Materials of Music II
Curriculum guideline
Lecture: 4 hours per week
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.
- Melody: review of tonal scales; introduction to modes and other types of scales such as pentatonic and blues; the role of motive, sequence, and non-chord tones in melodic construction.
- Rhythm: review of simple and compound metres; introduction to additive and asymmetrical metres; the role of syncopation and repetition in rhythmic construction.
- Harmony: review of triads; introduction to seventh chords in root position and inversion; basic harmonic progressions and cadences; Roman numeral labels; lead-sheet chord symbols and figured bass inversion symbols.
- Texture and Timbre: techniques for analyzing various types of scores (such as piano, piano/vocal, choral, instrumental ensemble, and orchestral); introduction to transposing instruments and instrumental transcription.
- Structure: introduction to phrase structures and basic forms; period structures; simple instrumental forms; song forms such as strophic, through-composed, 12-bar blues, 16-bar and 32-bar popular song forms.
- Song writing: basic aspects of melodic and rhythmic organization, harmonic structure, text setting, and accompaniment; short compositional exercises.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- communicate an expanded working knowledge of the rudiments of music;
- demonstrate notational fluency with basic tonal and rhythmic materials;
- provide a harmonic analysis of a given passage of music;
- provide a structural analysis of a given passage of music;
- compose short musical exercises using specified materials;
- create a musical score using notation software;
- participate constructively in the college classroom.
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 (no individual grade weighted at more than 2%) | 5% |
| Assignments (minimum of 2) | 5% |
| Quizzes, Speed Drills, In-class Activities (minimum of 10) | 25% |
| Tests (4 tests, top 3 grades recorded @ 10% each) | 30% |
| Final Project | 10% |
| Final Examination | 20% |
| Class Participation | 5% |
| TOTAL |
100% |
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)