The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy

"Today's music theory instructors face a changing environment, one where the traditional lecture format is in decline. The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy addresses this change head-on, featuring battle-tested lesson plans alongside theoretical discussions of music theory curriculum and course design. With the modern student in mind, scholars are developing creative new approaches to teaching music theory, encouraging active student participation within contemporary contexts such as flipped classrooms, music industry programs, and popular music studies. This volume takes a unique approach to provide resources for both the conceptual and pragmatic sides of music theory pedagogy. Each section includes thematic 'anchor' chapters that address key issues, accompanied by short 'topics' chapters offering applied examples that instructors can readily adopt in their own teaching. In eight parts, leading pedagogues from across North America explore how to most effectively teach the core elements of the music theory curriculum: Fundamentals, Rhythm and Meter, Core Curriculum, Aural Skills, Post-Tonal Theory, Form, Popular Music, Who, What, and How We Teach A broad musical repertoire demonstrates formal principles that transcend the Western canon, catering to a diverse student body with diverse musical goals. Reflecting growing interest in the field, and with an emphasis on easy implementation, The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy presents strategies and challenges to illustrate and inspire, in a comprehensive resource for all teachers of music theory"-- Provided by publisher This book takes a unique approach to provide resources for both the conceptual and pragmatic sides of music theory pedagogy. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 13 Acknowledgments 15 Supplemental Materials 16 Part I: Fundamentals 18 1 Music Theory and Working Memory 20 2 Putting the Music in “Music Fundamentals” 30 3 A Cornucopia of Accidentals 39 4 Contouring as a Powerful Tool for Pitch Awareness 44 5 Incorporating Melodicas into the Music Theory Classroom 49 6 Music Fundamentals Games 54 Part II: Rhythm and Meter 62 7 Introducing Musical Meter through Perception 64 8 Starting from Scratch: Representing Meter Using Simple Programming Tools 74 9 “Computer Programmed With Just One Finger”: Transcribing Rap Beats with the Roland TR-808 80 10 Rebeaming Rhythms: Helping Students “Feel” the Need for Correct Beaming 85 11 Clapping for Credit: A Pedagogical Application of Reich’s Clapping Music 89 12 Hindustani Tāl: Non-Western Explorations of Meter 95 Part III: Core Curriculum 102 13 Small-Scale Improvisation in the Music Theory Classroom 104 14 The Cognitive and Communicative Constraints of Part-Writing 113 15 Voice-Leading Detectives 124 16 Harmonic Sequences Simplified: The First Week of Instruction 127 17 Grading the Song 135 18 Finding the Implied Polyphony in the Minuet II from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major 141 19 Using Tendency Tones to Teach the Morphology and Syntax of Chromatic Harmony 148 20 Apply Yourself! An Active Learning Lesson Plan for Introducing Secondary Dominants 158 21 Plot Twists: Narrative Pivots and the Enharmonic Augmented-Sixth Chord 163 22 Chromatic Mediants through the Context of Film Music 169 23 How to Analyze Chromatic Lament-Bass Harmonizations (Without Tears) 174 24 Introduction to Common-Tone Diminished-Seventh Chords 179 25 “It’s an N, bro”: Teaching Enharmonic Reinterpretations of Fully Diminished Seventh Chords by Ear 184 Part IV: Aural Skills 192 26 Defending the Straw Man: Modulation, Solmization, and What to Do with a Brain 194 27 Speaking Music 204 28 Finding Your Way Home: Methods for Finding Tonic 217 29 Error Detection in Aural Skills Classes 221 30 In Search of Hidden Treasures: An Exercise in Symphonic Hearing 228 31 An Aural Skills Introduction to Twelve-Tone Music: Dallapiccola’s “Vespro, Tutto Riporti” 234 Part V: Post-Tonal Theory 240 32 Setting Sets Aside: Prioritizing Motive, Text, and Diversity in Post-Tonal Analysis Courses 242 33 Teaching and Learning Early Twentieth-Century Techniques at the Keyboard 250 34 Starting the Twentieth Century with a Bang!: A Lesson Plan for Whole-Tone Scales in Tosca 256 35 Twentieth-Century Polymodality: Scalar Layering, Chromatic Mismatch, and Symmetry 261 36 Twelve-Tone Study Using Symbols in Dallapiccola’s “Fregi,” from Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera 267 37 Integral Serialism – Analysis of Gerhard, String Quartet No. 1, mvt. 3 273 38 Mapping Symmetry and Form in George Crumb’s “A Prophecy of Nostradamus” 278 Part VI: Form 286 39 Principles of Form 288 40 Recomposing Phrase Structure 296 41 Teaching Musical Structure through Disney Songs 301 42 From Theory to Practice: How to Compose a Sentence 307 43 Incorporating Latin-American Popular Music in the Study of Musical Form 312 44 Binary Form through the Music of Underrepresented Composers 318 45 A Form-Functional Approach to Binary Form Analysis 322 46 Exploring Ternary Form through the Lens of Analysis-Performance in a Mozart Aria 328 47 Sonata-Allegro Form: Understanding the Drama 336 48 Concerto Form: Transforming a Sonata into a Concerto 341 Part VII: Popular Music 346 49 Popular Music in the Theory Classroom 348 50 The Beatles’ “Day Tripper”: A Tortured Stretching of the Twelve-Bar Blues 357 51 Making Borrowed Chords ‘Pop’: Teaching Modal Mixture through Popular Music 362 52 Chromatic Mediants in Popular Music 367 Part VIII: Who, What, and How We Teach 372 53 Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching Music Theory at Community Colleges (and Elsewhere) 374 54 More Than Just Four Chords: Teaching Music Theory/Aural Skills to Music Industry Majors 383 55 Instructing a Range of Experiences within the Music Theory Classroom 393 56 Music Theory Pedagogy and Public Music Theory 399 57 Analytical Podcasting 407 58 Designing for Access in the Classroom and Beyond 414 59 Music Analysis and Accessibility in the Music Theory Classroom 424 60 Accommodating Dyslexia in Aural Skills: A Case Study 430 61 Writing Exams Cooperatively with Students 437 62 What Should an Undergraduate Music Theory Curriculum Teach? (And, Alas, What Most of the Time We Don’t) 441 63 Strategies for Revising Music Curricula for the Twenty-First Century: A Case Study 450 64 Putting It Together: Rethinking the Theory Curriculum 460 65 Adapting the Aural Skills Curriculum: A Move Away From “The” Right Answer 467 66 Cultivating Curiosity: Questions, Relevance, and Focus in the Theory Classroom 476 67 Using Video Technology in Music Theory Assignments 486 68 Incorporating Improvisation in a Theory Class on Contemporary Music 492 Notes on Contributors 498 Credits 510 Index 514 Music,Theory;,Pitch,Awareness;,Chromatic,Harmony;,Harmonic,Sequences;,Music,Analysis;,Aural,Skills Music Theory,Pitch Awareness,Chromatic Harmony,Harmonic Sequences,Music Analysis,Aural Skills