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Music Fundamentals I: Pitch, Major Scales and Key Signatures, Rhythm, Meter, and Expressive Elements

This unit develops the notation used to represent pitch, duration, meter, and expression. Topics: Pitch and Pitch Notation, Rhythmic Values, Half Steps and Whole Steps, Major Scales and Scale Degrees, Major Keys and Key Signatures, Simple and Compound Beat Division, Meter and Time Signature, Rhythmic Patterns, Tempo, Dynamics and Articulation.

Music Fundamentals II: Minor Scales and Key Signatures, Melody, Timbre, and Texture

This unit extends pitch study to minor scales, key relationships, intervals, and transposition. Topics: Minor Scales: Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic, Relative Keys: Determining Relative Minor Key and Notating Key Signatures, Key Relationships: Parallel, Closely Related, and Distantly Related Keys, Other Scales: Chromatic, Whole-Tone, and Pentatonic, Interval Size and Quality, Interval Inversion and Compound Intervals, Transposing Instruments, Timbre, Melodic Features, Melodic Transposition, Texture and Texture Types, Texture Devices, Rhythmic Devices.

Music Fundamentals III: Triads and Seventh Chords

Triads and seventh chords organize pitches into harmony. Topics: Triad and Chord Qualities (M, m, d, A), Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals, Chord Inversions and Figures: Introduction to Figured Bass, Seventh Chords, Seventh Chord Inversions and Figures.

Harmony and Voice Leading I: Chord Function, Cadence, and Phrase

Independent melodic lines combine to make a harmonic progression. Topics: Soprano-Bass Counterpoint, SATB Voice Leading, Harmonic Progression, Functional Harmony, and Cadences, Voice Leading with Seventh Chords, Voice Leading with Seventh Chords in Inversions.

Harmony and Voice Leading II: Chord Progressions and Predominant Function

Predominant harmonies expand the basic tonic-dominant-tonic phrase and create more choices for approaching a cadence. Topics: Adding Predominant Function IV (iv) and ii (ii°) to a Melodic Phrase, The vi (VI) Chord, Predominant Seventh Chords, The iii (III) Chord, Cadences and Predominant Function, Cadential 6/4 Chords, Additional 6/4 Chords.

Harmony and Voice Leading III: Embellishments, Motives, and Melodic Devices

Embellishing tones give individual voices motion within an underlying chord progression. Topics: Embellishing Tones: Identifying Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones, Embellishing Tones: Writing Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones, Embellishing Tones: Identifying Anticipations, Escape Tones, Appoggiaturas, and Pedal Points, Embellishing Tones: Identifying and Writing Suspensions; Identifying Upward-Resolving Suspensions, Motive and Motivic Transformation, Melodic Sequence, Harmonic Sequence.

Harmony and Voice Leading IV: Secondary Function

Secondary dominants and secondary leading-tone chords briefly give a non-tonic chord the role of a local tonic. Topics: Tonicization through Secondary Dominant Chords, Part Writing of Secondary Dominant Chords, Tonicization through Secondary Leading Tone Chords, Part Writing of Secondary Leading Tone Chords.

Modes and Form

Modes organize pitches around tonal centers with interval patterns beyond the familiar major and minor scales. Topics: Modes, Phrase Relationships, Common Formal Sections.