Course Syllabus Phone: (770)

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1 Alexander High School Teacher: Andy Daniel AP Music Theory Course Syllabus Phone: (770) Course Overview/Objectives: This course is designed to develop musical skills that will lead to a thorough understanding of music composition and music theory. Students are prepared to take the AP Music Theory Exam when they have completed the course. Students planning to major in music in college may be able to enroll in an advanced music theory course and students not majoring in music may be able to exempt their school s Fine Arts appreciation requirement. This is all dependent on the individual colleges AP policies. AP Music Theory studies the harmony of tonal music through part-writing exercises. Although it emphasizes the music of the Common Practice period ( ), music of other stylistic periods is also studied. General Course Content: 1. Review of music fundamentals, including: scales, key signatures, circle of fifths, intervals, triads, and inversions 2. Daily ear training, including rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation 3. Weekly sight-singing using numbers for pitches 4. The study of modes 5. The study of figured bass 6. The study of two-part counterpoint 7. The study of four-part harmony 8. The study of seventh chords 9. The study of secondary-dominant functions 10. The study of musical form 11. The study of common compositional techniques The objectives below have been adapted from the Expanded Course Specifications posted on the AP Music Theory home page on AP Central. Expanded Course Objectives: 1. Identify and notate pitch in four clefs: treble, bass, alto, and tenor. 2. Notate, hear, and identify simple and compound meters. 3. Notate and identify all major and minor key signatures. 4. Notate, hear, and identify the following scales: chromatic, major, and the three minor forms. 5. Name and recognize scale-degree terms, for example: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, leading tone. 6. Notate, hear, and transpose the following modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian. 7. Notate, hear, and identify whole-tone and pentatonic scales. 8. Notate, hear, and identify all major, minor, diminished, and augmented intervals inclusive of an octave. 9. Transpose a melodic line to or from concert pitch for any common band or orchestral instrument. 10. Notate, hear, and identify triads, including inversions. 11. Notate, hear, and identify authentic, plagal, half, and deceptive cadences in major and minor keys. 12. Detect pitch and rhythm errors in written music from given aural excerpts. 13. Notate a melody from dictation, 6 to 12 bars, in a major key, mostly diatonic pitches, simple or compound time, three to four repetitions.

2 14. Notate melody from dictation, 6 to 12 bars, in a minor key, chromatic alteration from harmonic/melodic scales, simple or compound time, three to four repetitions. 15. Sight-sing a melody, 4 to 8 bars long, major or minor key, duple or triple meter, simple or compound time, using solfège, numbers, or any comfortable vocal syllable(s). 16. Notate and analyze simple 2-bar counterpoint in sixteenth- and/or eighteenthcentury styles. 17. Realize a figured bass according to the rules of eighteenth-century chorale style, major or minor key, using any or all of the following devices: diatonic triads, seventh chords, inversions, nonharmonic tones, and secondary-dominant and dominant seventh chords. 18. Analyze a four-part chorale style piece using Roman and Arabic numerals to represent chords and their inversions. 19. Notate, hear, and identify the following nonharmonic tones: passing tone (accented and unaccented), neighboring tone, anticipation, suspension, retardation, appoggiatura, escape tone, changing tone (cambiata), pedal tone. 20. Notate the soprano and bass pitches and the Roman and Arabic numeral analysis of a harmonic dictation, eighteenth-century chorale style, seventh chords, secondary dominants, 4 to 8 bars in length, major or minor key, three to four repetitions. 21. Compose a melody or expand a motive with or without text, 6 to 12 bars long, given specific directions about key, mode, phrasing, rhythm, and harmonic language. Harmonize a 4- to 12-bar melody by writing a bass line with chords and/or chord symbols, given specific directions about key, mode, phrasing, and rhythmic and harmonic language. 22. Define and identify common tempo and expression markings. 23. Identify aurally and/or visually the following: modulation, transposition, melodic and harmonic rhythm, sequence, imitation, ostinato, augmentation, diminution, inversion, retrograde, and fragmentation. 24. Recognize standard musical algorithms, such as standard melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic idioms, that occur in music. Anticipated Classroom Format: This class will use a variety of teaching methods including, Lecture, Student - Centered Activities, Group Oriented Activities, Research, Computer Software, and will use Audio Visual resources from time to time. Classroom Policies and Expectations: All students are expected to be prepared and arrive on time to each class. Assessments such as quizzes and tests should be taken on the day specified. Missed assessments and assignments should be completed no more than three days after your return to school. It is YOUR responsibility to make up assignments. It is your responsibility to use the restroom or visit the vending machines between classes. Students will not be allowed to leave class during instructional time. There is a pass that must be used for emergencies only. Expectations of Students: 1. Students will participate in all classroom discussions and activities. 2. Students will complete all assigned exercises and readings. 3. Students will keep and maintain a Music Theory notebook, which will include class notes, handouts, assignments, and listening logs. 4. Students will study the released AP Exams and take practice tests to prepare for the exam.

3 5. Students will listen to approximately two hours of music each week outside of class and maintain a music listening log, which will consist of written analysis/ evaluations of each listening selection. These written logs should include observations and evaluations regarding the following items: a. melodic characteristics (conjunct/disjunct) b. harmonic characteristics (harmonic idioms present) c. rhythm (straight/syncopated) d. texture (homophonic, monophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic) e. timbre (instrumentation, tone color) f. dynamics (dynamic contrasts) g. tempo (tempo changes) h. meter (duple/triple, simple/compound, regular/irregular) i. mode (major, minor, modal, atonal) j. form (binary, ternary, sonata, rondo, etc.) k. articulation (legato, staccato, etc.) 6. Students will attend one concert each nine weeks and submit a paper about the concert, using an appropriate musical vocabulary. This paper should contain general information about the concert, the student s evaluation of it, and specific analysis of three individual selections from the concert. This analysis should include the following: a. melodic characteristics (conjunct/disjunct) b. harmonic characteristics (harmonic idioms present) c. rhythm (straight/syncopated) d. texture (homophonic, monophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic) e. timbre (instrumentation, tone color) f. dynamics (dynamic contrasts) g. tempo (tempo changes) h. meter (duple/triple, simple/compound, regular/irregular) i. mode (major, minor, modal, atonal) j. form (binary, ternary, sonata, rondo, etc.) k. articulation (legato, staccato, etc.) 7. Students will major compositions, based on assignedform and content. Other minor compositions will be required to demonstrate understandingand synthesis of concepts presented. These compositions include: a. a song in binary form b. a song in ternary form c. a song in sonata form d. a song based on a major mode e. a song based on a minor mode f. a song using two-part counterpoint g. a song using three-part counterpoint h. a four-part fugue with subject, countersubject, and free improvisation i. a song that modulates from one tonal center to another through the use of a pivot chord j. a song based on the whole-tone scale k. a song based on the chromatic scale l. a song based on a tone row or serialism m. a song based on a church mode An orchestration or arrangement with correct notation, range, and transpositions is the final composition project for the year.

4 Primary Texts: Burkholder, J. Peter, and Palisca, Claude V., editors. Norton Anthology of Western Music, vols. 1, 2, and 3, 6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, Clendinning, Jane Piper, and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician s Guide to Theory and Analysis, with Workbook and Anthology. New York: W. W. Norton, Kostka, Stefan, and Dorothy Payne. Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth- Century Music, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Ottman, Robert. Music for Sight-Singing, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Palisca, Claude V., ed. Norton Anthology of Western Music, vols. 1 and 2, 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, Phillips, Joel, Jane Piper Clendinning, and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician s Guide to Aural Skills, vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton, A wide variety of tonal music repertory is included in the course textbook. We use these textbook examples for illustration of topics and for analysis. The examples emphasize tonal relationships, harmonization from Roman numerals, etc. Lost Book Policy: Board Policy Descriptive Code: IFAD The student will be charged full replacement cost for any textbook lost, regardless of condition. The amount to be charged for a textbook damaged by a student will be the responsibility of the principal. Performance Standards/Objectives: Georgia Performance Standards Website Materials: 3-ring Notebook Notebook Dividers (optional) Computer Internet Access

