1 AP Music Theory Syllabus CHS Fine Arts Department Contact Information: Parents may contact me by phone, email or visiting the school. Teacher: Karen Moore Email Address: KarenL.Moore@ccsd.us Phone Number: (740) 702-2287 ext. 16312 Online: http://www.chillicothe.k12.oh.us/schools/chs/ CHS Vision Statement: Our vision is to be a caring learning center respected for its comprehensive excellence. CHS Mission Statement: Our mission is to prepare our students to serve their communities and to commit to life-long learning Course Description and Prerequisite(s) from Course Handbook: AP Music Theory 670 (semester) State Course #120300 Level II Prerequisite: None Elective Grade: 9-12 Weighted Grade Credit: 1 This course integrates the fundamentals of music, basic theory, listening and appreciation. The Honors section of the Course prepares students to continue on to the AP section, offered spring semester. Students study the integration aspects of melody, harmony, texture, rhythm, form, and to some extent, history and style. Students must have acquired at least basic performance skills in voice or on an instrument. Students will be taught to read, to notate and to compose music. The AP section of the course is designed to develop students ability to recognize, understand and describe materials and processes of music that is heard or presented in a variety of music scores. The major topics include: 1. Functional triadic harmony in four voice texture 2. Vocabulary including non-chord tones and secondary dominants 3. Tonal relationships and modulations to closely related keys 4. Standard rhythms and meters, two voice contrapuntal techniques, examples of smaller forms 5. Correct notational skills
2 Big Ideas/Purpose per Unit and Essential Questions/Concepts per Unit: Defined below for clarity are the Big Ideas/Purpose of every unit taught during this course and the essential questions/concepts to be learned to better understand the Big Ideas/Purpose. A student s ability to grasp, answer, and apply the essential questions/concepts will define whether or not he or she adequately learns the Big Ideas/Purpose and scores well on assessments given for this course. The Common Core Standards can be found at http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards Aural and Dictation Components: The aural and dictation components in music theory will be introduced parallel to when the concepts are introduced as notation. Students will be expected to learn solfege, which allows them to aurally discern a melody without the aid of an instrument. Aural dictation uses both melodic and rhythmic concepts to determine a musical passage. Students will practice listening and notating short passages of melodic and rhythmic notation for ear training. With short compositional projects throughout the semester, students will ultimately be required to compose an eightmeasure song using all the concepts learned in the course. 1 st 9 Weeks: Unit I - Music Notation Big Idea #1: The Piano Keyboard & Music Staff Essential Question #1: How is the piano keyboard arranged? Essential Question #2: What are pitch classes? Essential Question #3: What are accidentals (sharp, flat, natural) and how are the black keys used to represent them? Essential Question #4: What are the identifiable parts of the music staff? Essential Question #5: How does the clef relate to reading the music staff? Big Idea #2: Rhythm Essential Question #1: What is meter and how does it affect the subdivision of rhythm? Essential Question #2: What are the different note and rest values in simple meter. Big Idea #3: Aural and Rhythmic Dictation Essential Question #1: What are accidentals and how are they represented in solfege syllables? Essential Question #2: How do you sing a major or chromatic scale in solfege? Essential Question #3: How can you use solfege syllables and rhythm to write out dictation examples?
