Simple and Rounded) and Ternary Forms and Sonata-Form Movements and Unit 4 Exam [SC 14] MG Chapters 23 and Catch Up N/A 26, 27, 28, 29 Level 8 Harmonic Diction 26, 27 Level M 28, 29 Level N Unit 5 - The Final Steps Content Text/Materials 30, 31, 32 Practice AP Music Theory Test Questions, In-Depth Look at Scoring Teacher-Created Exercises Unit 6 - To Be Continued Content Text/Materials 33, 34 Popular Music (More In-Depth) MG Chapter 29 35, 36 Composition and Instrumentation [SC 18] Teacher-Created Exercises 30, 31, 32, 33 Level 9

8 Reference Chart : The chart is additive. Each level includes elements from all previous levels. Level Keys Pitches Melodic Skips Range Meter Values Pick-Ups 1 Major Diatonic None M6 2/3/4 2 Major Diatonic Up P8 2/3/4 3 Major Diatonic Up & Down P8 6 4 Minor Raised Up & Down M Minor Melodic Minor 1-5, 5-1, 5-8, 8-5 M Minor Melodic Minor Up & Down M10 6 Whole, Half, Quarter Dotted Half, Eighth Dotted Quarter Dotted Quarter Dotted Quarter Dotted Quarter None None One Beat One Beat One Beat One Beat 7 Minor Melodic Minor Major and Minor Arpeggios M12 6 Sixteenth Half Beat 8 Minor Melodic Minor Any Thirds M12 9 Dotted Eighth Half Beat 9 Minor Chromatic Skips Less Than 7 M12 Any Dotted Eighth Half Beat 10 Minor Chromatic Any M12 Any Dotted Eighth Half Beat

9 Harmonic Dictation Reference Chart : The chart is additive. Each level includes elements from all previous levels. Level Chords Number of Chords What to Notate A IV & iv, V, I & i 4 Roman Numerals B Cadential I6/4 & i6/4 4 Bass and Soprano C ii6 & ii੦6 4 Bass and Soprano D ii6 & ii੦6 7 Bass and Soprano E VI & vi (Deceptive Cadence) 7 Bass and Soprano F VI & vi (Throughout), i6 & I6 9 Bass and Soprano G V7 9 Bass and Soprano H V65 9 Bass and Soprano I V43 9 Bass and Soprano J V42 9 Bass and Soprano K V7/V 9 Bass and Soprano L V7/ii & V7/ii੦, V7/vi &V7/VI 12 Bass and Soprano M V7/iv & V7/iv 12 Bass and Soprano N V7/iv & V7/iv 12 Inner Voices To complete the assignment Syllabus Verification follow this link: