Columbia College
Music 5A
John Carter, Instructor
Musicianship
IV Course Syllabus
I. Required Texts
A. Sightsinging Complete, 6th Edition,
Benward and Carr. McGraw Hill Publishers. C. 1999
B. Ear Training:
A Technique For Listening, 7th Edition, Bruce Benward and J. Timothy
Kolosick, McGraw Hill, c. 2000
C. Sail Away: 155 American Folk Songs to Sing, Read
and Play. Selected and Edited by Eleanor
G. Locke. Boosey and Hawkes
Publishers. Revised Edition c. 1988.
II. Introduction
This
class is a continuation of Music 5A. In
this class you will build on your previously developed skills as
musicians. We will be reading melodies
that are more chromatic, rhythms that are more complex (including irregular
subdivision of the beat), writing down more complex melodies, playing more
complex chord progressions, and applying
it all to score reading, part singing, and composition. I want you to be able
to read a melody when you see it, write a melody or a harmony when you hear it,
and be able to tell someone what you hear when you hear it. The goal is to become a flexible musician who
can read anything musical, write anything musical, transcribe anything musical
and understand anything musical - or at least be able to figure it out on your
own.
III. Course Activities
o
You will need to practice outside of class. You should spend two hours of
lab time for every 1 hour of class time learning the weekly assignments. You will need to use the CD that accompanies
your text. These are available from the
bookstore if you don’t have them already.
o
Every class session will begin with an in-class test of the assignment. You will be responsible for preparing for it
on your own. The piano lab is available
every day. In addition to daily
in-class tests, we will also be doing group activities in singing and
dictation. We will also have individual,
graded hearings outside of class time scheduled by arrangement. See me if this type of scheduling is a
problem.
IV. Course Evaluation
You will have many tests in the
following categories of Sightsinging, Keyboard, and Ear Training. Your Final
Grade is the percentage of your accumulated points.
Test
will be graded as following:
A= (“Great Work”) Absolutely outstanding work.
You have mastered the material by doing very thorough and careful work. Pitches and especially rhythms are correct
and confident.
D= (‘Needs lots of work”) Deficient in most but not all aspects
of pitch and rhythm. This represents very little achievement and skill mastery.
Pitches and rhythms are generally not easily performed. Melodies do not have a complete identity
although parts of them may be coherent and understandable. Much more time outside of class is necessary.
F= (“Not Good”) Failure to
make any sense of melodies and rhythms.
This level represents no mastery and probably no effort. This is inadequate.
Grades
will then be converted into the following point system:
A+ = 100
A = 95
A- = 92
B+ = 88
B = 85
B-
= 82
C = 78
C = 75
C- = 72
D+ = 68
D = 65
D- = 62
F = 50
Written work will be graded on a percentage of right answers. Semester grades will be an accumulation of points and then an average.
V. Expectations
o
It is assumed that each student in this class has had Musicianship 4A/B
and 5A or the equivalent training.
Therefore we will continue where we finished at the end of Music 5A.
o
I expect that you will come to class prepared. After a week of drill, you should be able to
sing, play or write the assignment confidently.
I expect you to bring your books, music paper and a pencil to class each
session.
o
Any tests missed can not be made up unless prior arrangements have been
made. In case of sickness or emergency,
you must call me before class to make it up.
VI. Other
o
I am available to help you or answer your questions. I want you to learn. Tutors are also available. My office hours are posted. My office number is 588-5214.
o
This class is available on a credit/no-credit basis.