AP Music Theory                                                                       

Syllabus                                                      

                                                                       

 

Course Overview

This college level course builds upon the fundamentals of music learned in the advanced performing arts classes of McLean High School.  While an emphasis in music in college is a frequent outcome of this course, it is not a requirement for study.  Musical Composition, Analysis, and use of Finale, Smart Music and Sibelius in addition to other Midi formats are learned to further the students understanding of Music Theory.

 

Course Objectives

Students will gain an understanding of the historical elements of music and of basic composition and analytical elements.  They will also acquire greater facility in basic musicianship skills, composition, terminology and analysis.  The major goal of the AP Music Theory curriculum  per the AP College Board Course Description is to “develop a student’s ability to recognize, understand, and describe the basic materials and processes of music that are heard or presented in a score”   This is the key descriptor of this class.

Students are prepared to take the AP Music Theory Exam when they have completed this course.  Students planning to make a career of music in college may be able to enroll in an advanced music theory course, dependent upon the schools AP Policy.

 

General Course Content

  1. The review of music fundamentals covered in performance classes.  See Fairfax County Public Schools Program of Studies Artist Level Proficiencies.
  2. The daily study of Aural Dictation and Sight Singing,
  3. The completion of weekly Aural and Sight Singing tests administered on Smart Music, on students’ free time.
  4. The study of the accepted basic canon of great musical works.
  5. The scientific study of overtones
  6. The historical study of notation and development of modes, scales, and figured bass.
  7. The study of functional harmony
  8. The study of  two-voice counterpoint and introduction to species 1-5
  9. The study of four-part Bach style chorales
  10. The study of seventh chords
  11. The study of secondary dominant function
  12. The historical study of musical form
  13. The study of musical analysis
  14. The study of basic compositional techniques.
  15. The study and taking of AP Music Theory Practice exams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primary Texts

Kostka, Stefan and Dorothy Payne 2004. Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music, 5th ed. New York; McGraw-Hill

 

Benward, Bruce and  Saker Marilyn 2003. Music in Theory and Practice and Workbook, 8th ed. New York; McGraw-Hill

 

Ottman, Robert. 2004. Music for Sight-Singing, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.; Prentice Hall

 

Forney, Kristine. The Norton Scores, A study Anthology, 7th ed. NewYork;  W.W. Norton and Company

 

Course Planner

 

The first nine weeks

 

  1. Fundamentals and a Brief History of Notation in Early and Medieval Music
  2. The Science of Overtones and the Origination of Modes in Medieval Music
  3. Scales, Tonality, and Key
  4. Intervals and quality (Major, minor, diminished, and Augmented)
  5. Chord structures and Implied Harmony (use of Roman and Arabic Numerals)(composition of a bass line for a given melody)
  6. Tonal Relationships and Harmonic Function, including use of inversions and Figured Bass Notation
  7. Harmonic Function, Cadences, and Nonharmonic tones
  8. Elements of Melody and Phrase Structures (including melodic motivic material and composition of a melody)
  9. Elements of Rhythm and Rhythmic Devices (including rhythmic motivic material)

 

The second nine weeks

 

1.      Texture, Timbre, and Tone,

(introduction to orchestration and transposing instruments)

2.      Baroque Voice leading practices, Species counterpoint, beginning realization of Figured Bass.

3.      Harmonic Progressions and Voice leading in the Baroque Chorale Form

4.      Dominant seventh chords, and their functions. Emphasis on Figured Bass

5.      Leading tone seventh chords and Realization of  Figured Bass

6.      nondominant seventh chords

7.      Modulation

8.      secondary dominants and leading tone chords

9.      Binary Form and the History of Form from the Baroque to Renaissance

 

The third nine weeks

           

1.      Ternary Form

2.      Late Renaissance Polyphony

3.      Two voice eighteenth-century counterpoint

4.      the Fugue in the Baroque and Classical periods

5.      Borrowed Chords

6.      Neapolitan sixth chords and Augmented sixth chords

7.      Theme and Variation

8.      Sonata Form in the Classical and Romantic Periods

9.      Rondo Form

 

