I. Course Title: Ear Training and Sight Singing IV
II. Course Number: MUSC 215
III. Credit Hours: 1 credit
IV. Prerequisites: Completion of MUSC 214 with a grade of “C” or better.
V. Course Description:
In this course, students continue develop advanced-level musicianship skills through
exercises in listening, singing and chanting rhythmically, improvising, reading and
writing music through dictation and composition.
VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:
In this course, students will:
- Listen and recognize music in tonalities both in and outside western music (e.g. chromaticism,
whole tone, pentatonic, 12-tone, atonal, ragas, polymetric music, etc.)
- Listen and identify recognize music in unconventional meters (e.g. intact meters,
shifting meters, polymeters)
- By ear, continue to sing tunes and chord roots in modes (e.g. mixolydian, dorian,
lydian, phrygian, and locrian) and tunes in major and minor with chromaticism and
modulations
- Sing by ear, read and improvise within a given chord progression
- Sing by ear, read and improvise tonal patterns in major and minor with expanded tonal
functions (e.g., V7/V, V/IV, V/VI)
- Chant by ear, read and improvise rhythm patterns in various meters (e.g. hemiola,
shifting meters, polymeters, etc.)
- Improvise melodies in lydian and phrygian tonality
- Sight-read more advanced tonal, rhythmic, and two-line melodic exercises in major
and minor, duple and triple meter, including enrhythmic reading
- Write, from dictation, 2-line melodic exercises (tune and chord roots) with I-IV-V-V7/V
tonal functions
- Compose 2-part melodies (e.g., tune and chord roots) in major and minor using I, IV,
V, V7/V chord functions, in duple and triple meters
VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:
The class is conducted as a group practice time for the skills taught in the course.
The practice takes the form of singing tunes, chord roots, tonal pattern and rhythm
pattern exercises, tonal, rhythm, and melodic improvisation, sight singing melodies,
tonal and rhythmic dictation, simple, guided composition, and other appropriate exercises.
Students work individually outside of class time with assigned materials, such as
the Auralia and SightReadingFactory.com or others.
VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:
At the conclusion of the course, the student will have developed advanced-level aural
skills in ear training and sight singing and will understand how to use these skills
for their career in music.
Students will develop the ability to:
- Recognize and identify elements of pitch and tonality: resting tone, tonality, harmonic
quality, and chord progression.
- Recognize and identify elements of rhythm and meter: beat, division, patterns, groupings,
and syncopation.
- Sing/chant given written patterns with accurate pitch and rhythm.
- Write from dictation given tonal and rhythm patterns in accurate notation.
- Improvise tonal, rhythmic, and melodic passages within given guidelines.
- Compose melodies within given guidelines.
VIII. Assessment Measures:
Learning Outcomes will be met through a combination of the following activities:
- Listening exercises aimed at developing a sense of tonality and meter.
- Dictation exercises aimed at developing a sense of memory and accessibility to notation.
- Graded homework assignments
- Exams and quizzes designed to test and assess a combination of aural and visual music
skills.
Other Course Information: None
Review and Approval
DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
Revised February, 2009
March 01, 2021