The Special Music School
At Kaufman Center
Theory Department
Curriculum
Music Director:
Jennifer Undercofler
Theory Faculty:
Eric Barnhill
Cynthia Lilley
Anne Farber
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About the Authors
Jennifer Undercofler
Jenny Undercofler is a leading force in contemporary music education, having served as the
music director for the Kaufman Center's Special Music School since 2004. The Special Music School is the only public school in New York City that integrates pre-conservatory music
education with academic studies, providing an unparalleled training environment for musically gifted children.
Ms. Undercofler also co-founded and leads the youth ensemble Face the Music. In residence
at the Kaufman Center, Face the Music breaks the boundaries of classical music education
and performance, featuring today's music presented by the emerging artistic voices of tomorrow. The group burst onto the scene in 2005, performing works by such new-music
mainstays as Michael Gordon, Phil Kline and John Adams.
Prior to joining the Kaufman Center, Ms. Undercofler spent six years at the The Julliard
School, in the Solfège Department of the Pre-College Division. She was also on the theory
faculty at Queens College and on the piano faculty at the Third Street Music Settlement.
Ms. Undercofler is an accomplished pianist who has performed with many New York City
area musicians and ensembles -- including Ensemble Sospeso , Eos Orchestra, Stamford
Symphony and the Westchester Symphony -- and has worked with prominent composers
such as Martin Bresnick, David Del Tredici and Julia Wolfe. She holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance from The Juilliard School and a D.M.A. from the Eastman
School of Music. Ms. Undercofler is the Music Director of the Kaufman Center's Special
Music School.
Eric Barnhill
Eric Barnhill is the Coordinator of the Music Skills program at the Music Conservatory of
Westchester and on the theory faculty of the Special Music School at Kaufman Center. He
is the creator of a curriculum called Cognitive Eurhythmics which applies Dalcroze to core
issues in special needs and high risk children. A proponent of improvisation in classical music, he maintains the improvised music weblog The Daily Improvisation.
As a pianist he has performed from coast to coast in the US and in Canada, France, Switzerland, Portugal and Italy. As a Dalcroze clinician he has taught workshops and classes at the
Curtis Institute of Music, Mannes College of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music
among others. He has presented on Cognitive Eurhythmics at music psychology conferences
in the US, Canada and Europe.
Eric received an M.Mus in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School, a Dalcroze License
from the Longy School of Music, a BA from Haverford College, and is a graduate of a Feldenkrais Professional Training Program.
Anne Farber
Anne Farber holds the Dalcroze License from the New York Dalcroze School and the PostGraduate Diploma from the Dalcroze Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.
She has taught the Dalcroze work in many schools in New York City: The Manhattan
School of Music, The Mannes College of Music, The Diller-Quaile School. Currently she
teaches at Lucy Moses School, The Dalcroze School at Lucy Moses and the Special Music
School. Every summer she teaches at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, in the
Summer Dalcroze Program.
She has given Dalcroze workshops and seminars - some with a particular focus on improvisation, in which she has a special interest - throughout the United States, Canada, Europe
and Japan. She has given two-piano improvisation recitals with colleagues Lisa Parker and
Joy Kane.
In New York City she maintains a private piano studio where she teachers students of all
ages.
Her articles on the Dalcroze work and improvisation have appeared in numerous journals.
Cynthia Lilley
Cynthia Lilley earned!Dalcroze certification and license at the!Longy School in Cambridge,
MA, and an Orff certificate from UCLA. She currently teaches at the Dalcroze School, the
Special Music School, and the Dalcroze Program at the Diller-Quaile School of Music in
New York City. She has been a presenter at many Dalcroze and Orff workshops, including
the National Orff Conference and National Dalcroze Conferences. Cynthia has
taught!courses in the Dalcroze approach for music teachers!at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, the Longy School in
Cambridge, MA, and the Dalcroze School and Hunter College in New York City, NY.
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
About The Program
The Music Theory program at the Special Music School provides a comprehensive theoretical and experiential music education that coordinates with the students' twice-weekly private
instrumental lessons. Components of classical conservatory music theory, solfège and ear
training are integrated with Dalcroze eurhythmics, improvisation, composition and exposure to repertory in all grades, K through 8.
The philosophy of the Swiss musician and educator Emile-Jaques Dalcroze, and his approach to music education, inform the curriculum at all grade levels. Students explore
rhythmic and tonal concepts in movement, and realize them fully in the study of vocal and
instrumental literature. Many musicianship skills are developed through game play and
quick reaction exercises, and almost every classroom lesson includes improvisation. Rhythm
is studied in depth as a multi-dimensional and vitally expressive component of musical performance.
Within this framework, there is a difference in emphasis between grades K-4 and grades 5-8.
In grades K-4 the focus is on a developmentally appropriate, experiential approach to music
theory fundamentals. The curriculum introduces a wide spectrum of fundamental concepts
in Kindergarten, and in a “spiraling” way returns to them each year with a more advanced
approach appropriate to the students’ age. In these early grades, many musical skills and
concepts are developed from the students’ experiential work with songs and longer pieces.
Starting in Kindergarten, students learn "fixed-do" solfège and a language of rhythm “syllables” specific to the School. Grades K-4 meet twice a week: once at desks, in the classroom.
and once in a larger room more appropriate for movement.
Students in grades 5-8 follow a more linear path of learning, assembling over four years a
basic set of theory concepts comparable to that of a first-year college theory class. (Students
in the 8th grade are given the option of taking the Advanced Placement Test in Music Theory). Designed so that the students' musical understanding will follow the advanced pace of
their instrumental studies, the 5-8 curriculum is punctuated by several large-scale composition and theory-based performance projects. Classes in these grades meet three times a
week. One of those classes is a “lab” focused on performance skills. “Lab” skills include
graded sight-singing and dictation, as well as a variety of performance tasks reinforcing the
theory concepts currently being studied. Grades 6-8 have a separate weekly class in Music
History.
In the spring of every year, all students in grades 3 and up participate in a school-wide
“Solfège Olympics” in which they showcase ensemble music that they have studied in class
and learned to sing using solfège syllables.
Though the emphasis of the School is the study of classical music, students are exposed to
contemporary music and music from other genres, in addition to works from the classical
“canon.” Folk music of various traditions permeates the early years, and older students are
encouraged to "cross over" in their composition projects, incorporating the styles and practices of other music they enjoy.
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Throughout the program, each grade is kept together for theory classes; the students are not
separated by instrument, length of time in the school, or performance on theory tests and
evaluations. With the only criterion for admission to the Special Music School being musical
talent, this creates a classroom of students with a large variety of learning styles, capacities
and interests.
At the Special Music School, we believe that playing music without an understanding of
music theory is akin to speaking the lines of a play without understanding their meaning.
We believe that all of our students possess the ability, through music theory study, to deepen
their skills as performing musicians and their creativity as composers.
Table of Contents
About The Program
1
Curriculum At-A-Glance
3
Curriculum Blueprint
5
Kindergarten
6
Grade 1
7
Grade 2
10
Grade 3
13
Grade 4
16
Grade 5
19
Grade 6
22
Grade 7
25
Grade 8
28
Sample Assignments
31
Grade 1
31
Grade 2
44
Grade 3
54
Grade 4
63
Grade 5
80
Grade 6
95
Grade 7
107
Grade 8
125
Appendices
137
Appendix A: Curricular Units By Subject In Chronological Order
138
Appendix B: Textbooks Used By The Program
143
Appendix C: The Special Music School Rhythm Language
144
Appendix D: Selected Dalcroze Tradition Songs
145
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Curriculum At-A-Glance
Grade K: Introduction to the “language” of music through eurhythmics: movement, improvisation, solfège
•
Sample Activities: Students improvise rhythmic patterns using rhythm syllables and
represent them in movement; students sing folks songs using words, scale numbers, and solfège
Grade 1: Treble/bass clef; connecting written notes to scale tones and “fixed do” solfège
syllables
•
Sample Activities: Students sing diatonic tonal patterns, scales, and songs, identifying the notes using scale numbers, solfège syllables, and letters.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to write and identify treble and bass clef
notes and to sight sing simple melodies.
Grade 2: Keys of C, F, and G; whole and half steps; simple and compound meter; “generic” intervals that include the tonic (without indicating Major, minor, etc.)
•
Sample Activities: Using Mahler's Symphony no. 1, second movement, students
“move” simple meter rhythm patterns and observe differences between Major
and minor treatments of the theme.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to write and identify the key signatures of
C, F, and G Major, and to construct whole and half step patterns in treble and
bass clefs.
Grade 3: Composition of “question and answer” phrases; I, IV, V triads; keys up to four
sharps and flats; perfect and major intervals that include the tonic
•
Sample Activity: Students identify I, IV, and V harmonies by ear and write these
triads in root position.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are also asked to sing, notate, and aurally identify selected intervals and triads.
Grade 4: Completing the circle of fifths; Counting through syncopated and tied rhythms
•
Sample Activity: Students “map” scales onto keyboard pictures in all keys. They
sight-sing stepwise melodies in a variety of key signatures and rhythms.
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to construct the circle of fifths by memory,
within a specified time limit, and perform syncopated rhythms while conducting.
Grade 5: Intervals and Triadic Harmony
•
Sample Activity: Students harmonize simple folk melodies and arrange them for
chamber ensemble. They sing melodies by Dalcroze that emphasize specific intervals.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to identify triads and their harmonic function in a key. Students are asked to sing intervals, separately and in melodies, and
identify possible harmonic contexts for those intervals.
Grade 6: Four Part Harmony
•
Sample Activity: Students “reduce” Schubert songs into four-part chorales and
compose melodies and bass lines that elaborate specific harmonic progressions.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to write simple progressions in strict fourpart style, and to analyze four-part writing using Roman numerals and figured
bass.
Grade 7: Modes, Borrowed Tones and Secondary Dominants
•
Sample Activity: Students write modal compositions and examine the function of
accidentals found in their instrumental repertoire.
•
Sample Assessment: Students are asked to take an example of species counterpoint
as two-part melodic dictation and correctly identify the species.
Grade 8: Modulation & Form
•
Sample Activity: Students write a sonata-allegro symphonic movement scored for
the instruments in their graduating class.
•
Sample Assessment: Students take the Advanced Placement Test in Music Theory,
or an equivalent exam.
Curriculum
Blueprint
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Kindergarten
Term
1
2
3
Concepts
Activities & Skills
Ongoing musicianship activities:
Introduce students to the following rhythm
concepts:
• Beat
• Meter (feeling of two, feeling of three)
• Rhythm syllables
•!Subdivision of the beat
• Rhythmic patterns
• Complementary rhythm (filling in the “negative
space” of a rhythm, for example clapping on rests)
•!Feeling of syncopation
• Rests
Rhythm:
• Students represent rhythm in movement by skipping, swinging,
clapping, gesturing, etc., alone, with partner, in a group
• Introduce rhythm syllables for simple meter and compound
meter
• Students sing, chant, and speak rhythmic patterns
• Students improvise and copy rhythmic patterns on the
xylophone or piano
• Students clap the rests in a song (complementary rhythm)
• Play song using the right rhythm, but the wrong notes; students
identify the song (“mystery song”)
• Introduce basic conducting patterns (2, 3, and 4)
• Students conduct while singing
• Play song, students identify meter, then conduct beat pattern
•
•
Pitch/tonal concepts:
•!Scale numbers
• Solfege syllables
•!Letter names
• Sound of the major scale
• Sound of the minor scale
• Major and minor distinction
•!Melodic shape
• Melodic cadence
•!Tonic
• Tonal patterns
• Generic intervals
Musicianship concepts:
•!Feeling of tonic and dominant
•!Ostinato
• Canon
• Repetition and contrast
• Dynamics
• Tempo
•!Articulation
•
•
•
Singing two part canons
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to different articulations
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to musical dynamics
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to tempo and tempo
change
Children play studied repertoire on
their instruments, for class
discussion
Pitch/tonal, using songs:
• Students sing with words
•!Students sing with scale numbers
•!Students sing with conducting
•!Give half the class an ostinato accompaniment, have the other
half of the class sing the song
• Play song on piano and ask students whether it is Major or
minor
Pitch/tonal, using scales:
•!Students sing Major and natural minor scales using scale
numbers, solfege syllables, and letter names
•!Students identify “generic” (tonic on the bottom) intervals the
teacher sings (i.e. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.)
Pitch/tonal, using xylophone:
• Play a tonal pattern on the xylophone, students copy
• Students improvise question and answer phrases on the
xylophone; one student starts on the tonic with the question, the
other student ends on the tonic with the answer
Repertory Referenced: Popular and folk songs, for example: Old Mac Donald, Pop Goes The Weasel, Stirring My Brew, Who Stole My Chickens,
Douglas Mountain, Little Gnome; and Anne Farber/Dalcroze traditional songs, for example: Circle Song, Witch of the Woods, Winter Is
Coming, In The Park, Happy New Year
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 1
Week
1
Term One
Pitch & Scale Unit 1.
Letters, numbers, syllables
•
2
•
•
3
4
5
•
•
•
6
7
8
9
Review the concept of 8
scale numbers
Sing scale number
patterns with students.
Ask students to convert
passages from folk songs
into numbers.
