How to get the most out of Basics of Music Theory with Michael Kurek, D.M.A.:

It is crucial to obtain the textbook before beginning this course. This is a workbook that you write in. If you buy a used book, erase or white out all the answers that any previous owner might have written in.  First, you should watch the lecture video and then work through that chapter in the book (listed in Course Outline, below), writing in your answers to all the questions and checking your answers in the book as you go. Take the practice test in the book and check your answers (given in an appendix in the back). When you feel ready, take the online quiz, which will be similar to the practice test, but this time it will be for your official grade. The official test online may be taken repeatedly. Please note that since the textbook provides the answers and feedback as you go and also practice tests with answer keys that you can check yourself, there are no "assignments" to turn in for this course. It is only necessary to complete the test for each lesson in Caravel, as far as an official recorded grade. The tests will not be easy to pass if you have not done the self-checked work with the textbook and studied the video lecture, but at least the tests can be re-taken.

Instructor:  Michael Kurek, D.M.A., Professor Emeritus, Vanderbilt University, Author, Composer Laureate of the State of Tennessee, Certified catechist of the diocese of Nashville

Textbook:  "Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm, and Meter," 3rd Edition 

    by John Clough, Joyce Conley, and Clair Louise Boge ISBN-10: 0393973697 

Course description:

No ability to read music or play an instrument is required to take this course. It is designed for beginner students who would like to sing in a choir (or solo) and understand the music notation of the part they are singing, or to begin the study of an instrument, or to prepare themselves with a good foundation to take a college music theory course or an AP Music Theory class, which can be overwhelming if taken “cold”.

Since musical aptitudes vary so greatly, this is designed as a self-paced online course, so that students may work more quickly through the early lessons, if they already have some knowledge of music, or take longer on any lessons they find more challenging. The essential elements of reading and understanding music that are listed in the title of the textbook will be covered, along with more advanced concepts of harmony, progression, beginner part writing, and harmonic analysis. The book comes with an audio CD of musical examples, but if a used book does not have the CD, it is okay and not necessary to have.

Each topic is introduced in a class lecture that explains it in a clear and engaging manner, and which occasionally draws spiritual observations and appreciation from a faithful Catholic perspective. Then the students work through the assigned chapter in the Norton self-paced textbook, covering answers with a card on the left side of the page while filling in the answer on the right side of the page, then checking their answers by uncovering it. There is enough repetition built into the lessons to make students feel they have comfortably mastered the material. There is a test at the end of each chapter in the book, which the student takes and then self grades, to serve as a practice test. However, questions from sections of the book not used in this course may be disregarded. Finally, the student takes a different but comparable quiz each class on the computer designed by the instructor and graded by the computer, which counts as the official test for the lesson, and this may be retaken an unlimited number of times. Some students might be able to do two or more lessons a week, while others may choose the more comfortable pace of one test per week over an entire 12-week semester or take even longer. 

A note on the textbook: Since the textbook is a workbook that students write in, please be careful about purchasing a used one for a lower cost. There may be some used copies, for example, that only have the first lesson filled in, and in pencil, so that it can become usable by erasing those few pages. Others might come completely filled in with ink and therefore completely unusable. It will be best to inquire about the specific condition of used books before purchasing them. The book comes with an audio CD, but if this is missing in a used copy of the book, it is not needed. Those titles and scores are in the back of the book and may easily be found online, but they are not required, in any case. 

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: The Major Scale, Basics Note Values and Meters (Chapters 1 and 2 only through Set 6)

Lesson 2: Meters and Time Signatures (from Ch. 2, Sets 7 and 8), and Intervals (Chapter 3, Sets  9 - 13 only)

Lesson 3: Advanced Intervals (from Ch. 3, Sets 14 and 15); Minor Scales (Ch. 4, set 19)

Lesson 4: Major and Minor Key Signatures, Relative Keys, Accidentals (Chapter 4, sets 16-18 optional, and 20-21 required)

Lesson 5: Triads in Root Position (Chapter 5)

Lesson 6: Inversions of Triads and Figured Bass Symbols (Chapter 6, sets 27-29 only)

Lesson 7: Seventh Chords (Chapter 6, sets 30 and 31)

Lesson 8: Introduction to Four-Part Writing: Doubling and Spacing (Chapter 7, Set 32)

Lesson 9: Voice Leading and Chord Connection (Chapter 7, Set 33)

Lesson 10: Connecting and Harmonizing with Tonic and Dominant Chords (Chapter 7, Set 34), Nonharmonic Tones 1

Lesson 11: Resolving the Dominant Seventh Chord to the Tonic Chord (Chapter 7, Set 36), Nonharmonic Tones 2

Lesson 12: Harmonic Analysis of Music with Non-chorale Textures (Chapter 7, Set 35 and 37 optional)

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2022 Homeschool Connections and Michael Kurek, D.M.A. All rights reserved. This course is designed by Michael Kurek, D.M.A.

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