MUSIC HISTORY SYLLABUS
Week 1 - Chapter I - ELEMENTS (read Sections 1 and 2, pp. 1-38)
Section 1 - Sound: Pitch, Dymanics, and Tone Color
Pitch: Highness or Lowness of Sound
Dynamics
Tone Color
Section 2 - Performing Media: Voices and Instruments
Voices
Musical Instruments
String Instruments
Woodwind Instruments
Brass Instruments
Percussion Instruments
Keyboard Instruments
Electronic Instruments
Week 2 - Chapter I - ELEMENTS (read Sections 3 - 11, pp. 38-85, and complete assigned
theory handouts)
Section 3 - Rhythm
Beat
Meter
Accent and Syncopation
Tempo
Section 4 - Music Notation
Notating Pitch
Notating Rhythm
Notating Silence (Rests)
Notating Meter
The Score
Section 5 - Melody
Section 6 - Harmony
Consonance and Dissonance
The Triad
Broken Chords (Arpeggios)
Section 7 - Key
The Major Scale
The Minor Scale
The Key Signature
The Chromatic Key
Modulation: Change of Key
Tonic Key
Section 8 - Musical Texture
Monophonic Texture
Polyphonic Texture
Homophonic Texture
Changes of Texture
Section 9 - Musical Form
Techniques That Create Musical Form
Repetition
Contrast
Variation
Types of Musical Form
Three-Part (Ternary) Form: ABA
Two-Part (Binary) Form: AB
Section 10 - Performance
The Performer
The Conductor
Recorded and Live Performance
Judging Performance
Section 11 - Musical Style
Week 3 - Chapter II - THE MIDDLE AGES (read Sections 1 and 2, pp. 87-95)
Section 1 - Music in the Middle Ages (450-1450)
Section 2 - Gregorian Chant
The Church Modes
Week 4 - Chapter II - THE MIDDLE AGES (read Sections 3 - 5, pp. 96-105)
Section 3 - Secular Music in the Middle Ages
Section 4 - The Development of Polyphony: Organum
School of Notre Dame: Measured Rhythm
Section 5 - Fourteenth-Century Music: The "New Art" in Italy and France
Francesco Landini
Guillaume de Machaut
Week 5 - Chapter III - THE RENAISSANCE (read Sections 1 - 4, pp. 107-128)
Section 1 - Music in the Renaissance (1450-1600)
Music and Renaissance Society
Characteristics of Renaissance Music
Words and Music
Texture
Rhythm and Melody
Section 2 - Sacred Music in the Renaissance
Josquin Desprez and the Renaissance Motet
Palestrina and the Renaissance Mass
Section 3 - Secular Music in the Renaissance
Vocal Music
The Renaissance Madrigal
The Renaissance Ballett (Fa-La)
Instrumental Music
Section 4 - The Venetian School: From Renaissance to Baroque
Giovanni Gabrieli and the Polychoral Motet
Week 6 - Chapter IV - THE BAROQUE PERIOD (read Sections 1 - 3, pp. 133-147)
Section 1 - Baroque Music (1600-1750)
Characteristics of Baroque Music
Unity of Mood
Rhythm
Melody
Terraced Dynamics
Texture
Chords and the Basso Continuo
Words and Music
The Baroque Orchestra
Baroque Forms
Section 2 - Music in Baroque Society
Section 3 - The Concerto Grosso and Ritornello Form
Week 7 - Chapter IV - THE BAROQUE PERIOD (read Sections 4 - 8, pp. 147-165)
Section 4 - The Fugue
Section 5 - The Elements of Opera
Section 6 - Opera in the Baroque Era
Section 7 - Claudio Monteverdi
Section 8 - Henry Purcell
Ground Bass
Week 8 - Chapter IV - THE BAROQUE PERIOD (read Sections 9 - 13, pp. 165-181)
Section 9 - The Baroque Sonata
Section 10 - Arcangelo Corelli
Section 11 - Antonio Vivaldi
Section 12 - Johann Sebastian Bach
Section 13 - The Baroque Suite
Week 9 - Chapter IV - THE BAROQUE PERIOD (read Sections 14 - 16, pp. 181-205)
Section 14 - The Chorale and Church Cantata
Section 15 - The Oratorio
Section 16 - George Frideric Handel
Week 10 - Chapter V - THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (read Sections 1 - 4, pp. 207-226)
Section 1 - The Classical Style (1750-1820)
Characteristics of the Classical Style
Contrast of Mood
Rhythm
Texture
Melody
Dynamics and the Piano
The End of Basso Continuo
The Classical Orchestra
Classical Forms
Section 2 - Composer, Patron, and Public in the Classical Period
Social Trends and Classical Composition
Vienna
Section 3 - Sonata Form
Exposition
Development
Recapitulation
Coda
Section 4 - Theme and Variations
Week 11 - Chapter V - THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (read Sections 5 - 10, pp. 226-244)
Section 5 - Minuet and Trio
Section 6 - Rondo
Section 7 - The Classical Symphony
Section 8 - The Classical Concerto
Section 9 - Classical Chamber Music
Section 10 - Joseph Haydn
Week 12 - Chapter V - THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (read Sections 11 & 12, pp. 245-293)
Section 11 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Section 12 - Ludwig Van Beethoven
Week 13 - Chapter VI - THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (read Sections 1 - 6, pp. 295-329)
Section 1 - Romanticism in Music (1820-1900)
