AP Music Theory OswegoEastMusic.

org

Mr. Peter Barsch pbarsch0805@oswego308.org

Course Description:

AP Music Theory is a course developed according to the principles found on the Music Theory section of the College Board AP Central website (http://apcentral.collegeboard.com). This course gives students an opportunity to learn composition techniques, form, and analysis of works from major periods and genres of Western Music. The ultimate goal of the Music Theory courses is to develop each student's ability to recognize, understand, describe, and use the basic materials and processes of music that are heard or presented in a score. Students will develop aural, analytical, and compositional skills. This class is designed to prepare students for the AP Exam with the goal of testing out of college freshman Music Theory courses. While not required, it is expected that all students will take the AP test.

Resources:
Music in Theory and Practice, 8th ed., by Bruce Benward and Marilyn Saker is the primary source material for the course. The order of topics (generally), assignments, and many recorded examples are drawn from that book. Ear training and individually paced exercises are provided by eMusicTheory.com, and will run concurrently to the concepts outlined below. Auralia 4.0 software provides additional aural exercises. Other source materials include Norton Anthology of Western Music by J. Peter Burkholder and Claude Palisca, and How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition by Robert Greenberg.

eMusicTheory.com:
Students will have weekly eMusicTheory.com (EMT) assignments. They provide individually paced practice and help each student achieve fluency with each concept. Music Theory is cumulative; each new concept depends not just on the understanding of previous concepts, but on their fluency and speed. As such, EMT will provide an opportunity for individuals to get faster and more accurate at his or her own pace.

History:
Since we are studying techniques used by composers over the last 600 years, we will make a cursory study of some of the music and composers of each period. As this is not a music history class, however, this cannot be anything but the briefest of surveys. We will study these elements to humanize the composers, to understand what their music was meant to express, and to see the theoretical techniques they used to capture their world in their compositions.

Grading: 25% eMusicTheory.com assignments 25% Composition Projects 25% Homework packets 25% Exams

Course Outline:
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 13-14 Calendar 8/19 8/26 9/3 9/9 9/16 9/23 9/30 10/7 10/15 10/21 10/28 11/4 11/11 11/18 12/2 12/9 12/16 1/6 1/13 1/21 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/18 2/24 3/3 3/10 3/17 3/24 3/31 4/7 4/14 4/21 4/28 5/5 5/12 5/19

This is a general outline of the upcoming concepts:

Concept Probably Major Activity Introduce routines Identify & Build Major & Minor scales Write & play melodies using various scales Practice hearing, writing, & playing intervals Practice hearing, writing, & playing intervals Triads, Diatonic chords, Roman Numerals Inversion symbols, Figured Bass, Jazz symbols Open/closed cadences; Aural Identification Types of NHT, accent/unacc., Analysis Analysis, Melody writing Composition project Composition project Composition project V1,C7: Texture Texture types/elements, identification Aural/visual analysis Final Exam Aural/visual analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Composition Project 2008 AP Test Review

Intro; What is Sound? Vol 1, Ch 1: Notation Vol 1, Ch 2: Scales Scales Cont.: Circle of 5ths V1,C3: Intervals V1,C3: Intervals V1,C4: Chords V1,C4: Chords V1,C5: Cadences V1,C5: Non-harmonic Tones V1,C6 (& C8): Writing Good Melodies V1,C6 (& C8): Writing Good Melodies V1,C10: Progressions

V1,C8&9: Voice Leading V1,C11&13: Dom & non-dom 7ths V1,C12: Leading tone 7ths Review All 7ths V1,C15: Tonicization V1,C14: Modulation V1,C16: Binary Form V1, C17: Ternary & Rounded Binary Modes Review (Vol1, p40-41) Vol 2, Ch 2: Baroque Counterpoint Vol 2, Ch 3: Fugue Vol 2, Ch 4: Modal Borrowing Vol 2, Ch 4: Modal Borrowing Vol 2, Ch 5: Neapolitan 6ths Vol 2, Ch 7: Variation Technique Vol 2, Ch 8: Sonata Form Vol 2, Ch 9: Rondo Forms Vol 2, Ch 6: Aug 6th chords (opt.) V2, C10: Extended Tertian Harmony (opt.) Composition Project Composition Project Exam Review Final Composition Project Final Composition Project Final Composition Project Music Theory AP Exam Final Composition Project Composition Project 2007 AP Test Analysis