Ask students to identify
songs based on their scale
numbers
Ask students to convert
song melodies to letters,
numbers, and solfege
syllables, and to convert
between these
Assign written homework:
convert between scale
numbers, letters, and
syllables
Clefs Unit 1. Treble clef: Reading, writing
•
•
•
•
•
Introduce the notes of the treble clef
Practice in class and assign homework from
Keyboard Music Preparatory Series: writing middle
C and D
Discuss number of lines and spaces in the clef
and how to count lines and spaces
Practice in class and assign homework from
Keyboard Music Preparatory Series: writing and
identifying line notes in treble clef
Practice in class and assign homework from
Keyboard Music Preparatory Series: writing and
identifying space notes in treble clef
Rhythm Unit 1. Experiential work with simple
meter, primary subdivisions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduce the traditional note values (quarter
note, half note, etc.) that correspond to the
SMS simple time rhythm syllables (see
appendix)
Ask student to convert between rhythm
syllables and note values, in class and for
homework
Sing folk songs with students and ask them to
identify rhythm patterns using rhythm
syllables
Ask students to notate rhythms using note
values, once they have identified the rhythm
syllables
Assign homework: converting rhythm
syllables to note values and vice versa
Students step simple time rhythms while:
clapping or gesturing pulse, showing phrase
(with scarves or other materials), and/or
showing form (through use of room space or
partner schemes)
Ongoing musicianship activities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Singing two part canons
Intonation exercises
Head and chest voice differentiation
exercises
Playing by ear and improvising on
barred instruments
Vocal improvisation using rhythmic
and melodic patterns
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to musical dynamics
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to tempo and tempo
change
Pitch & Scale Unit 2.
Melodic patterns on the
pentachord
•
Students sing and
improvise with 1-2-3-4-5,
1-3-5, 5-3-1 and 5-1
melodic patterns
10
Repertory Referenced: Grieg Hall of the Mountain King; Haydn “Surprise” Symphony; folk songs Bring The Wheat, Masters In This Hall, Are
You Sleeping
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 1
Week
1
Term Two
Pitch & Scale Unit 2. Melodic
patterns on the pentachord
(cont’d)
•
2
3
•
•
•
Ask students to rhythmicize
pentachord patterns
Assign homework: compose
melodies that rhymicize scale
patterns
Examine pieces containing
these patterns
Ask students to find pieces
containing these patterns
4
5
8
9
•
•
Ask student to aurally identify
major and parallel minor
sections in music and show the
distinction in movement
Ask students to re-sing a major
piece in minor and vice versa
•
•
Clefs Unit 2. Bass clef: Reading, writing
•
•
•
•
•
Pitch & Scale Unit 3a. Parallel
Minor
Rhythm Unit 2. Experiential work with
compound meter, primary subdivisions
•
•
6
7
Clefs Unit 1. Treble clef (cont’d)
• Practice in class and assign homework
from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
• Ask students to sight-sing melodies in
treble clef
• Give students a melody, ask them to notate
in treble clef
• Give written test on treble clef
•
•
•
Introduce the notes of the bass clef
Practice in class and assign homework
from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
writing middle C and B
Practice in class and assign homework
from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
writing and identifying space notes in bass
clef
Practice in class and assign homework
from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
writing and identifying line notes in bass
clef
Ask students to sight-sing melodies in bass
clef
Give students a melody, ask them to notate
in bass clef
Give written test on bass clef
•
Introduce the traditional note values (dotted
quarter, dotted half, etc.) that correspond to
the SMS compound time rhythm syllables (see
appendix)
Ask student to convert between rhythm
syllables and note values, in class and for
homework
Sing folk songs with students and ask them to
identify rhythm patterns using rhythm
syllables
Ask students to notate rhythms using note
values, once they have identified the rhythm
syllables
Assign homework: converting rhythm
syllables to note values and vice versa
Students step compound time rhythms while:
clapping or gesturing pulse, showing phrase
(with scarves or other materials), and/or
showing form (through use of room space or
partner schemes)
10
Repertory Referenced: Tchaikovsky excerpts from Nutcracker; folk songs Jingle Bells, Friendly Beasts, Riggedy Jig
Ongoing musicianship activities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Singing three and four part canons
Intonation exercises
Head and chest voice differentiation
exercises
Vocal improvisation using rhythmic
and melodic patterns
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to musical dynamics
Movement activities that develop
sensitivity to tempo and tempo
change
Improvisation and performance of
repertory under study on barred
instruments.
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 1
Week
1
Term Three
Pitch & Scale Unit 3b.
Experiential work with relative
natural & harmonic minor
•
2
•
3
•
4
•
5
Ask students to transition from
major to relative minor by
singing major, then 8-7-6, then
relative minor
Introduce concept and sound of
augmented 2nd between scale
degrees 6 and 7 in harmonic
minor
Examine repertory containing
augmented 6-7 gap and ask
students to prepare it for
performance
Examine songs that modulate
from major to relative minor and
ask students to identify the major
and minor sections
Clefs Unit 3. Combining treble and
bass clef
Rhythm Unit 3. Introduction to meter and “body
percussion conducting”
•
•
•
•
Ask students to re-write treble clef
melodies in bass clef and vice-versa,
in class and for homework
Practice sight-singing music that
changes clefs
Assign homework: identify notes in,
and prepare to solfège, music that
changes clefs
•
•
Play games in which students use “body
percussion conducting” (tapping beat 1 on the lap,
beat 2 on the shoulders, etc.) in simple and
compound meters
Review duple, triple, and quadruple beat
conducting patterns
Ask students to identify meter of songs by ear
Ongoing musicianship activities:
•
•
•
•
•
Singing three and four part canons
Intonation exercises
Improvisation and performance of
repertory under study on barred
instruments.
Vocal improvisation using rhythmic
and melodic patterns
Movement or more complex musical
patterns, eighth note units
Rhythm Unit 4. Rests in simple and compound
meter
•
•
•
Students fill musical rests with complementary
rhythm, then use the complementary rhythm to
identify the length of the rest
Introduce the formal names of rests
Ask students to notate and aurally identify rests
6
Rhythm Unit 5. Experiential work with phrasing
and sectional form
7
•
•
8
•
Play games in which students phrase patterns in
repertoire through movement
Ask students to aurally identify simple sectional
forms (ABA, etc.)
Students compose and improvise sectional forms
in class
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Folk songs incl. Raisins and Almonds (harmonic minor), Wheel of Fortune (relative minor), Jack Boy (relative minor)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 2
Week
1
Term One
Review of Clef Units 1,2,3
Review of Rhythm Unit 2. Simple meter, primary subdivisions
•
•
•
•
•
Review previous written materials (Grade 1 homework and
tests) for treble and bass clef
Give new tests on treble and bass clef
2
Students articulate simple meter rhythm patterns using syllables
Students move simple meter rhythm patterns
Students compose and perform “scale pieces” that apply simple meter
rhythmic patterns to the notes of the scale
Ongoing musicianship skills:
•
•
•
3
Rhythm Unit 7. Simple time secondary subdivision (16th notes)
rhythms
4
•
•
Pitch & Scale Unit 4 Writing Sharps, Flats and Naturals
5
6
•
•
•
7
8
Rhythm: Switching between 2/4 and 6/8
•
9
10
Practice in class and assign homework from Keyboard Music
Preparatory Series: writing and identifying the symbols of
sharp, flat, and natural
Practice in class and assign homework from Keyboard Music
Preparatory Series: placing naturals correctly relative to the
affected note
Demonstrate, practice in class and assign for homework:
using sharps, flats, and naturals to turn a minor piece into
major and vice versa
•
•
Sing songs that change from 2/4 to 6/8: (ex. Here we come a
Wassailing, Riggedy Jig)
Students perform movements that demonstrate meter and
metric change in 2/4 and 6/8 (e.g. changing from jogging to
skipping)
Assign for homework: adding key signatures in songs that
change from 2/4 to 6/8
•
•
•
Review “boom-a-chick-a” syllables for 16th-note groupings
Discuss traditional notation of 16th note groups in simple time,
including beaming
Practice writing “boom-a-chick-a” rhythms using traditional note values
Ask students to aurally identify simple time 16th note patterns by
finding and saying matching syllables
Ask students to sight-read written 16th note patterns using syllables
Review of Rhythm Unit 2. Experiential work with compound meter
primary subdivisions
•
•
•
Students articulate compound meter rhythm patterns using syllables
Students move compound meter rhythm patterns
Students compose and perform “scale pieces” that apply compound
meter rhythmic patterns to the notes of the scale
Repertory Referenced:, Ravel Mother Goose Suite; folk songs incl. Jamaica Farewell, Stirring My Brew, Fly Fly Fly
•
Continuing work toward perfect
intonation
Continuing movement activities
that develop sensitivity to
phrasing, dynamics, tempo and
form
Students sight-sing primary
subdivision simple time rhythms
and melodies
Give dictation of primary
subdivision simple time
melodies
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 2
Week
1
Term Two
Pitch & Scale Unit 5. The Chromatic Scale
Rhythm Unit 8. Compound meter, secondary subdivisions
•
•
•
•
Introduce concept of chromatic scale
Students sing chromatic scale, as a group and solo
Students sing chromatic scale in canon
2
•
•
•
•
3
Introduce “jimmy” rhythm syllables for compound meter 16th-note
combinations (see appendix)
Students repeat heard 16-note patterns back using syllables
Students sight-read written 16th note patterns using syllables
Introduce traditional notation conventions for 16th notes in compound
meter including beaming
Study of representative patterns in repertory, including the Danse
Macabre
Pitch & Scale Unit 6. F and G scales and introduction to key
signatures
4
5
•
•
•
6
7
•
•
•
•
Assign homework from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
“mapping” C, F and G scales on a picture of a keyboard and
marking half steps
Assign homework from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
writing C, F, and G scales in treble and bass clef
Assign homework from Keyboard Music Preparatory Series:
identifying C, F, and G scales in treble and bass clef
Study repertory in F and G for prepared performance
Ask class to sight-sing melodies in F and G
Students compose and perform “scale pieces” that apply
rhythmic patterns to the F and G scales
Examine concept of key signature, and practice writing F and
G key signatures
Ongoing musicianship skills:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Review of Rhythm Unit 3. Introduction to meter and body percussion
conducting
•
Continuing work toward perfect
intonation
Continuing movement activities
that develop sensitivity to
phrasing, dynamics, tempo and
form
Students step simple duple
rhythmic patterns while
conducting
Students step rhythm patterns
improvised by the teacher in
canon at the measure in 2/4
Students sight-sing primary
subdivision compound time
rhythms and melodies
Students sing two part descants
(melodic vocal countermelodies
for songs under study) in
numbers and syllables
Give dictation of primary
subdivision simple time
melodies
Rhythm Unit 9. Conducting in duple, triple, quadruple meters
8
9
Pitch & Scale Unit 6a Transposing melodies between C, F and
G
•
•
Ask students to make written transpositions of melodies.
Students mark half-steps and either indicate all accidentals or
write the appropriate key signature
Students transpose melodies from one key to another using
solfege.
•
•
Students sing melodies while conducting
Students aurally identify the meter of the music being played, and
show correct conducting pattern
10
Repertory Referenced: Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre; Mozart Nachtigallen-kanon; folk songs Over The River, Deck The Halls, We Shall Overcome
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 2
Week
1
Term Three
Pitch & Scale Unit 7. “Generic” intervals (taken from the Major
scale, tonic on the bottom)
•
•
2
•
3
•
•
Discuss how to label intervals notated in treble or bass clef
Give students the name of an interval, ask them to sing the correct
solfège, letters or scale numbers
Tell “Sleeping Beauty” story where each interval belongs to a
particular character, and ask questions that require aural
identification of intervals
Play additional games in which students identify intervals by ear
Give written and aural quiz
Rhythm Unit 10. Crusis and anacrusis (downbeat and pickup)
•
•
Play games in which students aurally identify crusis and
anacrusis and show in movement
Ask students to analyze printed music and identify cruses and
anacruses in the score
Ongoing musicianship skills:
•
•
•
•
Rhythm Unit 11. Introduction to dot in simple meter
4
5
Harmony Unit 1. Identification of notated Tonic, Dominant,
Subdominant Triads in keys of C, F, and G
•
6
•
•
•
7
Discuss how to derive triads from the pentachord by singing the
pentachord followed by the triad
Introduce Roman numerals
In C, F, or G, ask students to aurally identify I, IV, or V triad, then
identify correct notes for the harmony in that particular scale
Assign homework: identifying I, IV or V triads and constructing I,
IV, or V triads in keys of C, F and G
•
•
•
•
Experiential work with simple meter rhythms that contain a dot
in combination with an eighth note
Introduce rhythm syllable for “dot”
Introduce traditional notation of the dot
Students analyze repertoire that contains dotted rhythms
•
9
Review of Pitch & Scale Unit 3a. Parallel minor.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Students aurally identify major and parallel minor sections in music
and show the distinction in movement
Ask students to “re-sing” a major piece in minor and vice versa
Students analyze and perform repertory that uses parallel minor
including Mahler excerpt (see below)
•
•
Rhythm Unit 12. Triplets and Duplets together in simple meter
8
•
Students sing repertory that alternates the use of triplets and
duplets
Students show triplet/duplet rhythmic patterns in movement
Ask students to sight-read rhythmic patterns that combine triplets
and duplets
10
Repertory Referenced: Mahler Symphony no. 1, second movement; folk songs Risolty Risolty, Lord Of The Dance
Continuing work toward perfect
intonation
Continuing movement activities
that develop sensitivity to
phrasing, dynamics, tempo and
form
Students step simple and
compound duple rhythmic
patterns, primary and secondary
subdivision, while conducting
Students step rhythm patterns
improvised by the teacher, in
canon, at the measure in 2/4
and 6/8
Students sight-sing compound
meter, primary subdivision
rhythms and melodies
Students sing two part descants
(see term two) using numbers
and syllables
Students prepare classical
repertoire for “solfège olympics”
performance
Give dictation of simple and
compound meter, secondary
subdivision melodies, keys of C,
F, and G
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 3
Week
1
2
Term One
Review of Pitch & Scale Unit 6. C, F, G Major scales and key
signatures
Rhythm Unit 13. Determining metric properties of folk songs and
classical repertory
•
•
•
•
3
4
•
•
•
Review C, F, G scales, the notes they contain and the location of
half-steps
Review of notation of C, F, G scales and key signatures, in
treble and bass clefs
Students sing C, F, and G scales using scale numbers, solfege,
and letter names
Ask students to write out transpositions of melodies in C, F,
and G
Students participate in further activities requiring translation
between solfège, letter names, and scale numbers,in the keys of
C, F, G
Give written and aural test on scales and key signatures
•
•
•
•
•
Review concepts: simple and compound meter; duple, triple,
quadruple meter
Review notation of common rhythmic patterns
Students conduct while singing repertory to show understanding of
the meter
Students learn songs, then choose syllables for them that identify
whether the meter is simple or compound, then notate the melody
with correct time signature and notation
Assign homework: Correctly notating common folk songs, including
beaming and time signatures. Adding missing elements to a score for
ex. adding time signature when it is intentionally left out
Ask students to step rhythm patterns while stepping in duple and
triple meters
Ongoing Musicianship skills:
•
•
•
•
•
Students sing folk songs,
classical repertoire, themes from
orchestral works, and two part
descants
Students step varied rhythmic
patterns while conducting
Students step triple and
quadruple meter rhythmic
patterns improvised by the
teacher, in canon at the measure
Students sight-sing melodies in
simple and compound meters
Give dictation of simple and
compound time rhythms and
melodies, in keys up to four
sharps and flats
5
6
7
Form and Structure Unit 1: Questions and Answers
8
•
•
9
Students improvise and compose two-phrase question and
answer melodies in C, F, and G
Assign homework: analyze repertory containing questionanswer patterns
10
Repertory Referenced: Folk songs including We Gather Together, Merrily Merrily, Here we come a-wassailing, as well as review of previous folk
songs in new contexts
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 3
Week
Term Two
Review of Pitch & Scale Unit 3a. Parallel minor.
