Overview

Music of different periods and styles is written according to various principles. Since the seventeenth century much of western music does, however, share some essential characteristics: chords and melodies – this is true of what we might call both ‘art’ and ‘popular’ music. Whether engaging with music through listening, the study of scores or through performance, it is vital to develop a fundamental awareness and understanding of the building blocks of which that music is comprised.

Students work through a course of study that will develop fundamental skills in score reading, analysis, and part-writing. The primary focus will be on building an understanding and awareness of common chord types (diatonic and chromatic) as they appear in basic chord progressions, and how they relate to melodic construction. The module will also explore fundamentals of musical form and structure. Examples will be drawn from music of the common practice era as well as from modern popular music and jazz. The module is suitable for those students who have little or no prior knowledge of harmonic, melodic or contrapuntal principles (e.g. those who have not done chorale harmonization as part of A-Levels or equivalent), and for those students who lack confidence in their skills in this area.

Assessment Strategy

Third Class: D- to D+ (40%–49%) The crucial achievement is demonstration of a basic grasp of technical/notational skills and the theoretical rules underpinning music of the period / style under study. Full understanding of relevant notation, but only basic understanding of musical practice in the period / genre studied; basic grasp of key skills pertaining to the subject, with limited ability to apply these skills in other musical contexts; limited demonstration of individual creativity, within the given context. Work is presented coherently but with only limited stylistic appropriateness; limited aural ability and awareness, including how that relates to the music as written. The mark will be limited to this level by such things as: frequent shortcomings in harmonisations/pastiche compositional exercises/analyses; consistent flaws in the music script and presentation of the musical text; failure to properly address the main analytical aspects; inadequately reasoned analytical/compositional decisions; inconsistent, incomplete or inadequate analyses/harmonisations/compositional task.

Lower Second Class: C- to C+ (50%–59%) The main quality which warrants marks in this category is the adequate presentation of a musical text or analysis, based on an understanding of the theoretical concepts discussed in the module. Full understanding of relevant notation, but only basic understanding of musical practice in the period / genre studied; basic grasp of key skills pertaining to the subject, with limited ability to apply these skills in other musical contexts; limited demonstration of individual creativity, within the given context. Work is presented coherently but with only limited stylistic appropriateness; limited aural ability and awareness, including how that relates to the music as written. Qualities which limit the mark to this level are: occasional flaws in the harmonisations/pastiche compositional exercises/analyses and their presentation; some shortcomings in the prose descriptions of analytical tasks; some lack of argument or lacunae in the analytical or compositional approach; inconsistent use of appropriate analytical tools and conventions.

Upper Second Class: B- to B+ (60%–69%) The distinguishing quality is the fully satisfactory presentation of a musical text or analysis based on a complete understanding of the theoretical concepts discussed in the module. Full understanding of relevant notation, with good understanding of musical practice in the period / style studied. Good grasp of key skills pertaining to the subject, with the ability to apply these skills in a range of other musical contexts. Good demonstration of individual creativity, within the given context. Work is presented coherently, and with some stylistic appropriateness. Good aural ability and awareness, including how that relates to the music as written. The work will convey a full understanding of the theoretical concepts of the music studied. The musical text and any prose descriptions contain only minor errors. Work at this grade may contain many of the same qualities which apply First Class work; however, the work may be outstanding in one category, yet deficient in another.

First Class: A- and A (70%–83%) The distinguishing quality is the accomplished presentation of a musical text or analysis based on a full understanding of the theoretical concepts discussed in the module. Full understanding of relevant notation, with excellent understanding of musical practice in the period / genre studied; very good grasp of key skills pertaining to the subject, with the ability to apply these skills across a range of musical contexts; excellent demonstration of individual creativity, within the given context; work is presented coherently and full stylistic awareness; excellent aural ability and awareness, including how this relates to the work as written. The work will be flawless or near flawless in all technical aspects and will show thorough research, initiative and originality in the approach to problem-solving.

First Class: A+ to A** (84%–100%) Work of this caliber will display all qualities of First Class work to an exceptional degree. It will be flawless in every aspect, and demonstrate a complete and thorough assimilation of the theoretical concepts discussed in the module.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate a solid understanding of modern musical and analytical notation

• Demonstrate a solid understanding of the principles of melodic and harmonic composition through imitation of stylistic models

• Demonstrate skills in analysing the music studied