Music Theory

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of music theory. Covering fundamental concepts to more advanced topics, the course aims to build a solid foundation in the language of music. Students will learn how to read and write musical notation, understand scales and chords, and analyze musical structures.

Course Outline

1. Introduction to Music Theory
   • The elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, form
   • The musical staff, clefs, and note values
   • Basic rhythm and meter: time signatures, note durations, and rests
2. Reading and Writing Music
   • Introduction to musical notation: notes, rests, and symbols
   • Understanding the grand staff: treble and bass clefs
   • Writing and reading simple melodies
   • Introduction to ledger lines and accidentals (sharps, flats, naturals)
3. Scales and Keys
   • The musical alphabet and the concept of whole steps and half steps
   • Major and minor scales: construction and patterns
   • The circle of fifths and key signatures
   • Relative minor and major keys
4. Intervals
   • Understanding and identifying intervals: unison, seconds, thirds, etc.
   • Major, minor, perfect, augmented, and diminished intervals
   • Ear training exercises to recognize intervals by ear
   • Melodic and harmonic intervals
5. Chords and Harmony
   • Triads: major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords
   • Inversions of triads
   • Seventh chords and their types (dominant, major, minor, diminished, half-diminished)
   • Basic chord progressions and their functions
6. Rhythm and Meter
   • Simple and compound meters
   • Syncopation and rhythmic patterns
   • Advanced rhythmic concepts: triplets, dotted notes, ties
   • Rhythmic dictation and exercises
7. Musical Form and Structure
   • Common musical forms: binary, ternary, rondo, sonata-allegro
   • Phrase structure and cadences
   • Analysis of simple musical forms
   • Understanding motifs, themes, and variations
8. Advanced Harmony
   • Secondary dominants and modulation
   • Non-chord tones: passing tones, neighboring tones, suspensions, appoggiaturas
   • Voice leading principles and part-writing
   • Harmonic analysis of classical and contemporary pieces
9. Ear Training and Sight-Singing
   • Developing aural skills: interval, chord, and rhythm recognition
   • Sight-singing simple melodies
   • Dictation exercises: melodic and rhythmic
   • Harmonic dictation and identifying chord progressions
10. Composition and Arranging
    • Basic principles of composing melodies
    • Harmonizing a melody
    • Writing for different instruments and voices
    • Introduction to arranging music
11. Music Technology and Notation Software
    • Introduction to music notation software (e.g., Finale, Sibelius)
    • Using software for composing and arranging
    • Basics of MIDI and digital audio workstations (DAWs)
    • Recording and editing music using technology
12. Review and Final Project
    • Reviewing all concepts learned in the course
    • Analyzing a piece of music using learned techniques
    • Creating a final project: composing a piece or arranging an existing piece
    • Presenting and performing final projects