1
2
3
•
•
•
•
5
•!Same activities as in Unit 7 (grade 2, term 1)
•
Introduce three forms of minor scale. Natural and harmonic scale have
been introduced previously.
Ask students to sing a melody and change it from one form of minor to
another.
Ask students to write out the three forms of the minor scale in c minor, f
minor, and g minor
Discuss how to recognize the different forms of the scale in c minor, f
minor, and g minor
Ask students to compose and perform rhythmicized scales in the three
forms of minor
7
Review of Pitch & Scale Unit 7. “Generic” Intervals
•
•
•
•
Ask students to sing and identify generic intervals by ear
Ask students to write generic intervals
Assign homework: writing and identifying generic intervals
Give written quiz
•
•
Review of Rhythm Unit 8. Compound time secondary
subdivisions (16th notes)
•!Same activities as Unit 8 (grade 2, term 2)
•
•
Rhythm Unit 13. Mixing primary and secondary subdivisions,
simple and compound meter
6
Ongoing Musicianship skills:
•
Pitch & Scale Unit 11. The Three Forms of Minor: Natural, Melodic,
Harmonic
•
4
Ask students to sing and re-compose major melodies in parallel minor
and vice versa
Review of Rhythm Unit 7. Simple time secondary
subdivisions (16th notes)
•
•
•
•
Play games in which students perform more complex
combinations of 8th and 16th notes
Discuss beaming conventions for combinations of 8th notes
and 16th notes in simple and compound meter
Introduce “Amsterdam” rhythm (dotted eighth-sixteentheighth) and ask students to perform it in Joan Glover
Give written quiz
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Holst A Dream of Christmas; folk songs Twelve Days of Christmas, Joan Glover
Students sing folk songs,
classical repertoire, themes from
orchestral works, and two and
three part descants
Students step varied rhythmic
patterns while conducting
Students step triple and
quadruple meter rhythmic
patterns improvised by the
teacher, in canon at the measure
Students sight sing simple and
compound time melodies
Give more complex melodic and
rhythmic dictations, mixing
eighths and sixteenth notes, in
keys up to four sharps and flats
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 3
Week
1
Term Three
Pitch & Scale Unit 10. Scales up to four sharps and flats: key signatures
and key relationship
•
2
•
•
•
3
•
•
Play games in which students sing through these keys progressively
using solfège
Students sing these scales using hand signals to show when there is a
sharp or a flat
Practice finding what keys are a fifth away from a given key
Assign homework: writing out transpositions of melodies in different
keys, up to four sharps and flats
Discuss how to derive relative minor from the major
Introduce the schematic of the circle of fifths, going up to four sharps/
flats
Review of Rhythm Unit 10: Crusis and Anacrusis
•
•
•
•
Play games in which students aurally identify crusis and
anacrusis and show in movement
Examine use of crusis & anacrusis in repertory including
Copland example (see below)
Ask students to analyze printed music and identify cruses and
anacruses in the score
Students play games showing measure shape movement
(crusic and anacrusic measures)
6
Harmony Unit 2. Major, Minor, and Diminished Triads
•
•
•
•
•
•
7
8
9
•
•
•
•
•
4
5
Ongoing Musicianship skills:
Play games in which students identify triad quality by ear:
Ask students to sing and construct triads of these three qualities
Assign homework: writing major and minor triads built on a given root
Discuss the progression of major, minor, and diminished triads within
the major scale
Assign homework: identifying quality of notated triads
Play games in which students choose the appropriate triads to
accompany a melody
Harmony Unit 3. I, IV, V triads in keys up to four sharps and flats
•
•
•
•
Review sound and notation of I, IV, V triads in C, F, G
Ask students to construct and identify these triads in Major keys of up
to four sharps and flats
Ask students to aurally identify I, IV, and V triads in Major keys of up
to four sharps and flats
Written homework: constructing and identifying I, IV, and V triads in
scales up to four sharps and flats
10
Repertory Referenced: Copland Appalachian Spring; folk songs Wheel of Fortune, The Minstrel Boy
•
Students sing folk songs,
classical repertoire, themes from
orchestral works, and two and
three part descants
Students step varied rhythmic
patterns while conducting
Students step triple and
quadruple meter rhythmic
patterns improvised by the
teacher, in canon at the measure
Students sight-sing simple and
compound time melodies
Give dictation of simple and
compound time rhythms and
melodies
Preparation for “solfège
olympics” (repertory in three
parts)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 4
Week
1
2
3
Term One
Pitch & Scale Unit 8. Whole and half steps (seconds)
• Introduce concept of “piano mapping”: drawing the notes in a scale or
polychord on a keyboard picture
• Give students a tonic, then ask them to sing and identify patterns of
seconds using scale numbers
• Ask students to identify by ear, “piano map”, sing with solfège, and
notate different seconds
• Examine half- and whole-step patterns in pieces by Chopin and
Schubert and sing solfège adaptations of those pieces
• Students improvise patterns using whole steps and half steps
• Ask pairs of students to sing harmonic Major and minor seconds
• Ask students to identify harmonic Major and minor seconds by ear
• Give aural and written quiz
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Pitch & Scale Unit 9. Trichords and Thirds
• Ask students to identify all the trichords in the C Major scale. Discuss
the three species of trichords and their locations in the scale
• Ask students to identify by ear, “piano map”, sing with solfège, and
notate different trichords
• Identify trichords in repertoire by Prokofiev, Kabalevsky
• Give students a tonic, then ask them to sing and identify thirds using
scale numbers
• Ask students to identify by ear, “piano map”, sing with solfège, and
notate different thirds
• Ask pairs of students to sing major and minor thirds
• Assign solfège melodies that emphasize melodic thirds by Dalcroze for
analysis and performance
• Give aural and written quiz
Rhythm Unit 11. Long Notes
•
•
Ask students to sing, count, and “move” very long notes
Identify and perform examples of long notes tied from measure to
measure. Look at La Cathédrale Engloutie (Debussy).
Rhythm Unit 12. Rhythms in simple time using primary subdivision,
ties and syncopations
• Review simple time primary subdivision rhythm syllables including
those for two-beat combinations involving a dot or syncopation
• Ask students to count simple meter primary subdivision rhythms using
"1 & 2 &,” including examples with syncopation and dots
• Students “move” syncopated and other challenging simple time
rhythms, by stepping while conducting, in synchrony with music and in
canon
• Give rhythm dictation in simple time, using primary subdivisions and
including ties and syncopation
• Give written and aural exam
Pitch & Scale Unit 10. Tetrachords and Fourths
• Play games with students using the tetrachords in the C Major scale that
lead them to observations about half-step placement
• Ask students to identify by ear, piano map, sing with solfège, and notate
different tetrachords
• Identify tetrachords in music by Bach and Schumann and sing solfège
adaptations of those pieces
Repertory Referenced: Chopin Prelude in G Sharp Minor, Schubert Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen, Prokofiev Tarantella, Kabalevsky Masks,
Bach Invention in C major, Schumann Hasche-Mann, Debussy La Cathédrale Engloutie
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 1:
Give dictation, and ask
students to sight sing,
using stepwise melodies
in C major, with varied
meters and rhythms
(Melodiya 3-108)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 4
Week
Term Two
Pitch & Scale Unit 10. Tetrachords and Fourths, cont’d
1
2
•
•
•
•
3
•
•
Ask students to sing perfect and augmented fourths using scale numbers
Ask students to identify by ear, “piano map”, sing with solfège, and
notate different kinds of fourths
Ask students to improvise phrases using the interval of the perfect
fourth to imply a cadence
Assign solfège melodies that emphasize melodic fourths by Dalcroze for
analysis and performance
Ask pairs of students to sing harmonic fourths (perfect and augmented)
Give written and aural quiz
Rhythm Unit 13. Compound time primary subdivisions, ties and
syncopation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4
5
6
7
8
9
Review compound time primary subdivision rhythm syllables
Explain “counting” through rhythms and how to apply a “1 & 2 &”
counting system to common rhythm patterns
Ask students to “count” compound meter primary subdivision rhythms
using "1 & a 2 & a", including examples with ties and syncopation
Students “move”challenging rhythms in compound time, by stepping
the rhythm while conducting, in sync with music and in canon
Analyze and perform (in solfege) pieces by Puccini, Schumann, Mozart
that use compound meter
Give rhythm dictation in compound time, using primary subdivisions
and including ties and syncopation
Give written and aural exam
Pitch & Scale Unit 11. Pentachords, “Pentachord Modes”, and Fifths
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ask students to identify all of the pentachords in a major scale using
scale numbers (1-2-3-4-5, 2-3-4-5-6, etc.)
Ask students to make a list of the half-step placement in all of the
identified pentachords
Play games that require identification of pentachord half-step placement
Show students that the sound of each pentachord is similar to that of a
mode (Major, minor, Lydian, Phyrigian, and Locrian) aka the
“Pentachord Modes”
At the piano, ask students to improvise phrases using only the notes of a
chosen pentachord mode while another student plays a “drone”
Ask students to solfege modal pieces from Bartók’s Mikrokosmos
Students compose a piece in one of the above-mentioned “Pentachord
Modes” with a drone accompaniment
Ask students to piano “map,” notate, and sing perfect and diminished
fifths
Ask students to solfège songs in fifths by Dalcroze
Give written and aural exam on pentachords and fifths
10
Repertory Referenced: Bartòk, from Mikrokosmos: “Dotted Notes”, “Parallel Motion”, “Lydian”,” In Oriental Style”, Puccini O Mio
Babbino Caro, Schumann Sicilenne from Album For The Young, Mozart Piano Sonata in A K.331
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 2:
Give dictation, and ask
students to sight sing,
using stepwise
melodies in all major
keys, which start on
the tonic, varied
rhythms and meters
(Melodiya 109-343
selected)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 4
Week
Term Three
Pitch & Scale Unit 12. The Circle of Fifths
1
2
3
4
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ask students to piano “map” and notate full major scale tonal patterns
Familiarize students with the circle of fifths: ask them to solfège (speak)
the names of the keys around the circle clockwise and counterclockwise, both “timed” (with a metronome) and “untimed” (without)
Explain to students how to use the circle of fifths to construct key
signatures for sharp-note and flat-note keys, and how to use it to find
the “new” sharp/flat in a key signature
Introduce concept of enharmonic keys and expand circle of fifths
writing assignments to include enharmonic keys
Ask students to piano “map” and notate natural minor scales
Review concept of relative Major and minor by asking students to find
shared key signatures
Ask students to construct the circle of fifths within a given time limit
Give written exam on the circle of fifths
Rhythm Unit 14. Simple time, secondary subdivision, ties &
syncopation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Review the 16th note “boom-a-chick-a” rhythm syllables
Teach students how to add tied notes into “boom-a-chick-a”
combinations
Teach students how to count through 16th note combinations using “ 1
e & a” counting language
Analyze and perform (solfege) music by Mozart and Bach that uses 16th
note simple time combinations
Ask students to read 16th note rhythms with dots, ties, and syncopation
using rhythm syllables (boom-a-chick-a), counting, or free syllables
Give rhythm dictation in simple time, using sixteenth notes with ties
and syncopation
Give written and aural quiz
5
6
7
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Mozart Piano Sonata K. 545, movement 2, Bach Invention in E Minor, Organ Prelude Wachet Auf
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 3:
Give dictation, and ask
students to sight sing,
using stepwise
melodies in all major
keys, starting on notes
other than the tonic,
varied meters and
rhythms (Melodiya
109-343 selected);
preparation for Solfège
Olympics
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 5
Week
1
2
Term One
Pitch & Scale Unit 13. Review of scales/key sigs/circle of 5ths by
studying scales Do to Do (fixed-do solfège; equivalent to C-to-C)
Rhythm Unit 15. Compound time, secondary subdivision, ties &
syncopations
•
•
•
•
•
•
3
•
4
•
Review key signatures as necessary (see Pitch & Scale 11)
Students construct the full array of scales constrained between the fixed
pitches of middle and octave C.
