Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- engage with a range of different ways of understanding harmony
- analyse a range of compositional works and recognise a variety of music forms
- analyse harmonic progressions using a variety of different notation methods including Roman numeral notations and jazz/pop chord symbols
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- compose with a range of scales and modes
- compose pieces of music in small forms in a range of different compositional styles
- create a coherent score using notation software
- compose and harmonise a melody
- create chord sequences and control harmonic voicings
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- compositional and analytical approaches in a range of musical idioms including but not limited to jazz and blues, common practice tonal procedures (including music for screen) and modal contemporary composition
- modal composition and minimalist composition techniques
- melodic designs and their implied harmonies
- a range of musical forms
- melodic construction
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- respond to a clear brief
- develop critical reflection skills
- work independently on a creative project
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Lecture | 18 |
Tutorial | 2 |
Follow-up work | 9 |
Practical classes and workshops | 4 |
Completion of assessment task | 108 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 9 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Sonny Rollins: Tenor Madness. Musical works
Benjamin Britten: Sea Interludes. Musical works
Duke Ellington: Things Ain’t What They Used To Be / Night Train. Musical works
John Williams: Star Wars / Harry Potter. Musical works
Arvo Part: Tabula Rasa. Musical works
Steve Reich: Different Trains / Piano Phase / Vermont Counterpoint. Musical works
Sting: Ten Summoner’s Tales. Musical works
Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now. Musical works
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time. Musical works
Debussy: Voiles. Musical works
Textbooks
Mark Levine (1995). The Jazz Theory Book. Sher Music.
Olivier Messiaen (1956). The Technique of My Musical Language. A. Leduc.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (for musical terminology).
Walter Piston. Harmony.
Stephen Citron. Songwriting: A Complete Guide to the Craft.
Anna Butterworth. Harmony in Practice. Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Free modal composition | 50% |
Writing and harmonising a theme | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Free modal composition | 50% |
Writing and harmonising a theme | 50% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Writing and harmonising a theme | 50% |
Free modal composition | 50% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External