Unit I: German art song (January 7–February 18)

Unit I will cover the following four topics:

• text-music relationships
• harmonic syntax
• melodic performance
• harmonic listening

Also included in this unit of study will be work that contributes to the semester-long technology and writing about music topics.

Assessments for the text-music relationships and harmonic syntax criteria will come from a single analysis/paper project due on Monday, February 18 at 12am (i.e., the midnight that ends Sunday and begins Monday).

Final harmonic listening assessments will take place on Friday, March 8.

Final melodic performance assessments will take place on Tuesday, February 12. (Students are encouraged to assess prior to that date.)

Work for each topic of study will be evaluated on a four-point scale: mastery (4), working knowledge (3), incomplete understanding (2), poor understanding (1), and no significant attempt made (0). Rubrics for each category are provided below. (For further information on how final grades are calculated, consult the course syllabus.)

Assessment rubrics

Text-music relationships

The following will be demonstrated in a 1000–1500 word paper due at the end of the unit. (More details on the paper forthcoming on the course website.)

The objectives for this topic are for each student to be able to 1) describe the tone, voice, structure, meaning, imagery, sound, etc. of a Romantic poem in German (with the assistance of an English translation); 2) describe the formal structure of the musical setting and any text-painting devices employed by the composer; 3) describe the composer’s interpretation of the poem based on his/her musical setting of it; and 4) interpret the composer’s interpretations by critically evaluating it in light of your interpretation of the text and other interpretive and musical possibilities available to the composer.

Your grade for this criterion will simply be the number of these objectives you demonstrate in your paper. If you can clearly describe the main features of the poem and music but do not interpret, you get a 2. If you also accurately describe the composer’s interpretation, you get a 3. If you can also offer a nuanced interpretation of the composer’s interpretation in light of other possibilities, you get a 4.

Harmonic syntax

The objective for this topic of study is to cap our study of harmonic syntax in tonal music, with each student able to perform an accurate thoroughbass reduction of a piece of music that involves diatonic and chromatic elements, modal mixture, and modulation.

Grades for this criterion will be assigned according to the following rubric, primarily in light of both a German art song analysis project. Harmonic analyses of dictation passages will also contribute to this assessment.

Mastery (4) – Student can produce a thoroughbass reduction (bass and figures) of a German art song, with a functional bass analysis and a Roman numeral analysis, with all modulations labeled by type, typeset in music notation software with minimal errors.

Working knowledge (3) – Same as mastery, but with more than minimal errors.

Incomplete knowledge (2) – Student demonstrates fundamental misunderstanding of one or more conceptual elements (functions, mixture, proper nomenclature, chordal roots, etc.) or makes substantial errors in analysis (such as long passages analyzed in an incorrect key) or moderate errors in reduction.

Poor knowledge (1) – Student demonstrates fundamental misunderstanding of multiple conceptual elements or an inability to reduce art song texture to a thoroughbass line.

No significant attempt made (0) – Student does not submit a complete analysis project on time, or demonstrates knowledge below passing level for Elementary Theory II.

Melodic performance

The objective for this category is for each student to be able to sing from sight a melody in any standard key or meter that includes standard chromatic figures and/or modulates to a closely related key.

Melodies will be categorized according to the criteria listed below. Students must demonstrate the ability to perform melodies consistently, with minimal errors, on each level before moving to the next. The most advanced level in which a student has demonstrated proficiency will be the student’s grade for this category (i.e., proficiency in levels 0–3 by the deadline will result in a grade of 3).

Level 1: Melodies in any key (major or minor) and any standard meter (simple or compound) comprised of diatonic pitches, rhythmic durations from bar length to subdivision length, with dotted and tied rhythms, and with mild syncopation. (Many students will carry this level over from Aural Skills II. Melodies can be found in Karpinski Anthology, up through Chapter 30.)

Level 2: Melodies with characteristics of level 1, with chromatic passing tones and chromatic complete neighbor tones. (Karpinski Anthology, Chapter 30.)

Level 3: Melodies with characteristics of level 2, with chromatic incomplete neighbor tones (Karpinski Anthology, Chapter 31.) and/or arpeggiations of applied chords and chromatic subdominant chords. (Karpinski Anthology, Chapters 32–38.)

Level 4: Melodies with characteristics of level 3, that modulate to closely related keys. (Karpinski Anthology, Chapters 43–46.)

Harmonic listening

The objective for harmonic listening is for all students to listen to a phrase-long chord progression that includes chromatic chords (chromatically altered subdominants and applied chords) and reliably dictate four elements—melody, bass line, functional bass, and thoroughbass figures.

A student’s grade for a dictation exercise will be the number of the following four elements that the student can dictate with minimal or no errors after four hearings:

• melody
• bass line
• chords (thoroughbass figures above the bass notes)
• harmonic functions (functional bass symbols below the bass notes)

There will be a final dictation test before Spring Break, which will determine students’ final grades for this criterion. That test will contain multiple phrase-length progressions in major and in minor. The student’s grade on that test will be the median score for all the progressions dictated, with the provision that the final grade cannot be higher than the highest score for a minor- or a major-key exercise. (In other words, if a student is better at major than minor, their final score cannot be higher than the score of their best minor-key exercise.)

In advance of the final dictation test, we will do some in-class dictation practice, and students will do out-of-class dictation practice with a computer application I developed, called BassGenerator. Students are expected to practice dictation with this application. Student practice will not only aid their learning, but provide an opportunity for a “safety net” for the final grade. A student’s final score will be no lower than one level below what the student masters in practice. For example, if a student has demonstrated a consistent ability to dictate all four elements in four hearings or less, reliably in advance of the test, the lowest score they can achieve on the final test (even if they do not take it) is a 3. If consistency is achieved for three of the four elements in advance, the lowest final score is a 2. Etc. If a student does no practice work, their final test grade is their final grade for this criterion.

Writing about music

Generally, writing will be assessed according to following five criteria:

• Identify and write appropriately for a target audience.
• Generate an original thesis based on evidence (that is, your analysis).
• Construct clear linear argument in support of a thesis and devoid of unnecessary details.
• Use musical terminology appropriately and effectively.
• Demonstrate mastery of Chicago Manual of Style for writing on music and citing sources.

For each written work (there is one at the end of Unit I), you will receive a grade on the standard four-point scale equal to the number of these criteria you satisfy by the deadline, minus one. (I.e., fulfill all five and get a grade of 4; fulfill three and get a grade of 2; etc.)

There will be three written assignments during the semester. You will be allowed to reassess one of those papers after its deadline. At the end of the term, your median grade will be your final grade for this category.

Exceptions: If any of your papers at the end of the semester stand at a 0 or a 1, you cannot receive a final writing about music grade higher than a 2, no matter how solid your other papers are. Likewise, if any of your papers at the end of the semester stand at a 2, you cannot receive a final writing about music grade higher than a 3. (In other words, a final grade of 4 is reserved for those with three passing papers.)

Technology

Work in this category is on-going throughout the semester, so no grade will be given at the end of Unit I. However, students are expected to produce their reduction/analysis in music notation software. The accuracy and cleanness of that will be considered toward the final grade in this category.