Ask students to identify the key of a C-to-C scale based on their sense of
the distance of the resolution from C
Ask students to sing the correct C-to-C scale given only the dominant
harmony of the scale, then identify the key (Ex.: Teacher plays D-F#-AC, student sings C to C scale and identifies that preferred resolution is
G.)
Ask students to compose texts for the C-to-C scales that emphasize
points of tension and resolution in the scale. (Ex.: Student composes
melody for A major; key words land on A and C#.)
Give aural and written quiz
•
•
•
•
•
•
5
6
Pitch & Scale Unit 14. Trichords in different scales
•
•
•
•
•
7
•
•
Give students a trichord (three stepwise notes) and ask them to identify
multiple scales that contain it
Give student a trichord, and ask him/her to compose a period that
contextualizes it in one of its possible keys
Give a student/group of students a trichord, ask them to improvise a
period that resolves it in one of its possible keys
Ask students to “re-route” well-known melodies beginning with
trichords (re-interpreting the opening trichord to imply a different scale).
Give aural quiz
Review 16th notes, ties and dots, in simple time (see Rhythm 11)
Play games with beats containing six subdivisions (“six-count beats”)
that involve only counting the subdivision in numbers
Explain how the subdivisions could be sixteenth note divisions of a
compound dotted quarter, and how it would be notated
Ask students to identify incorrect compound meter, secondary
subdivision rhythms and what is wrong with them
Give written quiz on turning notated rhythms into counts (1-2-3-4-5-6)
and counts (1-2-3-4-5-6) into notated rhythms
Students create their own rhythmic language using a six-syllable phrase,
and apply it to common compound meter, secondary subdivision
patterns
Ask students to perform rhythms from repertory, using student’s own
language and counts (1-2-3-4-5-6), incl. Bach and Beethoven
Ask students to sight-read rhythms in compound time using sixteenth
notes
Give students rhythmic dictation in compound time using sixteenth
notes
Aural and written test: ask students to “translate” given rhythms into
counts (1-2-3-4-5-6), to perform a rhythm on short preparation, and to
sight-read a rhythm
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 1:
Give melodic dictation,
and ask students to
sight sing, using
stepwise melodies in
minor (simple and
compound time), from
Music for Sight Singing
chapter 5
8
9
Harmony Unit 4. Triads in the scale
•
•
Review I, IV, V triads as necessary (see Harmony 2)
Ask students to find scales in which a given triad is I, IV or V
10
Repertory Referenced: Bach Fughetta in D minor, Beethoven String Quartet op. 59 no. 1 “Razumovsky”, second movement, Piano Sonata op. 81a,
Schumann Kreisleriana, M. Wilson Till There Was You
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 5
Week
Term Two
Harmony Unit 4. Triads in the scale, cont’d
1
•
•
2
•
•
Ask students to identify the notes in all root position triads in a given
key and label them using Roman numerals
Human scale game: form groups of 8 students and give each of them a
scale number, 1-8, then call triad Roman numerals out, with each
student singing if their scale tone participates in the triad.
Give students a triad, ask them identify to what keys it belongs
Give written quiz
3
•
•
•
5
•
•
6
•
Introduce concept of triads as two stacked thirds, with the quality of the
thirds creating M, m, d or A triads
Ask groups of 3 students to sing triads of different qualities
Play a minor or major third (or a fifth) and ask students to make a
particular triad out of it by singing the missing note
Play improvised melody, on cadences ask students to improvise triad
notes they think “go with it”
Ask students to compose melodies and add triads of their choice at the
cadences, and identify the qualities
Give aural and written quiz
9
10
•
•
•
•
•
Harmony Unit 6. Intro to Cadences and Triad Flow
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduce concept of cadences as points of musical rest.
Identify V and IV as “paths” to Authentic and Plagal cadences.
Describe half cadences as “unfinished business” and their role in
question-answer pairs
With the students, explore two paths to half cadences: I-V and IV-V
Ask groups of three students to sing cadences in triads, given both
starting chord (e.g. IV in a plagal) or resolution chord (e.g. given I but
asked to sing a plagal)
Sing or play folk melodies and ask students to vocally improvise
cadential and pre-cadential chords that they think fit.
Ask students walk slow beats and clap requested tuplets, or clap large
beats and step requested tuplets
Ask students to notate tuplets by writing arabic numbers above quarter
notes. Ask students to perform rhythms written this way. Ask students
to take dictation using this notation
Students “representing” different tuplets interact simultaneously
through voice and movement
Stuents perform, with conducting, the “Ev’ry Butterfly” tuplet-rhythm
poem (see appendix)
Students compose a melodic setting of “Ev’ry Butterfly” and perform it
Give aural quiz
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 2:
Give melodic dictation,
and ask students to
sight sing melodies that
are stepwise, when not
outlining the I, IV, or V
triads, from Music For
Sight Singing chapter 6
Rhythm Unit 17. Tuplets in sight-reading, dictation and analysis
•
•
7
8
•
•
Harmony Unit 5. Triad qualities
4
Rhythm Unit 16. Experiential Work With Tuplets (triplets, quintuplets,
septuplets)
Ask students to sight-read and prepare tuplet rhythm exercises from
Rhythm & Pitch (see appendix)
Ask students to study and perform John Colman Five
Ask students to read and perform examples of tuplets containing rests,
longer notes and ties
Ask students to study and perform, in solfège, passages from Debussy
and Ravel
Give rhythmic dictations with tuplet rhythms
Give aural and written test
Repertory Referenced: Debussy Soirée dans Grenade, Colman Five, Ravel Vocalise, Folk songs for harmonization: You Are My Sunshine, This
Land Is Your Land
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 5
Week
Term Three
Harmony Unit 6. Intro to Cadences and Triad Flow, cont’d
1
•
Composition Project: Small groups of students arrange a folk song for
chamber ensemble of their instruments, harmonizing the melody by
choosing appropriate triads and cadences.
Rhythm Unit 18. Tertiary subdivision (32nd) and higher, simple and
compound meters
•
2
•
3
Pitch and Scale Unit 15. Introduction to Advanced (Chromatic)
Intervals
•
•
•
•
4
•
•
•
5
6
•
•
•
•
•
7
8
9
•
Review diatonic intervals as necessary
Introduce idea of triads in inversion
Give student a sixth and ask him/her to “fill in” the note that makes it
an inverted major or minor triad, and then identify the triad’s quality,
function and inversion
Given a sixth, students sing the inverted diminished and inverted
augmented triads that fit(s) inside it and identify it/them
Introduce a “two-fisted” approach to identifying intervals by counting
half-step distance between the notes AND letter distance between the
notes
Assign written homework identifying intervals
Give students a “friendly” consonant interval, ask them to respell it as
an “unfriendly” enharmonic augmented or diminished interval
Ask students to look at some repertory examples of advanced intervals
by Mozart (Aug 6th, Aug triad), Ravel (dim 4th), Strauss (aug. 2nd)
Give aural and written test
Play “quick reaction” games where students read rhythms off the board
that contain small subdivisions
Examine second movement of Beethoven Violin Sonata op. 24 “Spring”
for use of small subdivisions
Examine Bach Goldberg Variation XIII for use of small subdivisions
Ask students to sight-read rhythms using small subdivisions
Give rhythmic dictation using small subdivisions
Give quiz (rhythm dictation and performance)
Rhythm Unit 19. Alla Breve Rhythms
•
•
•
•
Students play Dalcroze games of doubling or slowing the beat while
simultaneously performing the same (unchanged) rhythm
Ask students to change beaming of rhythms to indicate common vs cut
time
Ask students to perform alla breve rhythms while conducting, both at
sight, and with preparation
Give aural and written quiz
10
Repertory Referenced: Mozart Menuet in D Major K. 355, March Funèbre K. 453a, Ravel Une Barque Sur L’Océan, Strauss Salome (piano
reduction), Beethoven Violin Sonata op. 24, Bach Goldberg Variation XIII
Progressive SightSinging and
Dictation for Term 3:
Give melodic
dictation, and ask
students to sight sing,
using melodies with
varied intervals from
Music For Sight Singing,
Chapter 8;
preparation for Solfège
Olympics
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 6
Week
1
Term One
Pitch and Scale Unit 16. Function Identification of Tritones and other
Augmented/Diminished Intervals
•
•
2
•
3
•
•
•
4
•
•
Ask students to identify to which scale a tritone belongs
Give students a tritone and ask them to sing the pentachord or
tetrachord “fill,” depending on whether they are A4 or d5, and then
resolve it
Ask students to re-spell a tritone so that another scale is implied, then
re-compose the resolution to fit the new key
Explain relationship between tritone and dominant seventh.
Given a tritone and a label of A4 or d5, ask a student to sing the correct
dominant tone to turn the tritone into a dominant seventh
Review the locations of other augmented and diminished intervals in
the harmonic minor scale
Give the student a major or minor 3rd or 6th, ask him/her to respell it
as an augmented or diminished interval in minor, resolve it correctly,
and identify the minor key.
Give aural quiz and written quiz.
5
6
Harmony Unit 7. Four Part Harmony 1: Rendering three-voice triads in
four voices
7
•
9
Rhythm Unit 20. Beaming and Barring the same rhythm in varied
meters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
8
Notes & Clef Unit 4. Rapid Solfège Speaking Games
•
•
•
•
Ask students to reduce some typical Classical-era harmonic elaborations
to a four-voice structure. Examine with students some properties of
that structure that will become foundational rules of part writing
Ask students to examine examples of correct close position writing
(“keyboard style”) for voice distribution and doubling
Groups of four students construct and sing close position chords
Introduce concept of inverted chords in four parts. Emphasize the bass
note as the sole determinant of the inversion.
Give the students a chord, ask them to identify the inversion
Give the students the quality and inversion, and ask them to construct a
four-part close position chord
Rhythm Unit 21. Augmentation and Diminution in duple and triple
meter
•
•
•
•
•
•
10
Ask students to correctly beam rhythms to “show the beat” in
symmetrical meters (simple and compound)
Ask students to speak the same rhythm in different meters, choosing
accentuation that clarifies time signature and subdivision
Ask one student to speak a rhythm in a meter of their choice, and ask
the class to guess the meter
Introduce beat “options” in asymmetrical meters (different distributions
of dotted and un-dotted beat values in 5/8, 7/8, etc.)
Study and perform asymmetrical rhythms in Bartòk
Ask students to “ta” rhythms in asymmetrical meters
Review concepts of crusis, anacrusis, metacrusis and discuss how they
can be used in performance to establish a meter
Written and aural quiz
•
Review concepts of augmentation and diminution
Give student a rhythm, ask him/her to tap its augmentation or
diminution
Ask student to tap a rhythm with one hand and its augmentation/
diminution with the other hand
Introduce distinction between augmentation of rhythm with
augmentation of beat, and augmentation of rhythm without
augmentation of beat, and same with diminution
Discuss impact of augmented or diminished beat on time signature (i.e.
a 4/4 rhythm, if beat is augmented along with rhythm, is now in 4/2
time)
Students ta and conduct rhythms in augmentation and diminution with
and without augmentation and diminution of beat
Give written and aural quiz
Repertory Referenced: Schumann Chorale from Album for the Young, Schubert Das Wandern, Heidenröslein, An Die Musik, Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto, Mozart String Quartet in G Minor K. 516, Bartòk Roumanian Dances
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 1:
Give melodic dictation,
and ask students to
sight sing from Ottman
melodies that contain
syncopation (Music For
Sight Singing chapter
15)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 6
Week
Term Two
Harmony Unit 8. Rendering three-part triads in four voices cont’d
1
2
•
•
•
•
Introduce figured bass numbers for triads and inversions
Ask students to “convert” figured bass numbers to notes to Roman
numerals, and the reverse
As a review exercise, give students a tone and ask them to sing a 6-4
chord using that it as the bass and then again using it as the root
Give written test
Rhythm Unit 22. Simple duple rhythms, primary and secondary
subdivision, ties and syncopations (from Elementary Training for
Musicians Chaps. 2 & 3)
•
•
•
Ask students to conduct and “ta” rhythms, with preparation and at sight
Ask students to perform two part rhythms, tap and sing, with
preparation and at sight
Give rhythmic dictation using material from Elementary Training for
Musicians Chapters 2 & 3
3
Harmony Unit 8. Four Part Harmony 2: Seventh chords in four voices
4
•
•
5
6
•
•
•
•
7
Demonstrate to students that seventh chords do not need doubling in a
four-voice context
Students practice constructing seventh chords of different inversions in
close position
Ask students to identify inversions of a block seventh chord by ear
Ask four students to sing a chord, adding one voice at a time, making
sure that it adds up to a seventh chord in first, second, or third
inversion, but NOT root position
Analyze progressions containing seventh chords in music by Bach and
Satie
Use pop and jazz examples to demonstrate that seventh chords are more
common than triads in these styles (Autumn Leaves, Somewhere Over The
Rainbow)
Harmony Unit 9. Four Part Harmony 3: Harmonic Motion
8
•
•
9
10
•
Review simple folk tunes that were harmonized in fifth grade (This Land
is Your Land, etc.) (see Harmony Unit 7)
Familiarize students with a common harmonic motion: top three voices
move stepwise, bass moves freely. Ask students to sing in groups of four,
as well as compose, examples of this type of harmonic motion.
