Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0264 - Tonal Theory I

This course is for students with the solid knowledge of Western music fundamentals including the proficiency with staff notation. After a quick rigorous review of these basics, we delve deeper into functions of diatonic harmony, beginning with two-voice species counterpoint composition with basic melodic embellishments. The class then proceeds to four-part harmony and voicing techniques. In this section, we also explore relationship between cadences and forms; students compose a four-voice chorale using a binary form. In the last section, students engage in a more comprehensive multi-level analysis: harmonic, contextual, motivic, hypermetric, and formal. For their final, students apply the knowledge to analyze a minuet in a basic ternary form and compose their own for the instrumentation of their choice. Prerequisite: HACU 119 Musical Beginnings or equivalent AND the placement test in the first class.

Independent Work In addition to the regular class meetings, participation in the weekly ear training is mandatory.