The fourth nine weeks

 

1.      Review of all course material

2.      Review of all course material

3.      AP Music Theory Exam

4.      9th, 11th , and 13th, chords as pertaining to the Romantic and Impressionist periods

5.      Altered Dominants

6.      Chromatic Mediants

7.      Music History/Theory  and the Romantic Period

8.      Music History/Theory and the Twentieth Century

9.      In class presentation of composition project

 

 

 

Classroom Procedures

 

(The 90 minute class is divided into the following 7 increments)

 

Skill Drills 5 minutes

Lecture 20 minutes

Sight Singing 10 minutes

Application of Lecture Material,

Board work and demonstrations 15 minutes

Aural Skills 10 minutes

Compositional task assignment 15 minutes (to be completed at home)

Discussion of Listening assignment,

Homework check, review of last classes material 15 Minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Expectations

Ø      Students are expected to participate actively in classroom discussions and demonstration using the Smartboard technology each week.

Ø      Students must complete and turn in assigned homework. 

Ø      Students will attend two concerts per quarter, and reflect on them in written discussion on Blackboard.

Ø      Students must keep  a comprehensive notebook with returned tests, quizzes, and homework. 

Ø      Students must participate in discussions via the teachers BlackBoard site once a week. 

Ø      Students are also required to download Finale and Sibelius assignments from the same site.  Every effort should be made to complete and turn in work via the computer, the work will then be corrected and submitted back to the students electronically.  If this is not practical students may use the library or music stations in the practice rooms to complete assignments and/or print them out and complete them in pencil, to be turned in to the teacher at the next class.

Ø      Students will listen to two hours of music each week and log their listening onto the BlackBoard discussion account.  Subject matter of these discussions should include, rhythmic, melodic and harmonic characteristics of the music in addition to a lengthy discussion of form.

Ø      Students will submit two compositions per quarter and will submit a final composition in their fourth quarter (displaying the skills acquired throughout the year).

The forms represented in these compositions will be, but are not limited to, Binary, Ternary, Sonata, Fugue, Species 1-5 Counterpoint, and Theme and Variations.  Compositions will be in major and minor mode, church mode and delve into whole-tone, chromatic, and twentieth century techniques (such as serialism and tone row construction)  Students must display the ability to modulate to parallel and related keys.  The students will orchestrate for transposing instruments and endeavor to write artistically for the timbre and tone of each instrument, keeping  in mind their fundamental ranges.

Ø      Students will complete an internet project dealing with the stylistic practices of each major musical period, their corresponding major works and historically significant events.

Ø      Students will author a ten page paper based upon the theoretical study of one piece, to include analysis of all the elements melody, rhythm, harmony, orchestration, articulation and historical context.  This will constitute their midterm grade.

Ø      Students will take Aural and Sight Singing tests via Smart Music outside of class.  (8 private rooms are equipped with this technology to facilitate faster testing, students will receive reminders via email if their scores do not appear in the teachers grade book, extra help with the technology and skills is available in class and afterschool.)

Ø      Students will take the AP Music Theory Exam, as mandated by Fairfax County Public Schools.

 

 

 

Student Evaluation

Daily Assignments 15 percent

Homework 10 percent (Blackboard discussion, Listening Logs)

Sight Singing and Aural skills tests 25 percent

Compositions 25 percent

Quizzes/Unit tests 25 percent

 

Web Resources

 

http://www.makemusic.com  Smart music and Finale Notepad subscriptions for Music Theory Students

 

http://www.dolmetsch.com/index.htm  music theory and history text

 

http://www.emusictheory.com/drillNoteReading.html     theory drills

 

http://www.earpower.com/download.php  Theory drills

 

http://www.good-ear.com/servlet/EarTrainer  free eartraining program

 

http://www.msu.edu/user/spangle9  ear training program listings

 

http://musictheory.net Theory drills

 

http://www.top20musictheory.com/ list and links of music and music theory resources