Play four part singing games: give four students a starting chord, and
ask another student to”direct” the notes stepwise, up or down, until the
group arrives on another chord; ask the class to identify function and
inversion of the new chord
Repertory Referenced: Bach French Suite in E Flat, Satie Gymnopédie no. 1, Autumn Leaves, Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 2:
Give melodic
dictation, and ask
students to sight sing,
using melodies with
tertiary subdivisions
and “alla breve”
rhythms from Music
For Sight Singing
chapter 19 and
selected earlier
chapters
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 6
Week
1
2
Term Three
Harmony Unit 9. Four Part Harmony 3: Harmonic Motion, cont’d
•
•
•
3
4
•
•
•
“Sensitize” students to parallel 5ths and octaves by asking them to sing
through progressions with and without parallels, and by asking them to
compose progressions with and without parallels.
Play “quick reaction” games in which students identify parallel 5ths and
octaves by ear
Introduce cadence patterns in four voices: PAC, IAC, Plagal, Deceptive,
“Evaded” (V42 to I63)
Give “harmonic rhythm” dictations in which an elaborate texture is
played over a slowly changing harmony; students must “distill” the
harmonic changes, write down the harmonic rhythm (using rhythmic
note values) and the function of each chord
Students identify harmonic rhythm in scores and by ear and notate it
using note values
Give written and aural quiz
Rhythm Unit 23. Simple and compound rhythms, primary and
secondary subdivision, ties and syncopations (from Elementary Training
for Musicians Chaps. 4 & 5 )
•
•
•
Ask students to conduct and “ta” rhythms, prepared and at sight
Ask students perform two part rhythms, tap and sing, prepared and at
sight
Give rhythmic dictation using material from Elementary Training for
Musicians
5
6
7
Harmony Unit 10. Four Part Harmony 4: Harmonizing and Composing
Melodies and Bass lines
•
•
•
8
•
•
•
Construct with class a “map” of Predominant-Dominant-Tonic chord
flow to be used as a guide to harmonization choices
Ask students to harmonize simple melodies using p-d-t chord flow: first
harmonizing downbeats, then harmonizing other “structural” melody
notes
Give students a harmonic progression (Roman numerals), and ask them
to write bass lines and melodies that correspond
Give students a bass line and ask them to harmonize it
Analyze a two-voice piece for implied harmonic structure
Give students a harmonic progression (RN) and ask them to compose a
two-voice pieces that elaborates it
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Bach Minuet in G Major, Minuet in G minor, Chopin Prelude in C minor, Schubert Nacht Und Traüme, Symphony
no. 5
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 3:
Give dictation, and
ask students to sight
sing, using melodies
containing simple
meter triplets and
compound meter
duplets, from Music
For Sight Singing
chapter 16;
preparation for Solfège
Olympics
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 7
Week
Term One
Pitch and Scale Unit 17. Modes and modal repertory
1
2
•
•
•
•
•
3
•
4
•
•
•
•
•
•
5
•
6
•
•
Review modal sounds of pentachords studied in Pitch & Scale 11
Define modes by whole and half-step placements
Point out the “salient features” of modes that often define their sound
(e.g. Phrygian 2nd, Dorian 6th)
Arrange the modes from those with the most raised tones (the
“lightest”) to the most lowered tones (the “darkest”)
Ask students to sing a melody in major/minor, then alter it to conform
to a mode
Play “drone,” ask students to improvise phrases in a given mode, alone
and in pairs
Dorian: look at examples from Kodaly, Beatles
Mixolydian: look at examples from Bartòk, Beatles
Phrygian: look at examples from Obradors, Mussorgsky
Lydian: look at examples from Fauré, Beethoven
Locrian: look at examples from Bartòk, traditional French
Examine difference between Aeolian and minor in examples drawn
from traditional English songs (e.g. traditional songs do not use melodic
minor or leading tone)
Examine difference between Ionian and major in Gurdjieff-De
Hartmann Greek Round Dance (e.g. true Ionian songs often cadence ii-I).
Students compose piece for major instrument and drone
accompaniment
Give written and aural test
Rhythm Unit 24. Two part rhythms, simple meter, in prepared
performance, sight reading, dictation, and analysis)
•
•
•
•
•
Ask students to perform two-part rhythms (with time for preparation)
from Music For Sight Singing, Rhythm & Pitch, and Elementary Training For
Musicians (see appendix)
Play two-part “rhythmic substitution games” where various rhythmic
figures are added to an ongoing rhythm by verbal instruction
Give two-part rhythmic dictations (two timbres) from Music For Sight
Singing, Rhythm & Pitch, and Elementary Training For Musicians
Ask students perform rhythms in two-part canon, from memory
Ask students to sight-read two-part rhythms in simple meter
7
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Kodaly Poplar Leaves Are Falling, Beatles Eleanor Rigby, Paperback Writer, Bartòk The Horseman, Mixolydian,
With Alternate Hands, Obradors Canciones Clasicas Espanolas, Mussorgsky Im Winkel, Fauré Lydia, Beethoven String Quartet op. 132,
Traditional French round Orléans, Beaugency, Traditional English I Will Give My Love An Apple, Gurdjieff-De Hartmann Greek Round
Dance
Progressive SightSinging and
Dictation for Term 1:
• Ask students to sight
sing melodies using
modes from Music For
Sight Singing (Chapter
20)
•!Give melodic
dictations in which
students must identify
mode.
•!Start giving two part
melodic dictation
(treble and bass clef)
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 7
Week
1
Term Two
Pitch and Scale Unit 18. Species counterpoint and non-harmonic tones
Rhythm Unit 25. Two part rhythms, compound meter
•
•
•
2
3
4
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
5
6
•
•
•
•
•
7
•
Ask students to prepare and solfège examples of two-part Renaissance
writing to introduce the sound of modal counterpoint
Introduce the species counterpoint method of study: writing a
contrapuntal line in treble clef over a given cantus in alto clef
Improvise sung melodies over given cantus firmi
First species: review concept of consonance and dissonance.
First species: review kinds of melodic motion
First species: examine treatment of leaps (legal vs illegal leaps, melodic
motion after leaps)
First species: teach students some “formulas” for starting and ending
melodies
First species “quick reaction” game: play a cantus once, then ask
students to improvise a consonant second line the second time you play
it. Have the class discuss any perceived errors.
Second species: review concept of passing tones.
Students vocally improvise in second species. Have the class discuss any
perceived errors.
Third species: review concepts of upper, lower, and double neighbor.
Third species: introduce the double passing tone and the dissonant
third quarter note
Third species:introduce the Echappée and the Cambiata.
Fourth species: review concept of suspensions. Examine common
errors in writing suspensions.
Florid Counterpoint/Fifth Species: introduce the concept of the
“anticipation” and discuss the use of dotted halves and quarters, and
pairs of eighth notes.
Students compose a melodic line as counterpoint to a given cantus, and
score the piece for two instruments
•
•
•
•
Ask students to perform two-part rhythms (with time for preparation)
from Music For Sight Singing, Rhythm & Pitch, and Elementary Training For
Musicians (see appendix)
Play two-part “rhythmic substitution games” where various rhythmic
figures are added to an ongoing rhythm by verbal instruction
Give two-part rhythmic dictations (two timbres) from Music For Sight
Singing, Rhythm & Pitch, Elementary Training For Musicians
Ask students perform rhythms in two-part canon, from memory
Ask students to sight-read two-part rhythms in compound meter
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Zarlino Motets (2 voice), Bach Invention in C minor
Progressive SightSinging and
Dictation for Term 2:
• Students sight -sing
melodies that use
accidentals implying
V/V and V/IV from
Music For Sight
Singing, chapter 13.
• Give two part
melodic dictation, and
ask students to
identify the correct
counterpoint species
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 7
Week
Term Three
1
Harmony Unit 11. Explaining Accidentals: Chromatic Passing Tones,
Borrowed Tones and Modes, and Secondary Dominants
Rhythm Unit 26. Two part rhythms with tuplets (triplets, quintuplets,
septuplets)
•
2
•
•
•
•
3
4
5
6
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Analyze chromatic passing tones in examples by Mozart, Bach.
Students improvise phrases using chromatic passing tones
Ask students to find examples of chromatic passing tones in their
repertoire
Introduce “borrowed” minor: analyze examples by Tchaikovsky,
Rachmaninoff
Students improvise melodies that are in major but borrow notes from
the parallel minor
Ask students to find examples of borrowed minor in their repertoire
Introduce “borrowed” modes: Examples from Tchaikovsky,
Students write a short composition that borrows notes from the parallel
minor or a parallel mode
Introduce concept of secondary dominants, and specifically V of V.
Identify examples of V of V in works by Mozart, Schubert
Students write half cadences that include V of V
Ask students to find examples of V of V in their repertoire
Introduce V of IV
Study V of IV examples in works from Bach and Mozart
Ask class to construct and analyze other secondary dominants
Give written test
•
•
Ask students to perform two-part rhythms (with time for preparation)
from Music For Sight Singing, Rhythm & Pitch,, and Elementary Training
For Musicians (see appendix)
Give two-part rhythmic dictations (two timbres) from Music For Sight
Singing, Rhythm & Pitch, and Elementary Training For Musicians
Ask students to sight-read two-part rhythms containing tuplets in simple
meter
7
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Mozart Piano Sonatas K. 331, K 457, and K. 545; Bach Goldberg Variation XIII, Tchaikovsky Winter Morning
borrowed Phrygian), The Little Horseman (borrowed harmonic minor), March of the Wooden Soldiers (borrowed min. in B sec.), Rachmaninoff
Prelude op. 23 no. 5 (middle section - ambiguous dominant/borrowed min), Schubert Morgengruss, Bach Prelude and Fugue WTC I
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 3:
Ask students to sight
sing melodies that
imply a full array of
secondary dominants
from Music For Sight
Singing, chapter 14.
Give two part melodic
dictation (treble/bass),
and ask students to
analyze accidentals.
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 8
Week
1
2
Term One
Pitch and Scale Unit 19. Sequences
• Introduce the tonal sequence: ask students to improvise, and compose,
tonal (diatonic) sequences.
• Ask students to identify tonal sequences in works by Bach, Mozart.
• Introduce the real sequence: same activities as above
• Analyze an absolute sequence in Mozart K. 491.
• Introduce the modulating sequence: same activities as above.
• Analyze a modulating sequence in Bach English Suite in E min.
• Give written quiz.
3
6
7
•
•
•
2 against 3
3 against 4
3 against 5
Sample exercises: break polyrhythm into subdivisions; tap both parts
together given a big beat: tap X against Y (both parts), tap Y against X
(both parts), treat a pulse as X and tap Y, then treat that same pulse as Y
and tap X.
•
•
4
5
Rhythm Unit 27. Introduction to Polyrhythms
Ask students to perform repertory excerpts containing examples of
polyrhythms: Brahms, Ravel, Chopin
Give aural test asking students to perform polyrhythms in the ways
listed above
Harmony Unit 12. Common chord modulations
• Introduce concepts of pivot (common) chord and pivot area
• Analyze “proximal” (common nearby) modulations: to V and to IV
using V/V and V/IV.
• Students improvise melodies that contain proximal modulations in
class.
• Analyze examples of such modulations by Schubert and Mozart
• Students compose/construct modulations to/from the relative Major/
minor, using secondary dominants.
• Analyze examples of such modulations by Schubert, Schumann
• Introduce concept of remote modulation
• Ask class to construct examples of remote modulation
• Analyze examples of remote modulations in songs by Wolf.
• Give written test
8
9
10
Form and Structure Unit 2. Review and systematic study of Periods
• Review period types and terminology: Period/Phrase Group, Single/
Extended/Double, Parallel/Contrasting
Repertory Referenced: Mozart Piano Sonata K. 545, Bach Invention in C major, Mozart Piano Concerto K. 591, Bach English Suite in E
minor, Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor, Schubert Kennst Du Das Land, Schumann Wenn Ich in Deinen Augen, Wolf Ein Stündlein wohl
vor Tag, Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor, Ravel Vocalise, Chopin Nocturne in D Flat op. 27/2
Progressive SightSinging and
Dictation for Term 1:
Ask students to
arpeggiate all four
voices in each chord
in a Bach Chorale
(two clefs) while
keeping a steady beat.
Give dictation, and
ask students to sight
sing, using melodies
containing remote
modulations from
Music For Sight Singing,
Chapter 19
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 8
Week
1
2
Term Two
Form and Structure Unit 2. Review and systematic study of Periods,
cont’d
• Analyze periods found in music literature.
• Give students a melodic stem, ask them to complete the period
• Students compose complete periods of different types
• Give quiz on period composition and analysis
Rhythm Unit 28. Contemporary Rhythms
•
Students prepare and perform rhythms containing challenges common
to twentieth and twenty-first century performance practice: modulating,
rapidly changing, or unsigned meter; irregular beats or subdivisions;
other challenges such as rapidly shifting metronome marks.
3
Form and Structure Unit 3. Binary and Ternary Forms
4
•
•
•
5
•
•
Survey binary form types: Continuous/Sectional, Simple/Rounded/
Balanced, Symmetric/Asymmetric
Examine typical binary form key schemes
Students compose pieces in binary form. Students “re-compose” one
kind of binary form as another.
