Making Sense of Music: Introduction to Music Theory and Musicianship

This course will cover basic skills and vocabulary for reading, hearing, performing, analyzing, and writing music.  Students will gain command of musical rudiments, including notation, reading and writing in treble and bass clefs, intervals, keys, scales, triads and seventh chords, and competence in basic melodic and formal analysis.  The course will include an overview of basic diatonic harmony, introduction to harmonic function and tonicization.  Musicianship skills will include interval and chord recognition, rhythmic and melodic dictation and familiarity with the keyboard.  There will be in-depth study of selected compositions from the "common practice"  Western tradition, including classical, jazz, blues and other popular examples.  Listening skills--both with scores (including lead sheets, figured bass and standard notation), and without--will be emphasized.