MUSC 215

I. Course Title: Ear Training and Sight Singing IV

II. Course Number: MUSC 215

III. Credit Hours: 1 credit

IV. Prerequisites: Completion of MUSC 214 with a grade of “C” or better.

V. Course Description: 

In this course, students continue develop advanced-level musicianship skills through exercises in listening, singing and chanting rhythmically, improvising, reading and writing music through dictation and composition.

VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:

In this course, students will:

1. Listen and recognize music in tonalities both in and outside western music (e.g. chromaticism, whole tone, pentatonic, 12-tone, atonal, ragas, polymetric music, etc.)
2. Listen and identify recognize music in unconventional meters (e.g. intact meters, shifting meters, polymeters)
3. By ear, continue to sing tunes and chord roots in modes (e.g. mixolydian, dorian, lydian, phrygian, and locrian) and tunes in major and minor with chromaticism and modulations
4. Sing by ear, read and improvise within a given chord progression
5. Sing by ear, read and improvise tonal patterns in major and minor with expanded tonal functions (e.g., V7/V, V/IV, V/VI)
6. Chant by ear, read and improvise rhythm patterns in various meters (e.g. hemiola, shifting meters, polymeters, etc.) 
7. Improvise melodies in lydian and phrygian tonality
8. Sight-read more advanced tonal, rhythmic, and two-line melodic exercises in major and minor, duple and triple meter, including enrhythmic reading
9. Write, from dictation, 2-line melodic exercises (tune and chord roots) with I-IV-V-V7/V tonal functions
10. Compose 2-part melodies (e.g., tune and chord roots) in major and minor using I, IV, V, V7/V chord functions, in duple and triple meters 

VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:

The class is conducted as a group practice time for the skills taught in the course. The practice takes the form of singing tunes, chord roots, tonal pattern and rhythm pattern exercises, tonal, rhythm, and melodic improvisation, sight singing melodies, tonal and rhythmic dictation, simple, guided composition, and other appropriate exercises. Students work individually outside of class time with assigned materials, such as the Auralia and SightReadingFactory.com or others.

VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:

At the conclusion of the course, the student will have developed advanced-level aural skills in ear training and sight singing and will understand how to use these skills for their career in music.

Students will develop the ability to:

1. Recognize and identify elements of pitch and tonality: resting tone, tonality, harmonic quality, and chord progression.
2. Recognize and identify elements of rhythm and meter: beat, division, patterns, groupings, and syncopation.
3. Sing/chant given written patterns with accurate pitch and rhythm.
4. Write from dictation given tonal and rhythm patterns in accurate notation.
5. Improvise tonal, rhythmic, and melodic passages within given guidelines.
6. Compose melodies within given guidelines.

VIII. Assessment Measures:

Learning Outcomes will be met through a combination of the following activities:

1. Listening exercises aimed at developing a sense of tonality and meter.
2. Dictation exercises aimed at developing a sense of memory and accessibility to notation.
3. Graded homework assignments 
4. Exams and quizzes designed to test and assess a combination of aural and visual music skills.

 

Other Course Information: None

 

Review and Approval

DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
Revised February, 2009

March 01, 2021