Music 304E,
Section 1: Advanced Musicianship IIE; Fall, 2005, 2 credits
Dr. Paul Seitz, instructor; email:
seitzp@unlv.nevada.edu
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 to 11:15 a.m., Room: HFA 224
Course Description (from UNLV Catalog):
-- Advanced Harmony. Study of harmonic practices including twentieth century techniques and rudimentary counterpoint practices.
Required Materials:
• Manuscript paper, pencils and erasers.
• Tonal Harmony. Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne. Fifth edition, McGraw-Hill.
• Workbook for Tonal Harmony. Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne. Fifth edition, McGraw-Hill
• Library access for reserve materials, scores, e-Reserve.
• Internet access, for e-Reserve, on-line materials (and this site).
Attendance:
Attendance is required at all class meetings. It will be monitored and taken into account in determining final grades. There will new concepts and techniques presented in each week of this course. Progress in working with these skills is, necessarily, incremental, and the result of regular application and discussion. The easiest way to succeed in this course is to be present in class, day in and day out, bringing questions and ideas from your homework. However, if attendance is not possible, you are responsible for all assignments. In the case of a medical emergency, please communicate with me as soon as possible to discuss alternative arrangements for completing course work or taking an incomplete in the course.
Assignments:
There will be many written (and listening) assignments in this course. These are CRUCIAL to your success in the course, as they provide a focus to discussions of concepts and techniques covered in the course, as well as material on exams. Assignments done on time are the most helpful, since your thoughts and questions about course topics enrich and focus our class discussion. For this reason, assignments are due on time (at the beginning of class). Excepting specific arrangements pertaining to a medical or other emergency, late assignments will be penalized, and assignments turned in more than 72 hours after they are due will not receive a grade. There will also be listening assignments related to CDs on reserve in the Music Library and examples available from any computer, via e-Reserve.
Grading System:
Grades are given on the basis of (1) minimum standards of competence, (2) the performance of the class or section as a whole, and (3) the growth and progress of each student. That said, the following gives a general idea of the emphasis that will be given to various course components.
• Written Assignments/Quizes: 50%
• Class Participation: 25%
• Mid-Term Exam/Project: 10%
• Final Exam: 15%
Some Specific Course Topics and Objectives:
The starting point for our course will, necessarily, be determined after some preliminary diagnostic activities. Here is a preliminary list of topics that will be considered within the semester. A week by week schedule will be provided within the first two weeks.
Expanded Tonality, "coloristic" harmony, extended tertian harmony, use of modes, pentatonic, whole-tone and synthetic scales, etc.
Introduction of concepts essential to 20th century musical analysis: "tonal center," vs. "pitch center," goal-directed motion, gesture, stasis, motive, musical strata, texture, pitch-space, pandiatonicism, etc., etc.
Atonal Theory, including "pitch class," pitch class sets and set classes, with special attention to how these may provide alternative sources for harmony: the integral relationship between "horizontal" (or melodic) motives and "vertical" (or harmonic) applications, inversional equivalence, recognition of transposition, inversion, retrograde and retrograde-inversion of PC motives, use of PC sets in "networks," etc.
Fundamentals of 12-tone Serialism, including construction and application of 12-tone matrix, implications of trichordal/tetrachordal/hexachordal "invariance," combinatoriality, and, especially, the way these abstract concepts may stimulate new ways of understanding the harmonic language of much recent (and not-so-recent) music, including both "tonal-sounding" and "atonal-sounding" examples.
Final Exam:
The Final Exam is on Tuesday, May 9, at 10:10 a.m. Please make necessary arrangements in advance
so that you can be there, as attendance is required.
Office Hours:
Please refer to printed syllabus.
University-wide policies:
If you have a documented disability that requires
assistance, you will need to go to Disability Services (DS) for coordination
in your academic accommodations. DS is located within Learning Enhancement
Services office in the Reynolds Student Services Center, Room 137.
The DS phone number is 702-895-0866 or TDD 702-895-0652. You may visit
their website at http://www.unlv.edu/studentlife/les.
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