Theory & Composition

Theory and Composition Faculty

Classical Theory and Composition Faculty
Larry Thomas Bell, Chair
Martin F. Gardiner
Rodney Lister
Elena Lucas
Margaret McAllister
Stephen Savage

Jazz Theory and History Faculty
Eyran Katsenelenbogen
Rick McLaughlin
Joel Yennior

Click here for Jazz Theory and History course listings.

Certificates

A Certificate of Merit and a Professional Studies Certificate are available in composition. Check out our Certificates page for more information.

Private Instruction

Students wishing to broaden their musical training whether general or expert can do so through private instruction. Private classical and jazz instruction is offered by highly qualified and experienced faculty. Lessons range from 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Theoretical studies include sight-singing, ear training, form and analysis, 16th-and 18th-century counterpoint, tonal composition, 20th-century idioms, orchestration, and jazz theory and arranging. Lessons are open to everyone and you can enroll at anytime. Placement is made by the department chair, Larry Thomas Bell.

Musicianship and Theory

The musicianship program is designed to provide the highly motivated adult student with instruction in the areas of rhythmic and melodic sight-singing, keyboard skills, and basic theoretical concepts. Ear-training is emphasized at all levels. Class presentations also provide historical context through musical examples and videos.

Classes

Introduction to Composition I

Stephen Savage, Instructor
Sat 1:00-2:00 pm
1 credit: $TBA per semester
Non-credit: $TBA per semester
OFFERED FALL SEMESTER

Beginning composition students are encouraged to realize their musical conceptions. Basic concepts introduced include pitch and scale organization, meter, rhythm, interval, chord, tone color, motive, phrase, melody and texture. Rudiments of counterpoint, harmony, instrumentation and standard forms are considered, with emphasis on the balance between repetition and contrast. Specific exercises are given, but students are also encouraged to write freely and to develop a style of their own.

Compositions are performed in class when possible. Prerequisite: some basic knowledge of standard music notation and a desire to compose.

Introduction to Composition II

Stephen Savage, Instructor
Sat 1:00-2:00 pm
1 credit: TBA per semester
Non-credit: TBA per semester
OFFERED SPRING SEMESTER

Intermediate composition students are encouraged to realize their musical conceptions. Topics from Introduction To Composition semester 1 are reviewed, and in addition chromatic and non-triadic harmony, contrapuntal techniques such as double and triple invertibility, larger forms, and various 20th century developments are explored. Specific exercises are given, but students are also encouraged to write freely and to develop a style of their own. Compositions are performed in class when possible.

Prerequisite: Completion of Introduction To Composition 1, or permission of the instructor.

Musicianship I

Margaret McAllister, Instructor
Sat 9:00 - 11:00 am
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
FALL SEMESTER ONLY

Rhythmic and melodic reading in simple and compound meters at the levels of beat, division, and subdivision; mixed meters; dotted rhythms and syncopations; diatonic intervals and diatonic triads of major and minor keys; triads in four voices; chords in open and close position; cadences: authentic, plagal, and full; playing and writing chord progressions based upon primary triads; seventh chords; and an introduction to the analysis of melody, harmony, and smaller musical forms. Examples studied will include simple chorales, short piano pieces, and selected movements of symphonic works. Semester concludes with an individualized evaluation sequence.

Musicianship II

Spring Semester
Margaret McAllister, Instructor
Sat 9:00 - 11:00 am
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
SPRING SEMESTER ONLY

A continuation of the concepts studied in Musicianship I including rhythmic and melodic reading in simple and compound meters at the levels of beat, division, and subdivision; mixed meters; dotted rhythms and syncopations; diatonic intervals and diatonic triads of major and minor keys; triads in four voices; chords in open and close position; cadences: authentic, plagal, and full; playing and writing chord progressions based upon primary triads; seventh chords; and an introduction to the analysis of melody, harmony, and smaller musical forms. Examples studied will include simple chorales, short piano pieces, and selected movements of symphonic works. Semester concludes with an individualized evaluation sequence.

Advanced Music Theory I

Elena Lucas, Instructor
Tue 6:30-8:30 pm
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
FALL SEMESTER ONLY

The practice of harmonic and melodic intervals; rhythmic performance and dictation in simple and compound meters; reading of treble and bass clefs using fixed-do solfège and oneline melodic dictation; the study of triads and inversions, introduction to voice leading, with an emphasis on the harmonic style of music from the 18th century.

Prerequisite is Musicianship II (or its equivalent) or permission of the instructor.

Advanced Music Theory II

Spring Semester
Elena Lucas, Instructor
Tue 6:30-8:30 pm
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
SPRING SEMESTER ONLY

A sequential continuation of Certificate Theory I, the emphasis will be placed on a study of voice leading; harmonic analysis; the harmonization of bass lines and soprano melodies, employing a variety of diatonic triads, seventh chords and non-chord tones; recognition and labeling of periodic phrase structures, with an emphasis on the harmonic style of music from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Prerequisite is Advanced Theory I.

Advanced Music Theory III

Elena Lucas, Instructor
Wed 6:30-8:30 pm
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
FALL SEMESTER ONLY

A sequential continuation of Certificate Theory II. It will continue from the topics related to the cadential seventh chord and its role in the musical form of the classical period to the expansion of tonality through chromaticism in the romantic period. This course incorporates the study of harmonic tonal procedures, musical analysis of selected pieces and the acquisition of the practical and theoretical skills needed to comprehend, perform and write short compositions using the idioms of the 18th and early 19th century. The study of modulation, altered chords and forms will be reinforced with dictation using seventh chords and sight reading using treble, alto and bass clefs. Prerequisite is Advanced Theory II.

Advanced Music Theory IV

Elena Lucas, Instructor
Wed 6:30-8:30 pm
2 credits: $TBA
Non-credit: $TBA
SPRING SEMESTER ONLY

A sequential continuation of Certificate Theory III. This semester will conclude with an introduction to 20th century harmony and the acquisition of the practical and theoretical skills needed to comprehend and perform that music. It will start from the topics of enharmonic modulation through augmented sixth and diminished seventh chords and its role in the further expansion of tonality in the music of late romanticism. The study will be reinforced with dictation using rhythms with changing time signatures and complex subdivisions, and sightreading using soprano, alto, and tenor clefs. Prerequisite is Advanced Theory III.

Modal Counterpoint

Offered as private instruction. Private lesson rates apply.

Non-credit:

60-minute lessons: $101.00/lesson
45-minute lessons: $75.75/lesson
30-minute lessons: $50.50/lesson

School of Continuing Education Credit:

4 CE credits: $2300 for 15 hours of instruction
3 CE credits: $1725 for 11.25 hours of instruction
2 CE credits: $1150 for 7.5 hours of instruction

A study of 16th-century species counterpoint in two voices and an introduction to 18th-century counterpoint and canon and fugue in three voices. Representative musical examples by Palestrina and Bach will be studied; the last class is a one-hour exam. Text: Johann Fux, Gradus ad Parnassum. Prerequisite: Theory I or permission of the instructor.

Eighteenth-Century Tonal Counterpoint