 

http://music.theory.home.att.net/ Solomon’s Music Theory and Composition Resources

 

www.metronomeonline.com  online metronome

 

www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores  classical scores printable online

 

www.sheetmusicarchive.net classical scores printable online

 

www.chordfind.com  guitar chords with fret picture

 

www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano  chord charts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listening List

 

Most of these recordings can be found on the Norton Anthology Recordings.  The school library has all of these recordings and scores available for lending.  Additionally, we will be listening to many of these pieces in class and discussing them further.  Please see complete discography on our AP Music Theory BlackBoard site.

 

Quarter 1

Gregorian Chant,                                  in class

Notre dame school,                              Organum,

Hildegard van Bingen                         Ordo virtutum

Guillaume Dufay,                  L’ autre d’antan

Josquin Desprez                                   Ave Maria

Giovanni Palestrina                              Pope Marcellus Mass

William Byrd                                         The Carmans Whistle

Claudio Monteverdi,                           Book five of Madrigals

Henry Purcell,                                       Dido and Aeneas

Francois Couperin                               Pieces de Clavecin, Sixth Ordre

Arcangello Corelli                                Trio Sonata Op.4

Luca Marenzio                                      S’io parto I moro

Antonio Vivaldi,                   The Four Seasons

George Frideric Handel,                      Water Music

                                                                Messiah

Bach,                                                      Cantata 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott

                                                                Brandenburg Concerto

                The Well-tempered Clavier, any book

                                                                B minor Mass

                                                                St Matthew Passion

Domenicco Scarlatti                             Sonata in D Major, K119

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi                Stabat Mater

La serva padrona, Duetto: Lo Conosco

Christolph Gluck                                  Orfeo et Euridice

Quarter 2

Joseph Haydn,                                     The Surprise Symphony

                                String quartet in D Minor Op.76

                                                                Lord Nelson Mass

                                                                Symphony 104 from London

Wolfgang Mozart                                                Piano Concerto in G Major K.453

                                                                The magic Flute

                                                                Symphony No 40

                                                                Symphony No 41

Ludwig Von Beethoven                     

                                                                Symphony no. 3, 5, and 9

                                                                Waldstein sonata

Franz Schubert,                                    Erlkonig

Impromptu Op 42

Hector Berlioz,                                      Symphonie Fantastique

                                                                Damnation of Faust, Hungarian March

Carl Maria Von Weber                        Der Freishcutz

Felix Mendelssohn                              A Midsummer night’s dream

                                                                Elias

Anton Bruckner                                   Symphony No. 7

Camille Saint-Saens                             Carnival of the Aninals

Frederic Chopin                                    Polonnaise in A-flat major Op.53

Robert Schuman,                                  Op. 54 Piano Concerto in A minor

                                                                Der Nussbaum

Clara Schumann                                   Liebst du um Schonheit, Lied                                           

Franz Liszt                                             Wilde Jagd, Transcendental Etude  No.8

                                                                Op 48 Dichterliebe

Quarter 3

Richard Wagner,                 Die Walkure, act III

                                                                Tristan and Isolde

Giuseppe Verdi,                    Aida

                                                                Requiem Tuba Mirum, Dies Irae

Hugo Wolf                                            No.28 Morike Songs

Clara Schumann,                  Scherzo Op. 10

Johannes Brahms                 Ein Deutsches Requiem

                                                                Vergebliches Standchen

                                                                Symphony No 4

George Bizet                                          Carmen

Gabriel Faure                                         Requiem

                                                                Op 27 No.1

Modest Musorgsky                            Pictures at an exhibition

Gustav Holst                                         the Planets

Peter Tchaikovsky                              

                                                                1812 Overture

Khatchaturian                                       Gayaneh

Prokofiev                                               Romeo and Juliet, Montagues and Capulets