5 Course Outline: First Semester Part I Elements of Music Week 1 Chapter 1 Pitch and Pitch Class Week 2 Chapter 2 Simple Meters Week 3-4 Chapter 3 Pitch Collections, Scales, and Major Keys Week 5 Chapter 4 Compound Meters Chapter 5 Minor Keys and the Diatonic Modes Week 6 Chapter 6 - Intervals Week 7-8 Chapter 7 Triads Chapter 8 Seventh Chords Week 9 Chapter 9 Connecting Intervals in Note-to-Note Counterpoint Week 10 Chapter 10 Melodic and Rhythmic Embellishment in Two-Voice Composition Week 11 Part I Review and Exam Part II Diatonic Harmony and Tonicization Week 12 Chapter 11 Soprano and Bass Lines in Eighteenth-Century Style Week 13 Chapter 12 The Basic Phrase in SATB Style Week 14 Chapter 13 Dominant Sevenths, the Predominant Area, and Melody Harmonization Realizing Figured Bass Week 15 Chapter 14 Expanding the Tonic and Dominant Areas Week 16 Chapter 15 Diatonic Harmonies and Root Progressions Week 17 Instrumental Arranging Project/Review Week 18 Mid-Term Exam Week Second Semester Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Chapter 16 Embellishing Tones in Four Voices (Non-Harmonic Tones) Chapter 17 The vii 6, vii 7, viiø7, and Other Voice-Leading Chords Chapter 18 Phrase Structure and Motivic Analysis Chapter 19 Diatonic Sequences Chapter 20 Secondary Dominants and Leading-Tone Chords to V Part III Chromatic Harmony and Form Chapter 23 Binary and Ternary Forms Chapter 31 Variation and Rondo Chapter 27 Vocal Forms Chapter 28 Popular Music Chapter 32 Sonata and Related Forms Chapter 33 Modes, Scales, and Sets Musical Form Exam Chapter 21 Tonicizing Scale Degrees Other than V Chapter 22 Modulation to Closely Related Keys Chapter 24 Invention, Fugue, and Other Contrapuntal Genres Chapter 26 The Neopolitan Sixth and Augmented-Sixth Chords Chapter 29 Chromatic Harmony and Voice-Leading Practice exams based on AP Released Exam materials. AP Exam Student Arranging Assignment Student Arranging Assignment

6 Every unit includes written and aural analysis related to the unit topic such as melody, harmony, phrase structure, motive, etc. All units include listening, written, creative, and sight singing components related to the unit topic. The student arranging assignment will include composing and harmonizing a melody for a given text. Grading Scale: Daily assignments/homework (listening logs, concert reports) 20% Sight-singing/Dictation 20% Major Tests, Quizzes, Compositions 40% Final Exam 20% Strategies for Student Learning: The classroom will include but is not limited to the following research-based strategies: Students will - summarize and learn effective note taking skills read for comprehension answer questions, and cues engage in cooperative learning complete homework / practice Academic Honesty: As stated in the Student Handbook: Cheating is willful or deliberate unauthorized use of the work of another person for academic purposes, or inappropriate use of notes or other material in the completion of an academic assignment or test. In addition to disciplinary responses, the granting of credit for this assignment may be considered null and void. Resources: Saturday School: Saturday school is designed to offer remediation and/or enrichment on Saturdays to complete work, retake tests, etc. Any student wanting to attend Saturday school should discuss this option with the teacher. Contact Information: If there are any questions/concerns, Mr. Daniel may be reached through at andy.daniel@douglas.k12.ga.us or by phone at

AP Music Theory Syllabus

AP Music Theory Syllabus Instructor: T h a o P h a m Class period: 8 E-Mail: tpham1@houstonisd.org Instructor s Office Hours: M/W 1:50-3:20; T/Th 12:15-1:45 Tutorial: M/W 3:30-4:30 COURSE DESCRIPTION: