Manhattanville College Department of Music

MUT 1015: Foundations of Music Theory I: Section II

Fall Term, 2007

Instructor:       Professor Mary Ann Joyce-Walter

Office:           Music Building #105

Email:            joycem@mville.edu

Office Hours:  Posted on Room #105

Course:        This course provides basic preparation in music theory for pre-professional students and non-majors. It is designed for students interested in acquiring basic skills in reading music, sight-singing and ear-training.  Topics include rhythm, scales, intervals, and basic music vocabulary.

Text Book:    A Creative Approach to Music Fundamentals , 9th edition, 2007  (ISBN:  0-495-12913-5) by William Duckworth.   Publisher:  Thomson/Schirmer

Attendance Policy:  A student who misses more than two (2) unexcused classes will need to meet with department chair and the instructor. 

Grading:       30%     Weekly assignments and quizzes, class participation

30%     Tests

20%     Mid-term Exam

20%     Final Exam 

Course Outline 

I.                    Introduction
Six Basic Music Elements
Four Characteristics of Musical Sound
Music Talent, Musical Knowledge:  a Distinction
Theory of Music
How to Practice

II.                 The Basics of Music
Rhythm
Pulse
Meter
Measures
Note and Rest Values + The Rhythm Trees

III.               Pitch
Staff
Clefs
Great Staff
Geography of the Keyboard
Musical “Distances” (half step, whole step)
diatonic:  two letter names
chromatic:  same letter name for both notes
Accidentals

IV.              Rhythm I:  Simple Meter
Dotted Notes
Time Signatures
Simple Meter and Dividing the Pulse
Common Time and Cut Time
Tempo
Counting Simple Meters
Focus on Skills I

V.                 Rhythm II:  Compound Meter
Division of Pulse in Compound Meter
Compound duple, compound triple, compound quadruple
Compound Rhythm Tree
Ties
Syncopation
Repeat Signs

VI.              Pitch continued
Enharmonic Pitches
Ledger Lines, Octave Signs, Octave I.D.
Dynamics
How to Read a Musical Map
Focus on Skills II

VII.            Major Scales
Chromatic Scale:  Total Set of Pitches in Western Music
Structure of the Major Scale
The Tonic (“Do”)
Rhythm Revisited:   Beaming Simple and Compound Meters

VIII.         Major Key Signatures
Correct placement of the sharps and flats on the treble and bass clefs
Enharmonic Keys
The Circle of Fifths

IX.              Intervals
Harmonic and Melodic Intervals
Interval Size and Quality
Perfect Intervals
Major and Minor Intervals
Focus on Skills III

N.B.:  The CD-ROM that is attached to the back page of your text contains many helpful exercises.  In addition, the following sites provide alternate explanations and offer additional exercises that you may find very useful: