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Music Theory 101 Lesson Plan

Objectives of the Course


Music is a very large subject and the advanced theory that students would want to pursue will
vary greatly. The Music Theory course is designed in such a way as to ensure the learner is able
to acquire basic music instruction that will enable them to appreciate music and to be able to
sight-read any kind of sheet music presented to them. This will make life easier especially for
those that are involved in choral singing. The main premise of this course is that a better
understanding of where the basics come from will lead to a better and faster comprehension of
more complex ideas.
Just like grammar, Music theory comes into being after a group of composers have already
developed a musical tradition. Theoreticians then study the resulting music and discover good
ways of explaining it to the audience and to other composers and performers. So sometimes the
answer to “Why is it that way?” is simply “that’s what is easiest for the performer,” or “they
borrowed that from an earlier music tradition.” In the case of music, however, the answer to
some “whys” can be found in the basic physics of sound, so the pivotal section of this course is
an overview of the acoustics as it pertains to music.

Contents of the Course


1. Notation
1.1 Pitch
1.1.1 The Staff
1.1.1.1 The Staff
1.1.1.2 Groups of Staves
1.1.2 The Clef
1.1.2.1 Treble Clef and Bass Clef
1.1.2.2 Memorizing the notes in Bass and Treble Clef
1.1.2.3 Movable Clefs
1.1.2.4 Why we use different clefs
1.1.2.5 Clef Practice
1.1.3 Pitch: Sharp, Flat and Natural Notes
1.1.4 Key Signature
1.1.5 Enharmonic Spelling
1.1.5.1 Enharmonic Notes
1.1.5.2 Enharmonic Keys and Scales
1.1.5.3 Enharmonic Intervals and Chords
1.1.5.4 Enharmonic Spellings and Equal Temperament
1.2 Time
1.2.1 Duration: Note lengths in written Music
1.2.1.1 The shape of a note
1.2.1.2 The length of a note
1.2.1.3 More about stems
1.2.2 Duration: Rest Length
1.2.3 Time Signature
1.2.3.1 Beats and Measures
1.2.3.2 Meter: Reading Time Signatures
1.2.3.3 Counting and Conducting
1.2.4 Meter
1.2.4.1 What is Meter?
1.2.4.2 Classifying Meters
1.2.4.3 Recognizing Meters
1.2.5 Pickup Notes and Measures
1.2.5.1 Pickup Measures
1.2.5.2 Pickup Notes
1.2.6 Dots, Ties and Borrowed Divisions
1.2.6.1 Dotted Notes
1.2.6.2 Tied Notes
1.2.6.3 Borrowed Divisions
1.2.7 Syncopation
1.2.8 Tempo
1.2.8.1 Metronome Markings
1.2.8.2 Tempo Terms
1.2.8.3 Gradual Tempo Changes
1.2.9 Repeats and Other Musical Road Map Signs
1.3 Style
1.3.1 Dynamics and Accents
1.3.1.1 Dynamics
1.3.1.2 Accents
1.3.2 Articulation
1.3.2.1 What is Articulation?
1.3.2.2 Performing Articulations
1.3.2.3 Common Articulations
2. Definitions

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