This introductory course in theory and practice prepares students for further work in music history, theory, composition, ethnomusicology, and performance. The goals of the course are to develop a thorough working knowledge of basic musical structures, including scales and modes, keys, intervals, motives, chords, rhythmic patterns, and types of musical motion; to experiment with musical materials and design through exercises in improvisation and composition; to learn to transcribe tunes and harmonize them; to gain basic keyboard and sight-singing skills, or to improve on these skills; and to recognize and interpret musical structures in a variety of repertoires including classical, folk, rock, jazz, and world music traditions. |