Examine the difference between binary and ternary forms
Analyze music in Da Capo (ternary) form
6
Form and Structure Unit 4. Rondo form and Rondo composition project
7
8
9
•
Introduce concept of “compound” binary and ternary forms. Examine
rondo as an example of a compound ternary form (later, examine
Sonata-Allegro as example of compound binary).
•! Students compose music in ABACABA (rondo) form
• Examine typical rondo key schemes in examples by Clementi and
Kuhlau
• Analyze rondo by Schubert to observe a more exotic Rondo key scheme
• Students start rondo compositions for their solo instrument and piano
accompaniment.
10
Repertory Referenced: Bach Minuet in G, Musette; Mozart from London Notebook: Minuet in F, Andante in C major, Allegro in G, Allegro
in C, Schumann from Album for the Young: Soldier’s March, The Wild Rider, After The Theater, The Happy Farmer.
Progressive SightSinging and Dictation
for Term 2: Give
dictation, and ask
students to sight sing
using melodies
containing twentiethcentury rhythms from
Music For Sight Singing,
chapter 21
Special Music School
Music Theory Curriculum
Grade 8
Week
1
Term Three
Form and Structure Unit 5. Rondo form and Rondo composition
project
•
Students perform and critique their own Rondo compositions
2
3
4
7
•
•
•
•
Form and Structure Unit 6. Sonata-Allegro form
•
•
•
Survey basic elements of Sonata-Allegro Form (exposition,
development, recapitulation)
Explore typical key schemes of Sonata-Allegro Form
Analyze Mozart Symphony movement
5
6
Form and Structure Unit 6. Introduction to Fugue
Introduce concepts of subject, countersubject, tonal vs. real answer
Analyze fugal expositions
Students compose fugal expositions
Introduce concepts of inversion, retrograde, augmentation and
diminution of themes and examine examples in repertoire
AP Prep Unit. Vocabulary and Performance
•
•
•
Give practice dictations and sight-singing tests using material from
previously released AP exams
Survey vocabulary from AP test
Ask students to write out definitions and identify musical examples to
illustrate terms on the AP test
Form and Structure Unit 7. Symphony Movement
Composition Project
Students compose a complete Sonata-Allegro movement for
the instruments in their graduating class, rehearse, and
perform it.
8
9
10
Repertory Referenced: Mozart Symphony in G minor K. 183, Bach Fugue in C minor, WTC I; Fugue in C minor, WTC II
Sample Assignments
Grade 1
Homework, Due November 9
1. All of these notes are E's. Copy them
onto the next page, using the same rhythms.
4 quarter notes
! "
"
2 half notes
! #
#
"
"
1 whole note
$
4 pairs of 8th notes
! """"""""
2
!
4 quarter notes
2 half notes
1 whole note
!
!
4 pairs of 8th notes
2. Finish pages 16, 17, 18, and 19 in your workbook.
Special Music School
Theory Program
Grade 1
Kodaly 22
Above the notes, write "B" for Beat, "2-8" for 2-8, and "R" for rest.
Below the notes, write "Re" for Re, "Mi" for Mi and "Sol" for Sol.
We will perform this together in class next Wednesday.
Name
QUIZ, 1ST GRADE, FEB. 6
1. Write the letter names and syllables under each note.
"
! " "
" " " "
"
"
"
"
"
! " "
"
"
2. Write the notes above each letter. If the same letter appears
twice in a row, write a different note for each.
!
g
e
e
f
a
d
d
c
c
b
2
3.Write the notes above each syllable. If the same syllable
appears twice in a row, write a different note for each.
!
Fa
Fa Re Re
La Do Do Si Mi
Mi Sol
4. Write 7 notes on the staff. Then write the LETTER names
beneath each one.
!
5. Write 7 notes on the staff. Then write the SYLLABLE
names beneath each one.
!
Homework, Due March 15
1. Workbook: pages 63 and 64
2. Sing the first 8 measures of this theme in:
Rhythm, Numbers, Letters, and Syllables.
3. Be able to sing that much by memory in Syllables!
!
!
#"
%!
"
!
Surprise Symphony
2nd Movement
$$$$
$$$ $$$$
$$$
Franz Joseph Haydn
$$$$
$$$
$ '
'
"" $ ( ""
'
# $ $&$ $ $
$ $ $ $ $$$$ $ $ $ $
$ " ) " $' $'
%
"
"
7
!
13
1.
2.
$
$
$
# $ $ $"&$ $ $ $ $
%
$ $ $$$$ $ $ $ (
*
Homework, Due March 15
1. Workbook: pages 63 and 64
2. Sing the first 8 measures of this theme in:
Rhythm, Numbers, Letters, and Syllables.
3. Be able to sing that much by memory in Syllables!
!
!
#"
%!
"
!
Surprise Symphony
2nd Movement
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Franz Joseph Haydn
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13
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2.
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*
1st Grade Homework, Due March 22
1. Workbook, pages 68. 69, and 70
2. Follow all of the instructions below!
Here is one example of a scale piece, using our 3 count patterns:
% % %
$&
% % %
$&
It is an ascending scale piece, because it goes up.
#! $
"
# $
$&
%
%
$
%
Now, you create an ascending scale piece, choosing the same 3 count patterns.
Be sure to end with a dotted half note!
#
low c
d
e
f
b
middle c
#
g
a
2
Try writing another version, this time make it a descending scale,which
goes down.
Again each measure should have 1 half note plus a quarter note
or one dotted half note.
!
middle c
b
a
g
!
f
e
d
low c
Name..........................
Quiz, April 10
1. Write the letter names and syllables under each note.
"
"
! " " "
"
" "
"
2. Write the notes above each letter. If the same letter appears
twice in a row, write a different note for each.
!
d
!
g
g c
c
f
a
a
e
b
b
3. Write the notes above each syllable. If the same syllable
appears twice in a row, write a different note for each.
Si
Si
Re Fa Do Do Mi Sol Sol
La La
4. Write 7 notes on the staff. Then write the letter names and
syllable names beneath each one.
!
Homework, Due May 3
1. Pages 88, 89, 90, and 91 in workbook
2. Here is one example of a scale piece, using quarter rests
in place of some of the quarter notes.
!
%
#"
$ $ $ $ $
%
$
$
$ $ $
!
"
# $ % $ $ % $ % $ $ &'
Now, you create a scale piece, using quarter notes and quarter rests.
But be sure to end with a dotted half note!
!
#"
middle c
#
d
e
f
(
g
a
b
high c
!
"
2
Try writing another version, this time in the bass clef.
low c
d
e
#! $ $ %
"
f
#
g
a
b
middle c
Sample Assignments
Grade 2
2ndGradeTheoryHomework,DueDec' 5
. Write the rhlthms for
ooo-ma-chic-ka
boo-chic-ka
boo-ma-chic
boo-ka
2. Singthescalepiece,beloq in rhythmwords
3. Wrie thesamepiecein thebassclef onthegrandstaff' Be very careful
aboutyourbeamsanddots!
=-T-
w-
tttl
4 . SingDeck theHalls in rhl'thm words
5 . Singit in numbers(it startson 5) andsyllables
6 . Singit with words(at leastthe firsl verse)'
tz: E
-
-
3. Writing G-Major Scaleswith the key sigrafire'
It is calledan ascendingscale'becauseit go1 lp!
scale.
a
G-Major
is
Here
7&1')
il;"i"
and
theLalfstepslurs' (Theyarealwaysbetween3&4
the staff'
Write in the key signature for G at the beginningof
slurs'
ftr"n *tite in-the ascendingG scale andthe half step
Here is a anotherG-Major scale'
It is calleda descendingscale,becauseit goesdownl
Write in half stePslurs.
sta'ff'
Write in thekey signaturefor G at thebeginningof the
stepslurs.
ihen write in-ttreiamedescendingG scaleandthe half
2ndGradeHomewo*,DueFriday,Jan.23
1. Workbook:Pages35,36,utd37
2. Singthisscalepiecein G-Major,usingrhytbmwords.
Remember
thatthetripletsaresungas"tri-o-lay!"
3. Write your own scalepiecein G, andbe sureto includesometriplets. Be ableto
singit in rhytbmwords! Remember,
eachbeatis on only onenoteof the scale.
4. Write anotherscalepiecein G,
Homework: Due March 6
1. Workbook:pages52, 53, and54
2. Practicesinging this familiar piecewith the new top line. Sing in numbersand syllables.
' . Write the intervalscreatedwith the new top line andthe bottom line.
I
mar-riedmywife in the month of June, Ris-ol - ty, Ros-ol- ty,
Now, now,now. I
r f &r
t ?tt
c-ffty Nack-e
r_-c_r
&r
E_r-r
- ty, Re- tre-qua-qua- li - ty,
Hey Bom-bo - si - tv. Nick-e -
Wil - low - by
tf
car-riedheroffbythe lightofthe moon .Ris-ol-tyRos-ol-ty
Wal - low - by
She churned the butter in Dld's old boot
And for a dasher,sheus€dher foot
She contrs her hair but once a y€ar,
She saysthe combs arc much too deai
Shelikes to sing,but much too loud,
She soundsjust like a pr€gnsnt cow
She never washesor sweepsthe floor,
And when she sleeps,she likes to sDor€.
Teston Intervals,March 13
name
:
1. r'
L'
^/-
\'/
--.,
3. 1
"t
4.
5. ^)
6'?
7' L'
8.j
r.
2.
I
7
3. t
4. ("
5. I
6. t
i. I
8. a
Write 2 diferent intervalsof an 8ve Write 2 different intervalsof a 4th
Wite2 differentintervalsof a
unison
Write 2 differentintervalsof a 3rd
Write 2 different intervalsof a 7th
Write 2 differentintervalsof a 6th
l]
Write 2 differentintervalsof a2nd Write 2 differentintervalsof a 5th
goodfairies
Nametheintervalsfor eachcharacter:Princess......,
King...........,
baby..........,
Prince...........
Queen........,
badfairy..............,
oldwomanatthespinning
wheel.............
Write the nameof eachinterval.
2nd GradeHomework, dueApril 3
1..Mark everynotethat is an anacrusis(pick-up,upbeat)to thepbrasewith an 'a'.
2. Mark the crusis(downbeat)for everyphrasewith a'c'.
3. What is the ftaysignatureof this pi*e?
4. So whatftevis it in?
I
dancedin the mom- ing whea the world was be-gun, And 1 danced in the moorlandthe
stats- and the sffL
dance goes on.
e - ver you $ay
I danced in the eve'{ing md I danc€din the dawn, And - with my mu- sic the
"Danc€, danco, who - e- ver you may be,
be,
And I'll
lesd
you
in
For
the
I
am the Lord of th€
dance," said
andTriads,
Pentachords
for "LordoftheDance"
a descant
creating
Pen- ta- chordon 1,
Root, Third, Fifth'
ta chord on 5,
Root,Third, Fifth,
Pen- ta-chord on 1,
Root, Thtud,Fifth,
Pen - ta- chordon
2nd GradeTest,Jrme1
l. Answer: Whatis the key signaturefor C-Major?
for F-Major?
for G-Major
2. Forthekey of C, writetheletterthatis thefust degreeof thescale...........
4th degree
ofthescale.........
5thdegree
of thescale............
3. Write the I, IV, andV triadsin the key of C - remember,tlrebottomnotewiil bethe lst, 4th
and5th depreeof the scale.Write theseon boththe bassandhebleclef!
a
rW V
4. Foi thekev ofF. write the letterthat is the first deereeof the scale
4th degreeofthe scale......--.
5th desreeof thescale............
5. Write the key signatureon bothclefsfor the key of F
6. Write the I. IV, and V triads in the key ofF on both clefs
a)
w
7. For the key of G, write the letter that is the first degreeofthe scale
4th degreeof the scale.........
5th degreeof the scale..--....-...
8. Write tbe key signatureon both clefsfor rhe key of G
9. Write the I, IV, andV triads in the key of G on both clefs
a)
T\/
10. IdentifueachtriadasaI, [V or V chordin thekey ofC.
-x-
*-_i=-
o+
+F
11. Identifu eachtriad asa I, IV or V chordin the key of F
e)
+
Q
+t----
12. Identiff eachtriad as aI, IVorV chordin the key of G.
a)
+
<!,
Sample Assignments
Grade 3
3rd GradeTest:GrandStaff,Sept.29
1. Write the correctnoteson the grandstaffsbelow (if the noteis
repeated,choosetwo differentlocationson the staff!)
Bass: B
B
FF
D
Treb:DD G
Treb:Cfl Ab Bb Gfi Bass: Cf
Bb
Fh
F EE
Db
2. Write8 notes,someon bassandsomeon treble,then
iitetheir namesunderneath.
note'
3. Write the letterand sytlublenamesundereach
4. Write the letternamestrndereachnote'
3rd GradeHomework,DueFriday Hallowe'enl
!
VERYIMPORTANT:FOLLOWDIRECTIONS!!:
35,36,and37
1. Workbook:Pages
2. Singthe "Witches'Theme"in [a] rh1'thmand [b] syllables'
in 6/8 there are only 2
3. Write the countswherethey belongin the "Witches'Theme"-remember,
countsper measure!
Dansemacabrethemes
Saint-Sadns,
adaptedby CynthiaLilley
Witches' Theme
The witoh- es dance,The witch-
es darco,The ter-ri-ble,ter-d-
ble,witch -es dance,The
witah -es
witch - es dance,The witch - esdance,The ter ri bl4er - ri- ble,
fnish!