3 2 nd Quarter: Unit II - Simple Meter, Rhythm, and Half/Whole Steps Big Idea #1: Simple Meter Essential Question #1: What do the top and bottom numbers in a time signature mean? Big Idea #2: Eighth Notes, Ties, and Dotted Rhythms Essential Question #1: How do ties affect note values and counting rhythm? Essential Question #2: How do eighth notes subdivide the beat, and what terminology is used to count them? Essential Question #3: What is a dot, and how does it affect the time element of note values? Big Idea #3: Half Steps and Whole Steps Essential Question #1: What is a half step or a whole step? Essential Question #2: When listening to an example, how do you distinguish whether an example played is a half or whole step? Essential Question #3: How can Solfeggio syllables aid the student in learning the difference between half and whole steps? Unit III - Tetrachords, Scales and Intervals Big Idea #1: Tetrachords Essential Question #1: What are tetrachords, and how are they formed? Essential Question #2: What are the arrangements of whole and half steps that constitute a major or minor scale? Big Idea #2: The Circle of Fifths Essential Question #1: What is a key signature? Essential Question #2: How is the Circle of Fifths used? Essential Question #3: How do parallel and relative minor key signatures relate to the major key? Big Idea #3: Intervals Essential Question #1: How is the distance of an interval determined? Essential Question #2: What are the different kinds of intervals, and how they are determined? Essential Question #3: What is the difference between augmented and diminished intervals? Unit IV - Compound Rhythm and Triads Big Idea #1: Compound Rhythm
4 Essential Question #1: What are the time signatures in compound meter? Essential Question #2: How do you determine the difference between simple and compound meter? Essential Question #3: What is syncopation? Big Idea #2: Triads Essential Question #1: What is a triad? Essential Question #2: How are scale degrees named, and how do they form the basis for different triads? Essential Question #3: How do you build major and minor triads? Big Idea #3: Chords Essential Question #1: What is a seventh chord? Essential Question #2: How many kinds of seventh chords are there and how are they formed? Essential Question #3: What are the primary triads in a major key? END OF COURSE EXAM 3rd Quarter: Unit I Review of Music Theory Big Idea #1: Music Notation and Rhythm Essential Question #1: How are all of the names of the notes in Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clef written, played, and sung in Solfeggio syllables? Essential Question #2: What are the scales in the circle of fifths (major and relative minor keys)? Essential Question #3: What is the meaning of basic rhythmic terms: beat, meter, simple, compound, tempo and how to interpret a time signature? Essential Question #4: What are the common rhythmic values in both simple and compound meter? Big Idea #2: Intervals, Triads, and Seventh Chords Essential Question #1: How are intervals formed and classified? Essential Question #2: How are triads formed and classified? Essential Question #3: What are the qualities of triads on each degree of a major or minor scale? Essential Question #4: How are seventh chords formed and classified? Essential Question #5: How are all different kinds of root and inverted chords written, played, or sung?
Big Idea #3: Diatonic Chords and Progressions Essential Question #1: What is the function of each diatonic chord in both major and minor keys? Essential Question #2: What are the rules for writing a successful melody line? Essential Question #3: How do you deal with progressions involving seventh chords? Unit II - Part Writing, Harmonic Progression, Inversions Big Idea #1: Writing Chord Progressions in Root Position Essential Question #1: How do you write progressions using chords with repeated roots? Essential Question #2: How do you write progressions using chords with roots a fourth or fifth apart? Essential Question #3: How do you write progressions using chords with roots a second or seventh apart? Big Idea #2: Harmonic Progressions Essential Question #1: What is a sequence and how do you use the circle of fifths to write melodies? Essential Question #2: What are all of the possible combinations of a chord sequence? Essential Question #3: How are chord progressions, using the Soprano and Bass part as a guide, written, played, sung, and recognized? Big Idea #3: Inversions in Triads Essential Question #1: How are first inversion chords used in three and four-part part writing? Essential Question #2: What are the special rules involving parallel sixth chords? Essential Question #3: What are the uses and functions of the Cadential, Passing, and Pedal six-four chord? 4th Quarter: Unit III - Cadences, Phrases, Periods, and Non-Chord Tones Big Idea #1: Cadences Essential Question #1: What are cadences and what different types are there? Big Idea #2: Periods and Motives Essential Question #1: What is a period? Essential Question #2: What are the different types of periods, and how they can lead to cadences? Essential Question #3: What is a motive and how is it used in music? Big Idea #3: Non-Chord Tones 5
