Explanations (suitable for any age) of the basic elements of music, with suggested activities for introducing the concepts to children at early elementary school level.

An introduction to chord relationships within a particular key.

This module is part of a term research project for the class Linguistics 411: Neurolinguistics at Rice University. The project focuses on current research concerning the neuronal structures and processes involved with the perception of music.

This module represents points to consider about the harmonic structure of a choral work including chord progressions, dissonance, and its resolution.

An introduction to one of the basic elements of music.

Rules and tools for completing harmony exercises

Basic writing skills in music of the common-practice period (Bach to Brahms). Work includes regular written assignments leading to the composition of short pieces, analyzing representative works from the literature, keyboard laboratory, and sight-singing choir. It is recommended that entering students have some concert music listening or playing background. Enrollment may be limited.

Activities that introduce this simplest kind of harmony.

Activities for introducing independent harmony to children.

This course provides an introductory survey of the Western classical tradition, exploring music as a phenomenon of both sound and culture. The focus of this course is the development of aural skills that lead to an understanding and appreciation of music; making use of live performances and streaming audio available on the Internet, the student will listen to and explore some of the most important and influential repertoires and genres of music that emerged in the last four centuries. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify aesthetic qualities and compositional processes by studying and listening to significant works of music in both live performances and recorded media; Explain the historical and/or cultural contexts of musical works studied in this course; Demonstrate an aural ability by identifying specific forms, genres, musical techniques, and historical styles of Western classical music; Describe subjective reactions to musical examples and analyze specific expressive qualities that evoke responses; Write about music analytically and effectively, using vocabulary, language and a style appropriate to the discipline and expressing ideas clearly. (Music 101)

This course introduces the basic concepts and terms needed to discuss melody and harmony. It is intended for teens or adults with no background in music theory but some familiarity with reading common notation and playing an instrument (or singing). Concepts covered include interval, major and minor keys and scales, triads and chords.

Through a progressive series of composition projects, this course investigates the sonic organization of musical works and performances, focusing on fundamental questions of unity and variety. Aesthetic issues are considered in the pragmatic context of the instructions that composers provide to achieve a desired musical result, whether these instructions are notated in prose, as graphic images, or in symbolic notation. No formal training is required. Weekly listening, reading, and composition assignments draw on a broad range of musical styles and intellectual traditions, from various cultures and historical periods.

This course fosters the development of aural skills that lead to an understanding of Western music. The musical novice is introduced to the ways in which music is put together and is taught how to listen to a wide variety of musical styles, from Bach and Mozart, to Gregorian chant, to the blues.

Music Appreciation is a one semester course that will introduce students to the fundamentals of creating, enjoying, and listening to music. Students will learn about the basics of creating music including melody, harmony, and rhythm. Students will also explore instrumental and vocal timbre and will critique musical performances. Students will also be exposed to many musical styles including traditional, folk, jazz, opera, popular, and classical music. Through unique online software, students will be able to compose, arrange, and share their own musical ideas. Students will learn to appreciate the complexity and the art of music.

"This course is a survey of perceptual and cognitive aspects of the psychology of music, with special emphasis on underlying neuronal and neurocomputational representations and mechanisms. Basic perceptual dimensions of hearing (pitch, timbre, consonance/roughness, loudness, auditory grouping) form salient qualities, contrasts, patterns and streams that are used in music to convey melody, harmony, rhythm and separate voices. Perceptual, cognitive, and neurophysiological aspects of the temporal dimension of music (rhythm, timing, duration, temporal expectation) are explored. Special topics include comparative, evolutionary, and developmental psychology of music perception, biological vs. cultural influences, Gestaltist vs. associationist vs. schema-based theories, comparison of music and speech perception, parallels between music cognition and language, music and cortical action, and the neural basis of music performance."

An introduction to the analysis of tonal music. Students develop analytical techniques based upon concepts learned in Harmony and Counterpoint I and II. Students study harmony, counterpoint, melodic line and motivic relationships at local and large scale levels of musical structure. Three 7-page papers, one revised paper, and one oral presentation required.

Activities for introducing children to parallel harmony.

This module provides example inputs and outputs of the piano note detection algorithm using our implementation. It also discusses what our algorithm and implementation do well and what they do inadequately.

This module represents information regarding the importance of understanding the musical score---or score study. A thorough analysis of each piece by the conductor is necessary for the conductor to bring the choir through rehearsals to the performance. External markings such as dynamics and tempo are discussed as well as internal markings such as harmonic rhythm of the work and similar areas. Suggestions questions to be answered that will help in this understanding are listed along with several suggested readings.