4. Sins the "skeletons'Themewith the rhytbmwords' I've got you statted You
-my
-my
nmj im-myjim-mYrun
fltr,
-my
jim - m Y
jim - m Y
jim - m Y
Teston Intervals,Jan.30
Write 2 different intervals of an 8ve
name
Write 2 different intervals of a 4th
Write 2 differentintervalsof a
unison
Write 2 differentintervalsof a 3rd
Write 2 differentintervalsof aTth
Write 2 differentintervalsof a 6th
write 2 different intervals of a 5th
write 2different intervals of a 2nd
Dissonant...........',
Namethe intervalsthatare: Consonant...........,
Perfect..
-................
Write the name of eachinterval.
Homework.Due Feb. 13
Completethe patterns ofpentachords,broken triails, and triads.
lVrite in both the treble and bassclefs.
Nameeach triad asM4isl.-Etig!e-a@!$ed
pentachordon 1
o+ .
10 pentachordon 4
a)
root third,
fifth
triad
+
Major
root,
fiffh
triad
Dentachordon 5
)- ,,
tJ
triad
root, third,
.&-
o-*--,-
,_=:
Pentachordon 6
16
root,
fifth
triad
ict:
ta
pentachordon 7
root, thfud, fifth
(1
=-f-i-
t
5-l-:
22
\.r
t)
pentachord on I
root,
fifth
toiad
1. Sing this song in: rh1'thmwords, numbers,syllab1es,and words!
so what key is it in?.....Whatis its time signature?....'..
2. What is its key signature?.......,
1. Finish writins in the triads in the bassclef.
buf- fa - loroam, Where
give me a home. Wltere
play,
Where sel- dom is heard
a dis
deer and the an-te- lo
cou-rag- ing word, Ald the
7
t)}
,-
skiesare not cloud-y all
duy.
-Iom€, home on the :ange,
Where the
11
deer
and the an - te - lope
play,
Where sel- dom is heard
cou- rag- ing word, Artd the skies arc not cloud-y
IV
w
a
day.-
a dis-
March25
3rd GradeHomework,DueWednesday,
1. Be able to sing in Solfege syllables measures7 - 15 in your part, alto or soprano,ir
"ADream of Spring." Review measues 1-6, too! Try to have this memorized by Friday.
2. Here is "Twinkle, Trrinkle" in a variation h "The Land of the QuarterNote." la]Answer'
What is its Time Signatue?......... What is its Key Signature?........,
Whatkey is it in?.......
Sing
this
venion
with
rhltbm
words.
ftl
[c]Write the appropriatechords over the RomanNumerals.
{
o
IV
IV
ry
ry
3. Now write your own variationin F-Major. [a] Be sureto use the samenotes,just changethe
r$tlm. [b] Write the chordsin the bassclef. [c] Write the correct Roman numerals.
a)
a)
Sample Assignments
Grade 4
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Week 3
Debussy's Cathedrale Engloutie (Sunken Cathedral)
We performed the bass notes of Debussy's Prelude The Sunken Cathedral. Below is part of
the score, with very long bass notes. Write the length of each very long bass note in
quarter notes.
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Week 4
Whole and half step puzzles
Start on the given note, then follow each of the instructions. Each time you finish an instruction, write the number of the instruction on that key.
Starting on C. 1) Go up a half step 2) Go up a whole step 3) Go up a whole step and a half
step 4) Go up two whole steps. What note are you on now?
Starting on D. 1) Go down a whole step 2) Go up two whole steps 3) Go up a half step 4)
Go up six half steps. What note are you on now?
Starting on F. 1) Go down two whole steps 2) Go up two half steps 3) Go up two whole
steps 4) Go up two whole steps. What note are you on now?
Starting on D: 1) Go up 12 half steps 2) Go down 6 whole steps 3) Drink a glass of water 4)
Spin around three times. What note are you on now?
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S09(?+BB(:+AI(.09*(32B0,.(+A(JB-::K
!
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!"#$%&'(&)&*'+,-),#'./"0
1*")&'),&'*,-),#'%234/24&'2567&'),&8&'*,-),#8'239'),&':6/3)'5&%6;<
=6/';"%%'5&'28>&9')6'$&*?6*#'63&'6? '),&8&<
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Week 9
Trichord Puzzles
Write three trichords on each piano, using these three letter words. Remember: Species
1: W+W / Species 2: W+H / Species 3: H+W
•
•
•
BOG - Start on D, species 1
•
•
•
MAY - Start on F sharp, species 1
HAT - Start on F, species 3
ICE - Start on B, species 2
BAN - Start on E flat, species 2
TAG - Start on C sharp, species 3
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Week 9
•
•
•
RED - Start on B flat, species 1
•
•
•
CECI - Start on C sharp, species 2
MIX - Start on D flat, species 3
LIP - Start on G flat, species 2
VIOLET - Start on F, species 3
MAXIMILIAN PIERSON-PANES - Start on C, species 1
SMS Theory Grade 4
Week 14
NAME:__________________________________________
Puccini in 6/8
Below is part of a Puccini aria, "O mio babbino caro" from the opera Gianni Schicchi. Write the rhythm language underneath
each measure, leaving blank the ones you don't know. It is mostly "Beat", "Skip and", and "Running and" with a few stray
"ands". We will sing it together in class, and then listen to the very interesting ways that opera singers actually sing it!
SMS Theory Grade 4
Week 16
NAME:__________________________________________
Mozart in 6/8
Below is the first part of Mozart's Piano Sonata K. 331.
Remember our final addition to the compound meter rhythmic language: Am-sterdam!
Write the rhythmic language underneath the melody notes. Don't forget any stray ands.
We will solfege this melody in class, so if you will have difficulty with the solfege syllables,
write them in too. People who prefer to do some bass clef work can learn the bottom voice
instead, and we will sing in duo.
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!"#$%&#'(")*#+),#$' #-*)../#0&(+),#1%"2#3345/#.4%+2"4.#6(**#+$#46$#4).7.8
952,#6(**#:2&'$&;#45(.#&5,45;/#2(452&#6(45#*)"<%)<2#$&#6(45#-$%"48
952"#452,#6(**#.(<54#&2)+#)#&5,45;8
0$&#:&2:)&)4($"/#*2)&"#45(.#&5,45;#)"+#6&(42#("#=$45#452#*)"<%)<2#)"+#452#-$%"4
).#)#5$;26$&78
!
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Pentachord-Ostinato Composition Project
For this project your will compose a piece of music using your pentachord modes and your
simple time rhythms. Here are the details:
•
You may choose any of the pentachords you like, including the ordinary major
and minor, the fancier Lydian, Locrian and Phrygian, or the "Oriental Style" Bartok used for his piece.
•
When you pick your pentachord, choose a key for it to be in OTHER THAN C.
Write in letters the five notes of the pentachord please, so I know you are on
track.
•
Compose a melody using your simple time rhythms. I'm really hoping that some
of you will use the syncopated and tricky rhythms we studied in our simple time
unit.
•
•
Make sure you have a meter (time signature), and you use it correctly.
•
Underneath your melody you should compose an OSTINATO, a rhythm that
stays the same for the whole piece. You can make it a DRONE that stays on the
same note, or let it change.
•
This project is due Friday, May 5.
Because we're focusing on pentachords, try to keep your notes in scale tones 1-5,
though if you want to add a few other notes it's okay.
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
NAME:________________________________
Pentachord Everything Test
Mark the A Lydian pentachord on this keyboard. Mark above the note on the black keys so
it's absolutely clear:
Notate the B flat minor pentachord on this treble clef.
!
!
Identify which pentachord would use these 5 piano keys and name them, making sure you
call it a "sharp" or "flat" correctly, so that you don't repeat or skip any letters:
X
X
X
X
! " "
#
"
! "
X
"! " $
Identify which pentachord this melody uses AND write out the 5 notes in it. (Do both!)
Pentachord test example
"! " "
Special Music School
Grade 4 Theory
Week 21
Simple meter sixteenth notes I
Write the rhythms that correspond with this rhythmic language:
Boomachicka ___________________________
Boo chicka
____________________________
Booma
_____________________________
Booka
_____________________________
Write the rhythmic language that goes with each of these. If the rhythm is wrong, describe what is wrong with it:
SMS Theory Grade 4
Week 23
NAME:__________________________________________
Homework for Tuesday, 23 March 2009: Wachet Auf part I
Below is Bach's Organ Prelude Wachet Auf. Using our Boomachicka language for sixteenth notes, and of course lots of 28s, write the rhythm language for the top staff of both systems under the notes. We will solfege this in class so prepare
your solfege syllables if you need to.
SMS Theory Grade 4
Friday, 29 April 2010
NAME:__________________________________________
Homework for Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Up to 7 sharp:
•
Each piano picture goes with one scale. The scale name is above the piano picture. There are sharp scales so remember, no flats!.
•
Remember the major scale half-and-whole step pattern:
w w h w ww h
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
•
For each scale, mark each note on the piano that is in the scale with an X, for
ONE OCTAVE only. Start on scale tone 1, which is the same note as the key
the scale is in. Mark IN the white keys for the white keys, and ABOVE the
keys for the black keys.
•
There are eight blanks labeled 1 through 8. Put scale steps 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8
in the blanks.
•
We will do the first one in class as an example
1) E major
______
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
1
2) B major
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
______
1
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
3) F Sharp major
______
1
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
4) C Sharp major
______
1
______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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!!!!!!!!"#$%&!'()*
;(<%=!#*!>0(!?#&?<(!%@!@#@>0*A!/0(&(!,&(!56!B%*#>#%$*!%$!#>3!<#C(!,!?<%?CA
D!9#$%&!#*!%$!>%B3!=#>0!E(&%!*0,&B*!%&!@<,>*A!F!9#$%&!#*!>%!>0(!&#G0>3!=#>0!%$(!*0,&BA!1!#*!>%!>0(!<(@>3!=#>0!%$(!@<,>A
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!
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J$*#-(!>0(!&#9!%@!>0(!?#&?<(3!=&#>(!>0(!>%$#?!>%!9,>?0!(,?0!9,K%&!C()!*#G$,>2&(A
Sample Assignments
Grade 5
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=3'A)#E#,7)"3?
FGDHIJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
!"#$"#!"#%&'()*#+,"-'(#."-$)/$0#1
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839$)#9-#$7)#!"#$"#!"#*&'()6#A":9-'-$#B$76#'-A#$"-9&<#2'>)#9$#@3)@'3)A#$"#*9-C#9-#&('**<
!
"
!
#
!
$
!
$
Special Music School
Grade 5 Theory
Week 4
Ambiguous Trichords
In class we looked at how one trichord can be in multiple keys. We took a musical "idea" on
a trichord and followed it through to 3 different endings. For example, the trichord C-D-E
can be found in C major, F major, and G major:
For this assignment, use the trichord B flat - C - D . What are the three major keys you can
find this trichord in:
Key #1: ______________
What are the scale numbers? _______________
Key #2: ______________
What are the scale numbers? _______________
Key #3: ______________
What are the scale numbers?_______________
Add rhythm to your trichord to create your "motive", then finish it in each of the three
keys, making sure your melody passes through 4 and 7:
!
!
! !
! !
!
!
! !
! !
SMS Theory Grade 4
Week 4
NAME:__________________________________________
Bach Fughetta Group Work
Below is a Fughetta (little fugue) by J.S. Bach. In class we teamed up in groups of three to say these rhythms (we are only
speaking them). For homework, each member of a trio decides which part they will speak and agrees on a rhythm language. Then, write in the rhythm language for your part below. Make sure you stay on track with your part, whether it is
top, middle, or bottom!
SMS Theory Grade 4
Week 5
NAME:__________________________________________
Beethoven Razumovsky Quartet
Each of you was given a part in this opening, up to the forte. Write in the rhythm language for your part. We will sing and
choreograph it in class. Extra credit if you can solfege your part.
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SMS Theory Grade 5
Week 19
NAME:__________________________________________
Bach Goldberg XIII
We are onto reading fast note values (32nd and up). We looked at this Goldberg Variation in class.
Please be ready to tap the rhythm of the first EIGHT measures of melody next Friday while conducting in 3 with the other
hand. It looks too fast to step to me, but if you work out a way, the class will watch your beautiful choreography for extra
credit.
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Sample Assignments
Grade 6
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NAME:__________________
Theory 6
Tritone Test
Write a dominant seventh in these two keys. Use the clef provided.
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A major
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Add one note to make each of these chords a dominant seventh. Use the clefs provided.
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Here are two tritones. Identify what major key they are in. Identify which is 7 and which is 4.
Add a dominant 5th. Resolve the chord to a 1,3,5 triad.
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do the same thing.
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Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 8
NAME:__________________
Augmentation & Diminution - Triple Meter
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Write this rhythm twice as slow, transforming the meter to 2x slow.
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Now write this rhythm twice as fast, transforming the
meter to 2x fast
#
Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 8
NAME:__________________
Block Chord Progressions avoiding Parallels
Below you will see: a tonic chord in one inversion or another and a progression.
FILL IN THE KEY SIGNATURE. Then write the rest of the progression using GVL & avoiding parallels.
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Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
NAME:__________________
ASSIGNED Friday January 22
DUE Tuesday January 26
!
Chords and Inversions in Four Voices
In four voices only the bass note determines the inversion.
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Write which triads these are and what the inversion is.
Write three different versions
of an A major root position triad.
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Write three different versions
of an F minor first inversion triad.
!
Harmony Test
Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 19
NAME:__________________
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Write the following chord progression in G minor: i - ii - i64 - V7 - vi.
Identify kinds of cadence and 6-4 chord.
