Music Theory Syllabus

North Branford High School (20112012)

Instructor: Michael Carnaroli
mcarnaroli@northbranfordschools.org
Welcome to Music Theory! This class is designed for students who
love music music, as well as students who seek to enrich their
knowledge of music fundamentals. The purpose of this course is for
students to develop skills that will lead to a thorough understanding
of music theory and music composition/arranging.
At the end of the course, you will be able to:

Notate pitch and rhythm following standard notation practices

Read and notate melodies in treble, bass, and all C clefs
Write, sing, and play major scales and all 3 forms of minor
scales
Write, sing, and play Church mode scales
Write, sing, and play whole tone, chromatic, octatonic, and
pentatonic scales
Recognize by ear and by sight all intervals within an octave
Recognize by ear and by sight all triad and seventh chord
types
Use the basic rules that govern music composition
Harmonize a melody in 2, 3, and 4 parts with appropriate
chords using good voice leading
Analyze the chords of a musical composition using Roman
numerals and chord names
Recognize and realize figured bass notation in standard 18th
century chorale style
Identify, analyze, and write secondary function chords
Transpose a composition from one key to another
Express musical ideas by arranging and composing
Understand and recognize basic large and small scale musical
forms
Translate aural rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns into
various notation systems
Sing melodies by sight using solfege and number systems

Required Course Materials:

1.5 Inch, 3-Ring Binder

Staff Paper Notebook
Pencils (assignments will NOT be accepted in pen)

Course Textbooks (materials will be provided in

class):

Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musicians Guide to Theory and Analysis.

2nd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.

Grading Policy:
Class Participation
10%
Ear Training Practice Activities/Sight-Singing Quizzes 10%
Projects (Composition/Arranging and Analysis)
15%
Unit Exams
25%
Daily Assignments and Homework
40%
Midterm & Final Exam Exams will cover all units up until that point.
Each exam will count as 10% of your Term Grade.

What is Expected of the Students?

This course will move along quickly and all learning is cumulative. There are
certain expectations that must be met when dealing with such a class! Please
read over these classroom expectations and dont be afraid to ask questions.

Rules and Procedures

Come Prepared: You will need a 1 binder for all of your materials and
information. You will be required to bring your binder, pencil, and textbook to each
class session. If you are not prepared, you will have difficulty participating.
GRADING: You will be given specific assignments, deadlines and procedures for
receiving grades in this course. Assignments will be accepted late, but will be
docked 10% for the first day and 50% after that.
Phones? iPods? DVD Players?: Unless we are working on an assignment
where I have asked you to bring in other media, you may not use these items in
my classroom.
RESPECT This is a class based on respect. You can always expect the utmost
respect from me and I will always expect the same in return. Your opinions and
ideas are valuable to me. You will be expected to respect the teacher and your
peers when they are speaking or performing. If you have concerns with any
aspects of the course feel free to meet with me before or after school.

Where words fail, music speaks

Hans Christian Anderson

WHAT CAN STUDENTS EXPECT FROM THE TEACHER?

I will always be available to you when you have questions or need additional help
outside of class. Ask questions and see Mr. Carnaroli for help when needed!
All of the concepts covered in this class build on each other sequentially, and it is
very easy to fall behind. Be proactive and work with me and each
other to keep up with the class!

Course Planner

This schedule is approximate, as classes may move slower or faster

than the schedule listed below. Written homework and reading
assignments will be assigned on a regular basis. Students will also be
assigned internet-based aural training assignments, which are
designed to drill ear training outside of class time. In general, at least
one third of each class meeting will be devoted to ear training on a
daily basis.

Unit 1
Written Skills:
Notation systems and guidelines, piano keyboard and ranges, staff and clefs
Ear Training:
Introduction to solfege systems, warm-up drills, call and response short
patterns
Assessment: Exam 1Music Notation and Fundamentals

Unit 2

Written Skills:
Accidentals, scale degrees, major and minor scales, key signatures, relative
and parallel keys, modal scales, meter, pulse, beat, tempo
Ear Training:
Call and response scales, rhythms, and melodies on solfege, melodic
dictation, intervals, sight-singing on solfege
Assessment: Exam 2Major and Minor Key Signatures, Modes

Unit 3
Written Skills:
Intervals and inversions, compound intervals, simple and compound meter,
other meter types
Ear Training:

Call and response scales and melodies on solfege, melodic dictation,

intervals, basslines, sight-singing melodies on solfege
Assessment: Exam 3Intervals and Meter Types

Unit 4

(End of Semester 1)

Written Skills:
Triads and seventh Chords, chords in a diatonic context, Roman numeral
analysis
Ear Training:
Call and response scales, rhythms, and melodies on solfege, melodic
dictation, intervals, basslines and melodies, triads and seventh chords, sightsinging melodies on solfege
Assessment: Exam 4Triads and Seventh Chords, Chords in Diatonic
Context

Unit 5

Written Skills:
Chord inversions, figured bass, introduction to part writing
Ear Training:
Call and response scales, rhythms, and melodies on solfege, melodic
dictation, intervals and chords, basslines and melodies
Assessment: Exam 5- Chord Inversions, Figured Bass, Part Writing
Intro

Unit 6
Part writing continued, other chord symbols, secondary function chords,
cadences, non-chord tones
Ear Training:
Call and response scales, rhythms, and melodies on solfege, melodic
dictation, intervals and chords, harmonic dictation
Assessment: Exam 5Part Writing and Chord Analysis

Unit 7
Written Skills:
Phrases, cadences, periods, large-scale forms
Ear Training:
Call and response scales, rhythms, and melodies on solfege, melodic
dictation, intervals and chords, harmonic dictation
Assessment: Exam 6Secondary Function Chords, Form Weeks 1516

Links for Practice & Assignments

Analysis Exercises http://www.tonalityguide.com/exercises/php
Aural Exercises http://www.goodear.com
Circle of 5th s and Keys http://cnx.org/content/m10865/latest
College Board http://apcentral.collegeboard.com
Flash Cards http://www.musicards.net
Free Choral Music http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Free Instrumental Music http://mutopiaproject.org
Free Piano Music http://www.pitt.edu/~deben/freebies.html
Harmonic Dictation http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/HarmDict/harmdict.html
Melodic Dictation http://www.calpoly.edu/~lfose/mad/index.html
Music Theory http://musictheory.net
Rhythm Dictation http://www.wmich.edu/mus history/TheoryHelp/TheoryHelp.html
Terms http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary
Theory http://www.northern.edu/wieland/theory/tt/htm
Theory on the Web http://www.smu.edu/totw/toc.htm
Tonal Harmony http://highered.mcgraw
hill.com/sites/0072852607/student_view0/index.html