Catalog Description
- Transfer Status
- CSU/UC
- Prerequisite
- MUS 82
- Unit(s)
- 4.00
- Lecture: 51.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/153.00 Total hours/3.00 Unit(s)
- Lab: 51.00 Contact hours/0.00 Out of class hours/51.00 Total hours/1.00 Unit(s)
- Total: 102.00 Contact hours/102.00 Out of class hours/204.00 Total hours/4.00 Unit(s)
Course Description: This course incorporates and further develops the concepts from Theory & Musicianship II and explores advanced chromatic harmony. Topics include borrowed chords, Neapolitan chord, augmented sixth chords, altered chords, chromatic modulation techniques, and an introduction to post-tonal music. Musicianship component develops advanced skills in sight singing and dictation, including decorative chromaticism, altered chords, modulation to closely related keys, and irregular meters. (C-ID MUS 140/MUS 145).
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
- Demonstrate the ability to analyze musical works that incorporate advanced chromatic harmony.
- Voice lead a chord progression using advanced chromatic harmony.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of orchestration.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of post-tonal music and composition.
- Identify and sight singing melodies derived from chromatic harmony.
- Identify and sight singing melodies that modulate to closely related keys.
- Sight-reading and dictation of rhythms with irregular meters.
- Dictation of harmonic progressions using all secondary chords and chromaticism
Course Content
Topic Titles / Suggested Time Topic
Lecture
| Topics | Lec Hrs |
|---|---|
Overview of larger forms | 3.00 |
Borrowed chords/modal mixture | 4.00 |
Neapolitan and augmented-sixth chords within compositions | 4.00 |
How to compose using chromatic mediants | 4.00 |
How to identify and write 9th, 11th, and 13th chords | 4.00 |
How to write altered chords: cdim7, sub 6 V, V+ | 4.00 |
How to compose using melodic chromaticism | 4.00 |
How to identify secondary/applied chords | 4.00 |
Composition techniques using modulation to closely related keys | 4.00 |
How to aurally identify and write inversions | 4.00 |
How to identify and write triplets at the subdivision and beat level | 4.00 |
How to write and identify duplets and quartolets at the beat level in compound meter | 4.00 |
How to compose using more advanced syncopation, including at the subdivision level | 4.00 |
| Total Hours: | 51.00 |
Lab
| Topics | Lab Hrs |
|---|---|
Melodic dictation with chromaticism and modulation to closely related keys with increasing complexity. | 9.00 |
Harmonic dictation and chord progression aural identification through notating the outer voices of SATB progressions and analyzing the chord qualities, including all chromatic and altered chords, as well as modulation with increasing complexity. | 9.00 |
Rhythmic dictation with a focus on compound and irregular meters. | 4.00 |
Keyboard-style dictation: Practicing dictation on grand staff by writing out the melody line and the accompaniment. | 4.00 |
Sight singing melodies using chromaticism, altered chords, borrowed chords, and modulation with increasing complexity. | 9.00 |
Sight-reading rhythms with irregular meters with increasing complexity. | 9.00 |
Harmony, orchestration, form, and analysis problem-solving: strategies for SATB harmonization, basic orchestration, and score analysis with increasing complexity | 7.00 |
| Total Hours: | 51.00 |
Methods of Instruction
- Class Activities
- Collaborative Group Work
- Demonstrations
- Homework: Students are required to complete two hours of outside-of-class homework for each hour of lecture
- Lecture
Methods of Evaluation
- Quizzes
- Demonstration
- Lab Projects
- Written Assignments
- Theory/composition assignments, Individual sight singing/rhythm exercises and examinations, Dictation exercises and examinations.
Examples of Assignments
Reading Assignments
- Read "What is Chromatic Harmony" article, and be prepared to discuss how chromaticism has been used in modern music genres that are heavily based on tonality.
- Read Butch Morris' introduction to conduction and write a short response explaining the pros and cons of this approach to conducting and chamber music performance.
Writing Assignments
- Using an AI chatbot write an abstract for an analytic paper on a 20th century piece of music. Create a annotated bibliography, and a 15-minute presentation with presentation notes. Share your writing along with the log of your chat with the chatbot.
- Compose a piece that you can manage to perform and record yourself, with a focus on harmony. Write a 1-2 page reflection on the process and explain your composition's harmonic structure and why and how your focus was on harmony.
Out-of-Class Assignments
- Complete your weekly theory assignment: Analyze the beginning of the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and label the modulation as well as all the chords and non chord tones.
- Complete the weekly dictation assignment and provide the analysis for the harmonic dictation using Roman numeral analysis.
Recommended Materials of Instruction
Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne and Byron Almén. (2024). Tonal Harmony. McGraw Hill, 9th. 9781265307356.
Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne and Byron Almén. (2024). Workbook for Tonal Harmony. McGraw Hill, 9th. 9781265308001.
Minimum Qualifications
Music (Masters Required)