Course

Materials of Music I

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Music
Course code
MUSC 1101
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
25
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
Fall

Overview

Course description
This course introduces the materials of tonal music from rudiments to the basics of harmony. Minimal musical experience and reading ability are required. Open to all students, but priority will be given to full-time Basic Musicianship and Foundation for Music Therapy Studies (FMTS) students.
Course content
  1. Pitch Notation
    • The staff, the grand staff
    • Treble and Bass clefs
    • Notes
    • Ledger lines
    • Pitch and the Keyboard
    • Octave registers, 8va, 8vb
    • Accidentals
    • Tones and Semitones
    • Enharmonic Equivalents
  2. Time Notation
    • Note values
    • Dots
    • Stems, flags, beams
    • Ties
    • Rests
  3. Meter
    • Simple meters
    • Compound meters
    • Anacrusis
    • Guidelines for rhythmic notation
  4. Tonality
    • Tonal centre
    • Major scales, key signatures
    • Scale degrees
    • Relative and parallel key relationships
    • Minor scales, key signatures
    • Natural, harmonic, and melodic forms of minor scale
    • Circle of fifths
  5. Intervals
    • Numerical value
    • Quality
    • Inversion
    • Melodic and harmonic
    • Simple and compound intervals
  6. Melody
    • Contour
    • Simple transposition of tonal melodies
  7. Triads and Harmony
    • Basic chord terminology (i.e. root, third, fifth, doubling, open, closed)
    • Tonic, subdominant, and dominant triads in major and minor keys
    • Triad inversions
    • Roman numeral labels
    • Lead-sheet chord symbols
  8. Basic Performance Indications
    • Tempo, changes in tempo
    • Dynamics, changes in dynamic
    • Expressive indications
    • Articulation
    • Repeat devices
Learning activities

Classes will include explanation and demonstration of concepts by the instructor and practice of the concepts by the student in the form of written, verbal, individual and group activities.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in a course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation must be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

The following is a sample grades breakdown:

Homework / small assignments (no individual grade weighted at more than 2%)  15%
Quizzes, Speed Drills, In-class Activities (minimum of 10) 30%
Tests (4 tests, top 3 grades recorded @ 10% each) 30%
Final Examination 20%
Class Participation   5%
TOTAL 

100%

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • identify visual elements of the modern staff notation system;
  • reproduce musical elements in writing;
  • demonstrate a working knowledge of music rudiments, as outlined in the Course Content;
  • compose short musical exercises using specified materials;
  • participate constructively in the college classroom. 

 

Textbook materials

A required text and/or digital resource may be assigned by the instructor. 

Text example:

Current edition of Henry, Earl, Jennifer Snodgrass, and Susan Piagentini. Fundamentals of Music: Rudiments, Musicianship, and Composition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Digital resource example: 

Student subscription to Artusi Music (www.artusimusic.com)

 

Requisites

Prerequisites

Completion of MUSC Placement Assessment (Literacy)

Corequisites

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for MUSC 1101
Athabasca University (AU) AU MUSI 1XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU MUS 109 (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) DOUG MUSC 1101 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1102 (3) = CAPU MUS 109 (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU MUSI 1120 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) DOUG MUSC 1101 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1104 (3) = SFU CA 104 (3) & SFU CA 1XX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) DOUG MUSC 1101 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1104 (3) & DOUG MUSC 1204 (3) = SFU CA 104 (3) & SFU CA 1XX (6)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CA 1XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MUSI 1XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU MUSI 110 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) No credit
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) No credit
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC MUS 111 (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC MUSC 1013 (2)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) Individual Audition Required

Course Offerings

Summer 2025