AP Music Theory Syllabus School Year: 2017-2018 Certificated Teacher: Desired Results: Course Title : AP Music Theory Credit: X one semester (.5) two semesters (1.0) Prerequisites and/or recommended preparation: Fluency in reading rhythm and pitch notation in both treble and bass clefs. These concepts are presented in the first two units; AP students may complete and submit the assignments to test out of these units. Estimate of hours per week engaged in learning activities: 5 hours of class work per week per 18 week semester Instructional Materials: All learning activities (resources, assignments, assessments) are contained within or referenced in the student s online course. The online course is accessed via login and password assigned by student s school (web account) or emailed directly to student upon enrollment, with the login website. Other resources required/resource Costs: Finale Notepad software available free from www.finalemusic.com Audacity audio editing/recording software free download from www.audacity.sourceforge.net Free online lessons and trainers in Music Theory www.musictheory.net and www.teoria.com Course Description: This course is designed to provide instruction and preparation at the advanced level required for successful completion of the AP Music Theory Exam, including music literacy (musical notation and terminology), aural skills (sight singing and dictation), form and analysis, and composition. Enduring Understandings for Course (Performance Objectives): Music theory encompasses a logical, accessible, and useful language for documenting sound. Music literacy enables individuals to enjoy independently performing and/or creating music.
Music theory explains what musicians and composers have done in the past and why it works, but it doesn't dictate what current musicians and composers have to do. Major scales, minor scales, and modes are constructed using patterns of whole and half steps. They serve as the foundation upon which melody and harmonization are built. Music theory enables individuals to create original compositions and document them in a way that can be understood and interpreted by others. Music theory in western civilization is best understood as a set of rules that have been gradually and systematically broken as music has evolved. Other evidence that will be collected to show student understanding will be individual selfassessments for each unit as well as reflections on discussion board dialogue/questions with the class. There will be in-person proctoring for end of unit tests. Course Learning Goals (including WA State Standards, Common Core Standards, National Standards): Unit: 1 (Fundamentals) Rhythm Notation Content Standards: GLE 1.1.1 Demonstrate musical skills and techniques while working towards independence: reading music, performing, sight reading, conducting. Read and write rhythmic notation. AP Standard: Instill mastery of the rudiments and terminology of music, including hearing and notating rhythm and meter. Unit: 2 (Fundamentals) Pitch Notation Content Standards: GLE 1.1.2 Demonstrate musical skills and techniques while working towards independence: reading music, performing, sight reading, conducting. Read and write pitch notation. AP Standard: Instill mastery of the rudiments and terminology of music, including hearing and notating pitches. Unit: 3 Scales, Tonality, Keys, Modes Content Standards: GLE 1.1.2 Construct major and minor scales, modes, and key signatures. Recognize them by sight and sound. Sight sing major and minor scales. AP Standard: Instill mastery of the rudiments and terminology of music, including hearing and notating scales, modes, and keys. Unit: 4 Intervals and Transposition Content Standards: GLE 1.1.3 Visually and aurally identify and construct Major, minor, Perfect, Augmented, and diminished intervals and their inversions. Use an intervallic approach to transpose a short composition. AP Standard: Instill mastery of the rudiments and terminology of music, including hearing and notating intervals. Unit: 5 Chords Content Standards: GLE 1.1.3 Visually and aurally identify and construct Major, minor,
Augmented, and diminished triads and their inversions. Use Roman numerals and figured bass
to analyze chords and chord progressions. Write chord progressions using popular music symbols. AP Standard: Instill mastery of the rudiments and terminology of music, including hearing and notating chords. Progress to include more sophisticated and creative tasks, such as realization of a Roman numeral chord progression. Unit: 6 Cadences and Nonharmonic Tones Content Standards: GLE 1.1.3 Visually and aurally identify and label cadences by type. Analyze chord progressions including non-harmonic tones. AP Standard: emphasize aural and visual identification of procedures based in common-practice tonality for cadences and non-harmonic tones. Unit: 7 Species Counterpoint and 4-Part Voice Leading Content Standards: GLE.2.1 Writing first, second, third, and fourth species counterpoint with appropriate voice leading. Four-part realization of Roman numeral chord symbols and figured bass. Compose a soprano melody above a bass line. AP Standard: Progress to include more sophisticated and creative tasks, such as composition of a bass line for a given melody, implying appropriate harmony, and realization of a figured bass..