Antonin Dvorak                   Symphony no.9

Leoncavallo,                                         Pagliacci

Mahler                                                   Das Lied von der Erde

                                                                Symphony 2, 8

Bedrich Smetana                  The Moldau

Borodin                                  Prince Igor, Plovtsian Dances

Claude Debussy,                  Prelude to the afternoon of the fawn

Erik Satie                                                Trois Gymnopedies No.1

Richard Strauss                    Der Rosenkavalier

Chabrier                                 Espana

Carl Orff                                 Carmina Burana

Arnold Schoenberg                             Pierrot lunaire, op 21

Charles Ives                                          Three places in New England

Maurice Ravel                                      Songs of Madagascar

 

Quarter 4

Bartok                                                    Music for Strings

Paul Hindemith                     Fugue No. 5 and Interlude from Ludas Tonalis

Maurice Ravel                                      Sonatine

Olivier Messiaen                  Quatuor pour la fin du temps

John Cage                                             Sonatas and Interludes nos. 1 and 5

Benjamin Britten                   War Requiem

Milton Babbitt                                      Semi Simple Variations

Krzysztof Pendericki                            Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Stravinsky                                             Symphony of Psalms

                                                                The Firebird

                                                                Le Sacre du Printemps

Anton Webern                     Symphony op 21

Aaron Copland                     Fanfare for the Common Man

                                                                Appalachian Spring

Leonard Bernstein                               West Side Story

                                                                Chichester Psalms

Ligeti                                                      Desordre

Boulez                                                    The Hammer without a master

George Crumb                                       Ancient Voices of Children

John Adams                                          Nixon in China

Steve Reich                                           Tehillim

 

Teaching Strategies

 

Vocabulary is perhaps the most important aspect of this course and is critical to the success in the AP Music Theory Exam.  Along with the syllabus each student is supplied with a list of terms and concepts for them to define, so that students don’t miss important terminology used in lecture.  They also serve as important review material for the exam.  Music Theory is addressed from an historical perspective, the listening list is linked to the  terminology so that each term can be heard in its historical construct.  The student can then acquire the “story” of musical development.

Daily composition is required as a further means to reach students with different learning styles.  Games and manipulatives along with pneumonics and associative word techniques further aid students in acquiring knowledge and “chunking” memory materials.

Students are required to sing everything written on Smartboard, including intervals, their inversions, chords, melodies, figured bass examples so they can learn to recognize the sound.  Students are also given opportunities to hear and to play them in class.  The stricture of requiring students to solfeg adds to their aural training and their theoretical understanding of the devices used in theory.

Group work is encouraged and small study groups are formed in the first weeks of class. 

Students are encouraged to work with partners to check their work and to come during Highlander time and after school or during lunch to get added help.

 

Teacher Resources

 

Benward, Bruce, and Marilyn Saker. 2003. Music in Theory and Practice, 7th ed.

                Boston: McGraw-Hill

 

Gauldin, Robert. 1997. Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music. New York: W.W. Norton.

 

Harder, Paul O., and Greg A. Steinke. 1994. Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music: A Programmed Course, Vols. 1 and 2, 7th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon

 

Kostka, Stefan, and Dorothy Payne. 2000. Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music. New York: McGraw-Hill

 

Kraft, Leo. 1999. A New Approach to Ear Training: A Programmed Course in Melodic and Harmonic Dictation, 2nd ed  New York: W.W. Norton.

 

Martin, Linda, 2007. Music Theory from an Historical Perspective, Telling the Story, 1st ed.

                London, England: Oxford University Press

 

McClung, Alan. 2006. Moveable Tonic, A Sequenced Sight-Singing Method, Chicago.: GIA Publications

 

Ottman, Robert. 2001 Music for Sight Singing, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall

 

Turek, Ralph, compiler. 1992 Analytical Anthology of Music, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill