MUS 2152: Basic Skills of Music IV

MUS 2162: Basic Skills of Music IV, section 001
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8:00-9:50, 2.03.08 ARTS
Dr. David Heuser Office: 3.02.20 ARTS; Office Phone: 458-5321; email: david.heuser@utsa.edu
Office hours: Monday 1-2pm; Tuesday 2-3pm; Wednesday 3-4pm, Thursday 2:30-3:30pm,

or by appointment
Prerequisite: successful completion of Basic Skills III

Required Textbooks and Materials (always bring to class):

Stefan Kostka & Dorothy Payne - Tonal Harmony (fifth edition) and Workbook for Tonal Harmony (fifth edition)
Charles Burkhart - Anthology for Musical Analysis (sixth edition)
staff paper, pencils (not pens)

Course Description
Basic Skills IV is designed to build on the foundation developed in Basic Skills I, II and III. Continuing and expanding on the materials from those courses, Basic Skills IV presents students with the tools to deepen their understanding of tonal music, allowing them to better analyze and ultimately perform this music. Emphasis will be placed on studying the structure of music, such as small forms, rondo, and sonata-allegro form, as well as fugue and contrapuntal techniques. Finally, the course will introduce analytical techniques of non-tonal musics.

Goals of the Course
After successfully completing this course, the student should have a deeper understanding of tonal music, including an ability to harmonically and formally analyze works of the tonal period. Through the papers, the student should develop their writing skills, particularly the ability to write about music. Successful students should also have a basic understanding of 20th-Century compositional and analytical techniques.

Grading and course policies
Grading will be done on the following formula: 90-100: A; 80-89: B; 70-79: C; 69 and lower: F. A grade of “D” will only be awarded when a higher grade has been achieved before accounting for attendance or the timed fundamental quizzes. Number grades will be determined on the following basis:

Homework:	20%
Form papers (2 @ 12.5% each):	25%
Compositional Project:	5%
Exams (4 @ 12.5% each)	50%

Course Policies

Attendance:
Attendance is essential and will be taken at the beginning of each class. It will be factored into your grade by the following formula: zero absences will add 2 points to your Final average; 1 absence will add 1 point; each absence after 3 will lower your final grade by 2 points. Being late to class will also lower your grade: two tardies equal one absence. Being late by more than 15 minutes will count as an absence. If a student is absent more than eight times for any reason during the semester, the instructor, at his discretion, may assign a final grade of F for the course.

ALL absences and tardies count. Due to my inability to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate excuses, I choose not to deal with them (excuses, that is). The two absences you are allowed (a week of classes) are expected to be legitimate (why would you not come to class if you were able?). The only exception to this policy would be a case of prolonged forced absence, such as would be caused by a serious injury requiring hospitalization, or the like. In these cases, documentation is required (of course); otherwise, I do not wish to be shown doctor's notes, letters from funeral directors or a mechanic's bill.

I reserve the right to count you as absent or tardy if you habitually (more than twice) come to class without the required materials (textbook, anthology, staff paper, etc.).

Make-up Work: Students are expected to make up all work missed. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get the notes from a classmate and to come to my office to pick up your homework. I am willing to meet with you and discuss the course material only after you have taken appropriate steps to get caught up on your own. Do not make my office your first stop when you are trying to find out what you missed in class.

Quizzes: There are two types of Quizzes. "Pop" quizzes will be short, unannounced and given throughout the semester. I will drop your lowest quiz score. Make-ups will not be given. There will also be three Timed Quizzes on Fundamentals. For each quiz which you haven't received a grade of at least 80% on, your final grade will be lowered one letter grade.

Homework will be accepted past the day it is due, but not for a grade. Late homework may not always be returned to you in a timely manner.

Exams: Make up exams for scheduled exams will be allowed only if notice is given prior to the scheduled time.

Class Deportment: Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. To assure all students have the opportunity to gain from time spent in class, students are prohibited from engaging in any form of distraction. Inappropriate behavior in the classroom shall result, minimally, in a request to leave the class. Examples of inappropriate behavior include the use of cellular phones or beepers, eating in the classroom, prolonged chattering, excessive tardiness, sleeping, and overt inattentiveness.

Cheating: Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. All infractions will be reported to Student Judicial Affairs and prosecuted to the maximum extent allowed by the university. Any work you hand in is expected to be your work and your work only; claiming someone else’s work as your own is cheating.

Communication: If you need to contact me, there are a number of ways to do it. I am usually in my office, and will often be available to see students outside of posted office hours. If my door is closed, please check the schedule next to my door before knocking to make sure you are not interrupting a lesson or lunch. You can also reach me via my office phone and email, which are listed above and on the web (http://music.utsa.edu/Faculty/heuser/index.html). Emails should be courteous and formal, with proper spelling, capitalization, etc., and with a subject line that clearly states the purpose of the message. Ambiguous subject lines may result in an email being deleted as suspected spam. All Music Department faculty also have mailboxes located in the music office (3.01.58). If you would like to put something in my mailbox, give it to the office staff and ask them to place it there. If you have a concern, problem, question, issue or whatever, the best thing you can do is talk to me about it. Stay in touch!

*In order to pass Music 2162 a passing grade must be made on the final*

Basic Skills IV Schedule

Week

Topics

Part 1: Review of Harmony and Small Forms

Week 1, January 14, 16, 18

Review Kostka/Payne: Chapters 5-24

Read Kostka/Payne Chapter 25: Enharmonic Spellings and Enharmonic Modulations

January 21 - No Class

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Week 2, January 23, 25

Binary and Ternary forms

Week 3, January 28, 30, February 1

Review continued, paper writing review

Exam #1, Friday, February 1

Week 4, February 4, 6, 8

Week 5, February 11, 13, 15

Week 6, February 18, 20, 22

Part 2: Sonata-Allegro Form

Week 7, February 25, 27, 29

Sonata-Allegro form paper assigned

Part 2a: Rondo and Sonata-Rondo Forms

Week 8, March 3, 5, 7

Week 9, March 10, 12, 14

Exam #2, Wednesday, March 5

Part 3: Counterpoint and Fugue

Sonata-Allegro form paper due, Friday, March 14

March 17-21

Spring Break

Week 10, March 24, 26, 28

Note: March 25^th is the last day to drop course and receive a “W” for most students

Fugue continued

Week 11, March 31, April 2, 4

Exam #3, Friday, April 4

Fugue paper assigned

Week 12, April 7, 9, 11

Part 4: Late 19^th Century Harmony

Read Kostka/Payne, Chapter 26: Further Elements of the Harmonic Vocabulary and Kostka/Payne, Chapter 27: Tonal Harmony in the Late Nineteenth Century

Week 13, April 14, 16, 18

Part 5: 20^th Century Analysis

Read Kostka/Payne, Chapter 28: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music pp. 471-511: Scales, Harmony, Rhythm

Week 14, April 21, 23, 25

Fugue Paper due Monday, April 21

Composition Project

Read Kostka/Payne, Chapter 28: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music pp. 511-520 (set class)

Read Kostka/Payne, Chapter 28: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music pp. 520-537 (serial music)

Week 15, May 28, 30

Read Kostka/Payne, Chapter 28: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Music pp. 537-552 (further elements in 20^th-Century music)

Final Exam: 7:30am – 10:00am, Monday, May 5