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Realize this figured bass in closed position. Identify kinds of cadence and 6-4 chord.
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Write block chords with good voice leading underneath these two melodØ.
Remember not to harmonize every note.
3
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Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 21
NAME:__________________
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Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 22
NAME:__________________
Melodizing Beethoven
!
Write two different melodies that go with this chord progression from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
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Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 24
Harmonic Rhythm of An Die Musik
Here are the first two systems of Schubert's An Die Musik. I have left space between the systems. Write the harmonic rhythm of the passage in rhythmic note values and accompany
each note value with a Roman numeral and figures. Use your judgment as to how often the
harmony changes; we'll see what different answers you got on Friday.
Special Music School
Grade 6 Theory
Week 25
Bass Lines and Implied Harmony
•
Bass lines are often quite melodic, but still fulfill their harmonic functions. In the
Bach minuet below, write
what harmonies
you think are implied by the two-voice
Minuet
in
G
texture.
J. S. Bach
Moderato
Keyboard Classics
More FREE music! www.pitt.edu/~deben
Special Music School
6 Theory
Week 25
Bach: Minuet in G page 2Grade
Sample Assignments
Grade 7
Special Music School
Grade 7 Theory
ASSIGNED Monday Sept 27
DUE Monday Oct 4
NAME______________
Eleanor Rigby modal mixture
The Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby alternates between an E Dorian, with a C sharp, and
a C major chord, which implies a vi function in E minor. This creates a rich array of
tonal relations. Compose your own variation on the middle staff. We will also do some
improvising so practice improvising with these harmonies in your head; in fact the best
way to compose your variation might be if it comes out of your improvising.
PLEASE BRING INSTRUMENTS TO CLASS ON OCT. 4
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Special Music School
Grade 7 Theory
Species Counterpoint Final Project
Your final project is a composition in fifth (mixed species). Here is how to go about it:
•
On the next page is your source material for the cantus. It is a sample of authentic Gregorian chant, converted to modern notation. This is one way counterpoint
pieces were created, in Bach's time and earlier, and sometimes later (for example,
there is a cantus firmus setting in the finale of The Magic Flute: two guards sing
the cantus).
•
This is a melody from Gregorian chant in four phrases. First of all, three extra
credit points to anyone who can come in and sing this from memory. No solfege,
just the words as wrtten.
•
Now, to create the piece:
๏ Choose one of these phrases to set with mixed species counterpoint. So,
only use the material between two double bars, or from the beginning to
the first double bar.
๏ Convert this melody to WHOLE NOTES in ALTO CLEF. Ignore all
rhythmic values as written (yes this was a commonly used technique when
composers worked with a cantus firmus).
๏ Once you've got your whole notes written on alto clef, write above them a
fifth species counterpoint with the usual constraints: at least TWO beats
each of each species, with no more than FOUR in first species. Additionally, use and identify: passing tone, suspension, double neighbor, legal
D3Q, dotted half, and end with a ficta cadence.
๏ You will solfege this in class while I play the cantus on the piano. Or if
you prefer I can have loud boys sing the cantus.
๏ This is due in TWO WEEKS on FRIDAY, MARCH 13. An additional
bonus point is yours if you can figure out the origins of Friday the 13th
and explain how it connects to our current species counterpoint unit.
Special Music School
Grade 7 Theory
Special Music School
Grade 7
Omnibus Melodic Vocabulary Assignment
You have TWO WEEKS to complete this assignment. It has been assigned on Tuesday,
February 23rd and is due Tuesday, March 9th. Please do the following:
•
For each term listed below, write a one-sentence definition in your own words.
Please do not use someone else's words.
•
On the staff next to the term, write an example of the term in practice. If the
term only requires one clef, just use one. Adding relevant numbers or syllables to
your examples helps ensure you get partial credit in the event you make a mistake.
•
The 5th species terms have been marked as such, so don't worry if you don't
know them yet
Perfect Consonance
Imperfect Consonance
Dissonance
Tritone Leap
Parallel Motion
Direct Motion
Contrary Motion
Oblique Motion
Passing Tone
Lower Neighbor
Upper Neighbor
Special Music School
Grade 7
Double Neighbor
Escape Tone
Cambiata
Dissonant Third Quarter (in 3rd Species)
Suspension
Legal Dissonant Third Quarter (5th species)
Anticipation (5th species)
Special Music School
Grade 7
Ficta Cadence (5th species)
Special Music School
Grade 7
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SMS Theory Grade 7
Friday, 24 April 2009
NAME_______________________
Homework for Tuesday, 28 April
Below is the opening of Schumann's piece called Chopin, in imitation of Chopin, from
his suite Carnaval. Each bar has one main harmony; please write it under the bar, including the V of ii. On the blank lines below, write a melody that follows this solfège progression; be prepared to solfège this melody in class.
B?,HDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
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Sample Assignments
Grade 8
SMS Theory Grade 8
Friday, 18 Sept 2009
NAME_______________________
Homework for Tuesday, Sept. 22
Below is part of Bach's Invention in D Minor. There's a sequence whose cell is two measures long, that starts in the second measure of this excerpt. (So, measures 2 & 3 are one
time through, measures 4&5 are the second). On the treble clefs, keep the sequence going until it returns to the beginning.
!
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SMS Theory Grade 8
NAME_______________________
Mozart K.491 Sequence
Below is an absolute sequence from a Mozart piano concerto. Write two more measures of
this sequence. What kinds of chords are arpeggiated here?
!
!
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Special Music School
Grade 8 Theory
Week 7
Name:________________________
Mozart E minor Violin Sonata
The first theme of Mozart's Sonata in E Minor finishes in both instruments at rehearsal
mark 1; the violin repeats it at rehearsal mark 1, for eight measures. The second theme is on
the bottom line, at the forte mark, in C major. In between you have a transition with a lot of
A minor chords. It functions as a pivot area, to modulate from the first theme to the second.
Analyze this transition in e minor, and C major. I got you started and go up to the X.
e: V/iv
C: V/vi
X
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Header
Forms Packet 1: Periods
Hand this in, marked up, for full credit.
Header
Header
SMS Theory Program
Theory 8
Rondo Brillante Project
Your project will be to write me a Rondo and perform it.
•
This Rondo should be for your major instrument and piano accompaniment if
you are not a pianist. If you want to write a rondo for multiple instruments/
students, you should be absolutely sure those students can play their parts, rehearse on their own time with you, bring their instruments etc. because the performance is a part of your grade and it will be on you. There will be no in class
rehearsal time and you cannot use students from other grades for school theory
projects.
•
You are particularly encouraged to write some virtuoso passagework for your
instrument like in the concerto finales we have listened to. Like composer/
performers of all times you need use only the virtuoso techniques that make you
sound best.
•
Your Rondo should be in the form ABACABA with optional introduction and
coda. Your different sections should follow typical key schemes we have studied.
You will write modulating transitions to go from section to section, and one of
those modulations should be by sequence.
•
Each theme should be a double period or long-phrased period. If you would
rather write a theme that doesn't fit those rules exactly but is more of a phrase
group, that's fine as long as you run it by me.
•
Be efficient in writing it. If you are writing by hand, photocopy your themes so
you don't have to re-write and just write your transitions on separate pages.
•
Your grade will be based on four scores: competence (did the student understand
and follow the standard structures), coherence (does this sound like a bunch of
theory exercises pasted together, or is there an organic flow to it), creativity (what
did the student do that I didn't expect), and performance (can he or she play it).
•
Your timetable is:
๏ Friday, January 29 - Themes Due
๏ Friday, February 5 - Transitions Due
๏ Friday, February 12 - Full draft due
๏ Week of February 15 - Students perform projects
๏ Each of these deadlines has a grade attached to it.
Special Music School
Grade 8 Theory
Week 17
Name:________________________
Marking Up Mozart 1
For this assignment you need three different colors of highlighters, pens or pencils.
•
Divide the exposition into three groups: first theme group, second theme group,
and closing theme group. It is okay if not everyone agrees, if their choices make
sense. Each group gets a different color highlighter.
•
Mark each theme in the theme group separately: "Theme 1a", "Theme 1b", and
so on. Again, everyone won't necessarily agree on how they break. If it repeats
exactly, write "Theme 1c repeat" etc.
•
•
If there is a modulation, circle it and analyze it in both keys.
If there is a sequence, label it "sequence".
Appendices
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Appendix A: Curricular Units By Subject In Chronological
Order
Subject: Clefs
Grade 1
1. Treble clef: reading, writing
2. Bass clef: reading, writing
3. Combining Treble & Bass Clef
Grade 2
4. Writing Sharps, Flats & Naturals
Subject: Pitch & Scale
Grade 1
1. Letters, numbers, syllables
2. Melodic patterns on the pentachord
3. Experiential work with parallel minor
4. Experiential work with relative natural & harmonic minor
Grade 2
5. The chromatic scale
6. Introduction to F and G scales and introduction to key signatures
7. Transposing melodies between C, F and G
8. "Generic" intervals (intervals taken from the major scale with tonic on bottom)
Grade 3
9. Formal study of the three forms of minor (natural, harmonic, melodic)
10. Scales up to four sharps and flats: key signatures and key relationships
Grade 4
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
11. Whole and half steps (seconds)
12. Trichords and thirds
13. Tetrachords and fourths
14. Pentachords, "pentachord modes" and fifths
15. The Circle of Fifths
Grade 5
16. Review of scales, key signatures, and the circle of fifths by singing scales do to do
(fixed-do solfege; equivalent to C-to-C)
17. Trichords in different scales
18. Introduction to Advanced Intervals
Grade 6
19. Functional identification of tritones and other augmented/diminished intervals
Grade 7
20. Modes and modal repertory
21. Non-harmonic tones and introduction to species counterpoint
Grade 8
22. Sequences
Subject: Harmony
Grade 2
1. Identification of notated tonic, dominant, subdominant triads in keys of C, F and G
Grade 3
2. Major, minor and diminished triads
3. I, IV, V triads in keys up to four sharps and flats
Grade 5
4. Triads in the scale
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
5. Formal study of triad qualities
6. Introduction to cadences and triad flow
Grade 6
7. Four part harmony I: Rendering three-voice triads in four voices
8. Four part harmony II: Seventh chords in four voices
9. Four part harmony III: Harmonic motion
10. Four part harmony IV: Harmonizing and composing melodies and bass lines
Grade 7
11. Explaining accidentals: Chromatic passing tones, borrowed tones and modes, and
secondary dominants
Grade 8
12. Common chord modulations
Subject: Form And Structure
Grade 1
1. Experiential work with phrasing and sectional form
Grade 3
2. Questions and Answers
Grade 8
3. Review and systematic study of periods
4. Binary and Ternary Forms
5. Rondo form and rondo composition project
6. Introduction to fugue
7. Sonata-Allegro form
8. Symphony movement composition project
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Subject: Rhythm
Grade 1
1. Experiential work with simple meter primary subdivision
2. Experiential work with compound meter primary subdivision
3. Introduction to meter
4. Rests in simple and compound meter
Grade 2
5. Simple time secondary subdivision (16th note) rhythms, basic patterns
6. Switching between 2/4 and 6/8
7. Compound time secondary subdivision rhythms, basic patterns
8. Conducting in duple, triple, quadruple meters
9. Crusis and anacrusis (downbeat and pickup)
10. Introduction to dot in simple meter
11. Triplets & duplets in simple meter
Grade 3
12. Determining metric properties of folk & classical repertory
13. Mixing primary & secondary subdivisions, simple & compound meter
Grade 4
14. Long notes across multiple measures
15. Rhythms in simple time, primary subdivision, ties & syncopations
16. Rhythms in compound time, primary subdivision, ties & syncopations
17. Simple time, secondary subdivision, ties & syncopations
18. Compound time, secondary subdivision, ties & syncopations
Grade 5
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
19. Experiential work with tuplets (triplets in simple meter, duplets and quadruplets in
compound meter, pentuplets, etc.)
20. Tuplets in sight-reading, dictation & analysis
21. Tertiary subdivision and higher, simple and compound meters
22. Alla breve rhythms
Grade 6
23. Beaming and barring the same rhythm in varied meters
24. Augmentation and diminution in duple and triple meter
25. Simple & compound rhythms, primary and secondary subdivision, ties and syncopations, in sight-singing and dictation (from Elementary Training for Musicians Chaps. 2
& 3)
26. Simple & compound rhythms, primary and secondary subdivision, ties and syncopations, in sight-singing and dictation (from Elementary Training for Musicians Chaps. 4
&5)
Grade 7
27. Two part rhythms, simple meter
28. Two part rhythms, compound meter
29. Two part rhythms with tuplets (triplets, duplets, etc.)
Grade 8
30. Introduction to polyrhythms
31. Contemporary rhythms
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Appendix B: Textbooks Used By The Program
Vandendool, G. (2004). Keyboard Theory Preparatory Series. The Frederick Harris Music
Co., Limited.
Cole, S. W. and Lewis, L. R. (2004). Melodia: a comprehensive course in sight-singing.
Theodore Presser Music Co.
Ottman, R. and Rogers, N. (2010). Music for Sight Singing, 8th Ed.. Prentice Hall.
Jaques-Dalcroze, E. (1895). Excercises d'Intonation. Durand & Cie.
Hindemith, P. (1984). Elementary training for musicians. Schott Music Corp.
Schubert, P. (2007). Modal Counterpoint: Renaissance Style. Oxford University Press.
2
Special Music School
Theory Curriculum
Appendix C: Special Music School Rhythm Language
Compound Time
(Land of the dotted quarter)
Simple Time
(Land of the quarter)
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