6 Essential Question #1: What are passing and neighboring tones and how are they used? Essential Question #2: What are the uses of suspensions and retardations? Essential Question #3: What are appoggiaturas and escape tones and how are they used? Essential Question #4: What are anticipations and pedal points? Unit IV Seventh Chords and Composition Big Idea #1: Seventh Chords Essential Question #1: What is the use of the V7 chord in root position? Essential Question #2: What are the uses of the V7 chord in first, second and third? Essential Question #3: What are the uses of other diatonic seventh chords (II7, VII7, IV7)? Big Idea #2: Composition Project Essential Question #1: What music form and instrument group could be the focus for your composition? Essential Question #2: How do you create a major theme that can be used as the focus of the composition? Essential Question #3: How can you use all of the rules for chord progressions and add non-chord tones to show your understanding of the concepts learned in this course? END OF COURSE EXAM Textbook: The Musician s Guide to Theory and Analysis by Clendinning and Marvin Supplemental Textbook(s): The Musician s Guide Workbook by Clendinning and Marvin Course Materials: Notebook Binder Pencil Grading: Unit Exams 50% Assessments 30% Homework 10% Class Work 10% *End of Course Exam is 20% of a student s final grade
7 Grading Scale The grading scale for Chillicothe High School can be found in the student handbook. Late Work: Late work will be subject to the board adopted policy on assignments that are turned in late (to be reviewed in class). CHS TENTATIVE Course Schedule This is an overview of what will be covered in this course at CHS for this school year. Although, I would like to follow this plan verbatim this year s tentative schedule is subject to change (at the teacher s discretion). 1st 9 Weeks Week 1: Beginning of the Year Pre-Assessment Exam Unit I Weeks 1-2: Piano Keyboard and Music Staff Weeks 2-3: Formative Assessment Weeks 4-5: Rhythm Week 5: Unit I Summative Assessment Unit II Week 6: Simple Meter and Rhythm cont. Weeks 6-7: Formative Assessment Weeks 8-9: Half Steps and Whole Steps Week 9: Unit II Summative Assessment 2nd 9 Weeks Unit III Week 1: Tetrachords/Major and Minor Scales Weeks 1-2: Formative Assessment Weeks 3-4: Intervals Weeks 4-5: Unit III Summative Assessment Unit IV Week 5: Compound Rhythm Week 5-6: Formative Assessment Weeks 7-8: Triads and Chords Weeks 8-9: Unit IV Summative Assessment END OF COURSE EXAM 3 rd 9 Weeks Week 1: Pre-Assessment Exam Unit V Weeks 1-2: Review of Honors Music Theory Weeks 2-3: Formative Assessment Weeks 4-5: Diatonic Chords and Progressions Week 5: Unit I Summative Assessment Unit VI Week 6: Part Writing and Chord Progressions Weeks 6-7: Formative Assessment
8 Weeks 8-9: Inversions in Triads Week 9: Unit II Summative Assessment 4 th 9 Weeks Unit VII Week 1: Cadences, Periods, and Motives Weeks 1-2: Formative Assessment Weeks 3-4: Non-Chord Tones Weeks 4-5: Unit III Summative Assessment Unit VIII Week 5: Seventh Chords, introduce compositional project Week 5-6: Formative Assessment and Review for AP Test Weeks 7-8: Compositional Project Weeks 8-9: Unit IV Summative Assessment END OF COURSE EXAM Performance Based Section: Writing Assignments/Exams/Presentations/Technology One or more of the End of Unit Exams may be Performance Based. According to the Ohio Department of Education, Performance Based Assessments (PBA) provides authentic ways for students to demonstrate and apply their understanding of the content and skills within the standards. The performance based assessments will provide formative and summative information to inform instructional decisionmaking and help students move forward on their trajectory of learning. Some examples of Performance Based Assessments include but are not limited to portfolios, experiments, group projects, demonstrations, essays, and presentations.
9 CHS AP Music Theory Course Syllabus After you have reviewed the preceding packet of information with your parent(s) or guardian(s), please sign this sheet and return it to me so that I can verify you understand what I expect out of each and every one of my students. Student Name (please print): Student Signature: Parent/Guardian Name (please print): Parent/Guardian Signature: Date: