Music Theory I

Catalog description

Music Theory I is an introduction to the workings of tonal music. You will learn basic tonal writing and improvising skills, and analyze music literature. By practicing these skills, you will learn how to read, hear, and understand musical lines and harmonies and how composers build on simple structures to create more complex melodies and phrases. By the end of the semester, you will be familiar with common progressions and voice leading patterns and be able to find them in literature. You will be able to compose melodies, write harmonizations, and think critically about your own work. While acquiring new techniques, we will always keep aesthetics in mind, and relate our technical choices to expressive effects. Ultimately, you will learn to use techniques creatively to make your own musical statements.