Formative assessments: Assignments attached to each lesson provide students the opportunity to practice new skills and demonstrate understanding of concepts covered. These assignments include written work completed and submitted using the music notation software Finale Notepad, dictation exercises completed using sound files and Notepad, and sight-singing exercises recorded using Audacity and submitted in mp3 format, and listening-response essays. Each unit s assignments build on the scaffolding provided by earlier units and lessons. Students are given feedback on submitted assignments, encouraged to make corrections, and allowed to re-submit assignments as a way of ensuring that the grade accurately reflects student learning and achievement. Summative assessments: First semester final exam features a written portion covering the first five units, melodic and harmonic dictation, and sight singing. Second semester final exam is the AP Music Theory Exam. Types of Learning Activities Direct Instruction Indirect Instruction Experiential Learning Independent Study Interactive Instruction X Structured Overview X Mini presentation X Drill & Practice Demonstrations Other (List) X _Problem-based Case Studies X_Inquiry X _Reflective Practice X Project X Paper Concept Mapping Other (List) Virt. Field Trip _ Experiments _Simulations _Games _Field Observ. _Role-playing _Model Bldg. _Surveys _Other (List) X _Essays X_ Self-paced computer _Journals X Learning Logs X Reports X Directed Study _X _Research Projects Other (List) X Discussion _Debates _Role Playing _Panels _Peer Partner Learning _Project team _Laboratory Groups _Think, Pair, Share _Cooperative Learning _Tutorial Groups _Interviewing X S _Other (List)
Learning Activities These learning activities are aligned with the successful completion of the course learning goals and progress towards these learning activities will be reported monthly on a progress report. 1 st Semester AP Music Theory Learning Activities Pretest of material in Unit 1 and 2 Unit: 1 Notation of Rhythm Duration: 5 hours 40 minutes Enduring Understandings: Music theory encompasses a logical, accessible, and useful language for documenting sound. Music literacy enables individuals to enjoy independently performing and/or creating music. Essential Questions: How is rhythm, an essential element of music, notated, read, and performed? Student Learning Targets: Become fluent in reading the symbols that indication duration of a sound or silence and understanding how strong and weak beats are combined to create meter. Learning Activities: Fundamentals 1 Notation of rhythm 1.01a/b 1.02a/b 1.03a/b 1.044a/b 1.055a/b Unit: 2 Notation of Pitch Duration: 3 hours 50 minutes Rhythms in common time How to count rhythms Eighth notes and beyond Dotted rhythms Other time signatures a: The rhythm grid b: Complete the measure a: Counting rhythms b: Hearing rhythms a: Counting rhythms with eighths b: Hearing rhythms with eighths a: Counting dotted rhythms b: Hearing dotted rhythms a: Interpreting time signatures b: Counting rhythms in multiple time signatures Enduring Understandings: Music theory encompasses a logical, accessible, and useful language for documenting sound. Music literacy enables individuals to enjoy independently performing and/or creating music. Essential Questions: How is pitch, an essential element of music, notated, read, and performed? Student Learning Targets: Become fluent in reading letter names of pitches drawn on the treble and bass clefs.
Learning Activities: 2.01a/b The treble clef a: Getting to know the treble clef b: Treble clef drill Fundamentals 2 Notation of 2.02 a/b/c The bass clef a: Getting to know the bass clef b: Bass clef drill c: Treble and Bass clef ledger line drill pitch 2.03 Half steps and whole steps Identifying whole and half steps 2.041/b Sharps and flats a: Identifying whole and half steps b: Writing whole and half steps Unit: 3 Scales, Tonality, Keys, Modes Duration: 7 hours 40 minutes Enduring Understandings: Major scales, minor scales, and modes are constructed using patterns of whole and half steps. They serve as the foundation upon which melody and harmonization are built. Essential Questions: Why do all Major scales sound the same? How are key signatures determined? Student Learning Targets: Learn the pattern of whole and half steps that makes a scale sound Major or minor. Understand how to determine a Major key s relative minor. Become fluent in reading key signatures. Visually and aurally identify Major and minor scales and all modes. Learning Activities: Unit 3 Scales, tonality, keys, modes 3.01a/b Major scales a: Building Major scales Key signatures and the a: Circle of Fifths web research 3.02a/b Circle of Fifths 3.03 Building key signatures Key signature drill 3.04a/b 3.05a/b 3.06 Natural minor and relative keys 3 Types of minor scales Hearing Major and minor scales a: Identifying relative Majors and minors a: Writing 3 types of minor scales Hearing Major and minor scale 3.07a/b 3.08 Intro to Solfegge & sight singing Manuscript Notation a. Solfegge and sight singing b Sight singing Manuscript notation
