Intro to Music Theory What is Music Theory?  What is music?  We know it when we hear it... But objectively what is it? Is this music?

Intro to Music Theory Music is organized sound  We associate meaning with the different organizations of sound  Language also fits this description  For the purpose of this explanation, let's suppose that music is a language

Intro to Music Theory What is Theory?  Theory is... Theory  In the context of this class it's a set of guidelines and 'rules' for what happens in music Language has guidelines and 'rules' such as grammar and punctuation.  These rules are usually based on context, and are often times ignored or mangled.  However, even when the user is unaware of these rules the general message can still be made.  Music works in a similar way

Intro to Music History Most of this class is spent learning the language and grammar of music.  On some level everyone here already speaks it  We have associated certain tones, chords, progressions and phrases with meaning of some variety  However being able to objectively communicate and understand what's being played may be difficult.

Class Parts How we'll be learning the language of music The class will be divided into three parts  Written Theory (%40) (Monday/Wednesday)  Aural / Ear Training (%40) (Tuesday/Thursday)  Music Blog / Project Work (%20) (Friday)

Written Theory This is where we'll learn the 'Grammar' of music  Letters in the musical alphabet  Intervals and relationship of notes  How to spell scales and chords  How to communicate and understand music in these terms.

Aural / Ear Training This part is where we apply what we learn in written theory to the 'real world'  Aural training involves solfege singing of scales and intervals  Ear training involves transcribing melodies and chord progressions  Audio for exercises can be found at soundcloud.com/sasic-music-exercises

Music Blog The Music Blog will be used to teach various things about music outside of the written and aural theory.  Music History  Music Philosophy  Genre and Score studies  Can be found at sasicmusic.wordpress.com  The remainder of Friday classes will be spent checking project progress

Assignments, Tests and Projects Each part of the class will have one assignment per week.  Written will usually use worksheets based on the lecture material  Aural will switch between singing and dictation  The blog will be online and will require short comments Each 9 week cycle will have tests in written Aural and a project There will be an exam at the end of the semester

Projects The projects should mostly be done independently of class. The first project will be an arrangement of a song of your choice, cover or original, using 4 independent monophonic instruments with an analysis of the piece The second project will revolve around scoring for a film from the film department

Materials and Tools Needed In Class  Pencils and Blank Sheet Paper Aural assignments  Chromatic Tuner and Instrument Keyboard recommended, not required Projects  Notation software Will ultimately end up on Pro-Tools I recommend Finale Notepad as it can save MIDI files that can be transferred to PT NoteFlight and MuseScore are other free options, though I haven't tried them.