Course

Theory Of Tonal Music I

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Music
Course Code
MUSC 1110
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
20
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Tutorial
Typically Offered
Fall

Overview

Course Description
First part of a comprehensive study of the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and formal elements of tonal music. Review of rudiments; study of basic diatonic chord progressions; analysis of small structural units.
Course Content

 

  1. The Properties of Sound:  Introduction to acoustics and the harmonic series.
  2. Melody: interval types, scale types; melodic structure; sequences.
  3. Rhythm: metre types; rhythmic patterns in metrical contexts; syncopation and hemiola.
  4. Harmony: types of triads and seventh chords and their inversions; figured bass symbols; lead-sheet symbols; roman numeral labels; tonic, dominant, and predominant chord functions; cadence types; introduction to non-harmonic tone types.
  5. Form: phrase types and period structures; motivic construction; graphic representation of formal analysis.

 

Learning Activities

Concepts and techniques are presented and discussed in the lectures; applications will be worked on in the tutorials; assignments are undertaken by the students.

Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

Assignments (minimum of 5)

15%

Class Participation (including homework checks)

10%

Quizzes (minimum of 5)

20%

Speed Drills (minimum of 10)

10%

Tests (minimum of 2)

20%

Final Examination

25%

TOTAL:  

100%
Learning Outcomes

The student will learn basic theoretical principles of tonal music. The student will be expected to:

  1. provide an analysis of representative musical excerpts;
  2. demonstrate notational fluency with basic tonal and rhythmic materials;
  3. provide written answers to questions on any aspect of the course content.

Textbook Materials

Required texts such as the following:

  • Kostka, Stefan, Dorothy Payne and Byron Almen. Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music. New York: McGraw-Hill. Plus accompanying workbook.

Requisites

Prerequisites

Meets or exceeds minimum thresholds on the Music Theory Assessment.

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

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.

(Current)

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 1110
Athabasca University (AU) AU MUSI 2XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU MUS 100 (3)
Columbia College (COLU) No credit
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU MUSI 1150 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MUSI 1XXX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU MUSC 1XXX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO MUSC_O 100 (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV MUSC_V 100 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV MUSC 1XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC MUS 101A (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC MUSC 1303 (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) Individual assessment

Course Offerings

Winter 2025