Section 2 - Romantic Composers and Their Public
Section 3 - The Art Song
Strophic and Through-Composed Form
The Song Cycle
Section 4 - Franz Schubert
Section 5 - Robert Schumann
Section 6 - Clara Wieck Schumann
Week 14 - Chapter VI - THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (read Sections 7 - 11, pp. 329-362)
Section 7 - Frederic Chopin
Section 8 - Franz Liszt
Section 9 - Felix Mendelssohn
Section 10 - Program Music
Section 11 - Hector Berlioz
Week 15 - Chapter VI - THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (read Sections 12 - 15, pp. 362-384)
Section 12 - Nationalism in Nineteenth Century Music
The Russian Five
Section 13 - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Section 14 - Bedrich Smetana
Section 15 - Antonin Dvorak
Week 16 - Chapter VI - THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (read Sections 16 - 18, pp. 385-415)
Section 16 - Johannes Brahms
Section 17 - Giuseppe Verdi
Section 18 - Giacomo Puccini
Week 17 - Chapter VI - THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (read Sections 19 & 20, pp. 415-430)
Section 19 - Richard Wagner
Section 20 - Gustav Mahler
Week 18 - Chapter VII - THE 20th CENTURY (read Sections 1 & 2, pp. 433-448)
Section 1 - Musical Styles (1900-1950)
1900-1950: An Age of Musical Diversity
Characteristics of 20th Century Music
Tone Color
Harmony (Consonance and Dissonance; New Chord Structures)
Alternatives to the Traditional Tonal System
Rhythm
Melody
Section 2 - Music and Musicians in Society
Week 19 - Chapter VII - THE 20th CENTURY (read Sections 3 - 7, pp. 448-482)
Section 3 - Impressionism and Symbolism
French Impressionist Paiting
French Symbolist Poetry
Section 4 - Claude Debussy
Section 5 - Maurice Ravel
Section 6 - Neoclassicism
Section 7 - Igor Stravinsky
Week 20 - Chapter VII - THE 20th CENTURY (read Sections 8 - 11, pp. 482-503)
Section 8 - Expressionism
Section 9 - Arnold Schoenberg
Atonality
The Twelve-Tone System
Section 10 - Alban Berg
Section 11 - Anton Webern
Week 21 - Chapter VII - THE 20th CENTURY (read Sections 12 - 15, pp. 504-528)
Section 12 - Bela Bartok
Section 13 - Charles Ives
Section 14 - George Gershwin
Section 15 - Aaron Copland
Week 22 - Chapter VII - THE 20th CENTURY (read Sections 16 & 17, pp. 528-555)
Section 16 - Musical Styles Since 1950
Characteristics of Music since 1950
Increased Use of the Twelve-Tone System
Extensions of the Twelve-Tone System: Serialism
Chance Music
Minimalist Music
Musical Quotation
Return to Tonality
Electronic Music
"Liberation of Sound"
Mixed Media
Rhythm and Form
Section 17 - Music Since 1950: Eight Representative Pieces
Week 23 - Chapter VIII - JAZZ (read Sections 1 - 3, pp. 557-570)
Section 1 - Jazz Styles: 1900-1950
Roots of Jazz
Jazz in Society
Elements of Jazz
Tone Color
Improvisation
Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony
Section 2 - Ragtime
Section 3 - Blues
Week 24 - Chapter VIII - JAZZ (read Sections 4 - 7, pp. 571-588)
Section 4 - New Orleans Style: Louis Armstrong
Section 5 - Swing: Duke Ellington
Section 6 - Bebop: Charlie "Bird" Parker
Section 7 - Jazz Styles Since 1950
Cool Jazz: Lester Young and Stan Getz
Free Jazz: Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane
Jazz Rock (Fusion): Miles Davis
Week 25 - Chapter IX - THE AMERICAN MUSICAL (read Sections 1 & 2, pp. 591-602)
Section 1 - Musical Theatre
Elements of the Musical
Development of the Musical
Sources of the Musical
The Golden Era (1920-1960)
The Musical After 1960
Section 2 - Leonard Bernstein
Week 26 - Chapter X - ROCK (read Sections 1 - 3, pp. 605-620)
Section 1 - Rock Styles
Developments of Rock
Elements of Rock
Tone Color
Rhythm
Form, Melody, and Harmony
Section 2 - Rock in American Society
Rock and Recordings
Rock and Television (MTV)
Rock and Dancing
Section 3 - The Beatles
Week 27 - Chapter XI - NONWESTERN MUSIC (read Sections 1 & 2, pp. 623-635)
Section 1 - Music in Nonwestern Cultures
Characteristics of Nonwestern Music
Oral Tradition
Improvisation
Voices
Instruments
Melody, Rhythm, and Texture
Interaction between Nonwestern and Western Music
Section 2 - Music in Sub-Saharan Africa
Music in Society
Elements of African Music
Rhythm and Percussion
Vocal Music
Texture
African Instruments
Idiophones
Membranophones
Aerophones and Chordaphones
Week 28 - Chapter XI - NONWESTERN MUSIC (read Sections 3 & 4, pp. 635-646)
Section 3 - Classical Music of India
Performers
Improvisation
Elements of Indian Classical Music
Melodic Structure: Raga
Rhythmic Structure: Tala
Instruments
Section 4 - Koto Music of Japan
The Koto
Historical Background
Koto Music
Weeks 29 and 30 - IndividuallyAssigned Projects and Review