MUSI1111 Music Theory 1

Credit Hours: 3 semester hours

Course Description

A beginning introduction to the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and structural principles of music and notation. Ear training, sight singing, and 4-part writing receive particular emphasis.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of this course are as follows:

• To encourage student experimentation with sound effects and music.

• To develop or enhance some means of personal creative expression using audio software.

• To develop confidence in sharing original ideas with a group.

• To demonstrate the ability to design convincing audio environments with commonly available technology.

• To identify, analyze, and exercise techniques found in the works of other sound designers, composers and programmers.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

• Create original sonic art and sound effects in the abstract and organize them for future projects.

• Build upon the programming of others and adapt programs for their own sound generation needs.

• Capture or generate audio effects to meet the descriptive needs of specific media.

• Identify and discuss sonic art strategies employed in the work of other designers.

Books Needed

• Book: Contemporary Musicianship by Jennifer Sterling Snodgrass

Books Suggested

• Book: How to Play Jazz and Improvise by Jamey Aebersold

Materials Needed

• Active email account

• A computer with Internet access that can properly display web pages, PDF documents, and is capable of streaming audio and video (could be accomplished in the library or a computer lab)

• A quality (full spectrum, 20-20,000 Hz) pair of headphones. For sanitary reasons and the health of the ear I strongly recommend using the type of headphones that cover the outer ears, rather than the earbud type that go inside the ear opening.

• Access to a piano keyboard

• Music staff paper 10 lines to a page preferred. Leaves room for notes and symbols.

Materials Suggested

• A metronome as a device or app

• A pitch pipe, tuning fork, or other source of reference pitch

• A piece of digital notation software such as MuseScore, or one of the free options from Finale, Sibelius, and now Dorico

• A tablet running forScore to organize your music and exercises.