Unit: 4 Intervals and Transposition Duration: 9 hours Enduring Understandings: Major scales, minor scales, and modes are constructed using patterns of whole and half steps. They serve as the foundation upon which melody and harmonization are built. Essential Questions: Why do some intervals sound consonant and some dissonant? How are intervals used to transpose a song from one key to another. Student Learning Targets: Visually and aurally identify and construct Major, minor, Perfect, Augmented, and diminished intervals unison octave and their inversions. Use intervals to transpose an instrumental line into another key. Learning Activities: 4.01 Intro to solfege Solfege written assignment a: Interval drill -- sight and sound 4.02a/b Writing and hearing M2 and m2 b: Writing M2 and m2 Unit 4 Intervals and transposition 4.03a/b 4.04a/b/c 4.05a/b 4.06a/b Writing and hearing M3 and m3 Perfect intervals / sight singing Augmented and diminished 4ths and 5ths Writing and hearing M6 and m6 a: Interval drill -- sight and sound b: Writing M3 and m3 a.perfect interval drill b. Review drill c. Sight singing a: Recognizing Perfect, Aug, and dim drill b: Writing Perfect, Aug, and dim a: Interval drill -- sight and sound b: Writing M6 and m6 a: Interval drill -- sight and sound b: Writing M7 and m7 4.07a/b Writing and hearing M7 and m7 Augmented and diminished 4.08a/b intervals 4.09 Inversion of intervals Intervals and inversions 4.10 Transposition Transposition a: Comprehensive interval drill b: Writing intervals and enharmonics Unit: 5 Chords Duration: 8 hours 20 minutes Enduring Understandings: Major scales, minor scales, and modes are constructed using patterns of whole and half steps. They serve as the foundation upon which melody and harmonization are built.
Essential Questions: What intervals are used to build a Major, minor, Augmented, or diminished triads and seventh chords? How are chords identified and labeled to analyze music? How does music theory help composers and arrangers choose chords to harmonize melodies? Student Learning Targets: Visually and aurally identify and construct Major, minor, Augmented, or diminished triads and seventh chords. Use Roman numerals to analyze chord progressions. Use figured bass to write a melody and harmonize it in four parts. Learning Activities: 5.0 Scale degree names a. Scale degree names 5.01a/b and sight singing b. Sight singing minor melodies Unit 5 Chords 5.02 Four types of triads a: Identifying the four types of triads b: Difference between the four types 5.03 Roman numeral chord symbols a: Diatonic triads b: Harmonic analysis and harmonic dictation 5.04 Triad inversions Triad inversions, analysis, and dictation 5.05 7th chords and their inversions 7th chord inversions, analysis, and dictation 5.06 Figured bass a: Understanding figured bass symbols 5.07 Popular music chord symbols Create your own Lead sheet Unit: 6 Cadences and Non-Harmonic Tones Duration: 4 hours 45 minutes Enduring Understandings: Music theory explains what musicians and composers have done in the past and why it works, but it doesn't dictate what current musicians and composers have to do. Essential Questions: How can certain chord progressions draw a composition to a satisfying end? What if a composer doesn t wish to harmonize every note of the melody? Student Learning Targets: Visually and aurally identify the common cadence types. Analyze chord progressions and identify non-chord (non-harmonic) tones. Learning Activities: 6.01a/b Phrases and sight reading Writing phrases b. Sight singing melodic minor melodies Unit 6 Cadences and nonharmonic tones 6.02 Cadence types Recognizing types of cadences 6.03 Unaccented nonharmonic tones Recognizing and writing unaccented nonharmonic tones 6.04 Accented harmonic tones Recognizing and writing accented nonharmonic tones
Unit: 7 Species Counterpoint and 4-Part Voice Leading Duration: 6 hours 30 minutes Enduring Understandings: Music theory explains what musicians and composers have done in the past and why it works, but it doesn't dictate what current musicians and composers have to do. Essential Questions: What makes some melodies more memorable than others? What are the rules for composing two melodies that complement each other? What are the rules for harmonizing a melody in four parts? Student Learning Targets: Compose a melody following the rules of good melody writing; harmonize a melody following the rules for two-part writing. Write four-part realizations from Roman numeral chord progressions and figured bass. Learning Activities: Unit 7 Voice leading 7.01a/b Writing a good melody Semester final 7.02a/b 7.03a/b Two-part voice leading a: Writing canti firmi a: Writing in two parts a: Writing in four parts Four-part voice leading Semester final, part 1 Semester final, part 1 Semester final, part 2 Semester final, part 2