音乐理论课介绍

Music Theory (The Course Outline)

Instructor: Jean Y. Sze 施逸清老师

Ph: (732) 329-3245 Email: jeansze@comcast.net

Music theory course is designed for helping student understand music. Now, many people can sing or play music instruments with or without score. But, some of them do not understand what, why, and how the music is written. Some people even can not read the score; they just sing or play “by ear”. However, music is art. If one would like to play music better to higher level at expressive way, he/she should learn music theory.

Music is the expression of thoughts and feelings, as like other subject, it has to have some kind “rule”; even some “rules” might be very loose. Without “rule”, music will just be a chaos. Music theory class helps student to handle the basic music rules, helps students to understand what, why and how the music is written; so that students can sing or play music independently and expressively. The class also helps composing student leaning how to use these music “rules” for making their own pieces.

The text book for this course is “The AB Guide to Music Theory” by Eric Taylor. The practice problems and supportive material are designed for preparing “The Associated board of the Royal Schools of Music Examination” Grade 1 to 8. Grade 1 to 3 is taught by small classes with 2-4 students (if having enough student or individual lesson as required). If a student misses one class, he/she can make up to another class in the same week. Grade 4 to 8 is individual lessons, since students need to compose. Before teaching the new material, the contents of the last class will be reviewed. Students need to order “Music Theory in Practice” by Eric Taylor from www.burtnco.com by themselves and bring to the class. Students also need to bring a book of blank music stave, a pencil (with eraser), a clip board. The length of a lesson is 55 minutes.

Grade 1---notes time values, rests, and staves; bars and time signatures; clefs and key signatures (with 1 and 2 # or b); scales and accidentals; degrees and intervals (with 1 and 2 # or b); tonic triad, rhythm; music symbols and terms.

Grade 2---ledger lines; simple time signature; key signature (with 2 and 3 # and b), forms (major and minor keys); intervals (with 2 and 3 # and b); triplets; grouping notes and rests; rhythm composing; more music symbols and terms.

Grade 3---keys with 4 # and b; transposition; compound times; grouped notes and restes; intervals with # and b (major, minor and perfect); Simple phrase structure; more music symbol and terms.

Grade 4---simple and compound time; more complicated;

Alto clef; double sharps (xsd_) and double flats (bb);

breves (double whole notes), double dots, duplets,

and the actual use in rhythm; keys with 5 # and b;

diatonic scale and technical names of the notes;

triads and chords on I, IV and V;

augmented and diminished intervals, writing rhythms

with words; thechromatic scale; ornaments;

instruments; more symbols and terms.

Grade 5---irregular time signatures; tenor clef; major and minor

keys with 6 # and b; transposition of melodies with

different intervals; voice score transcription;