Undergraduate Courses

Continued development of sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis
skills developed in the prerequisite course, Advanced Aural Skills:
Chromatic Harmony. Students will critically listen to, transcribe, and
perform music incorporating modes, chromatic and jazz harmony, extended
tonality, and atonality. Advanced rhythmic topics include polyrhythm,
syncopation, swing, mixed meter, and metric modulation.

Advanced techniques of music listening developed through sight-singing, dictation, and aural analysis. Students develop skills for critically listening to, analyzing, and notating four-part chromatic harmony, chromatic melodies, advanced rhythm and meter, and instrumentation in common-practice 18th and 19th century classical repertoire Course activities are correlated with topics presented in the co-requisite course, MPATC-UE 1331 Advanced Music Theory: Chromatic Harmony and Form.

Techniques of music listening developed through sight-singing, transcription, and aural analysis. Topics are coordinated with the co-requisite course, Advanced Theory & Practice: French Music and include French dances and other large forms, added and extended chords, embellishing chords, the “cadence Fauréenne,” modes and pentatonic collections, and Messiaen’s “additive” rhythms and “modes of limited transposition.” Students will learn aural strategies for describing form, characteristic features of French dance, and stylistic and regional influences.

Practice in the critical listening and transcription of popular music. Advanced topics in rhythm and meter, timbre, chromatic and extended harmonies, and melody. Building on transcription skills acquired in Aural Skills I and II, students learn techniques for transcribing recorded vocal and instrumental material in popular music. Defined broadly, “popular music” includes pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, blues, rap, disco, indie, metal, jazz, folk, and musical theater and film repertoire. The course will culminate in a final transcription project.

Practice in advanced melodic and rhythmic sight-singing. This course builds on skills developed in Aural Skills I and II, emphasizing the performance of melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic material using solfège. Students learn strategies for improvisation and advanced sight reading in a broad range of styles and genres including repertoire from jazz, classical, and popular music.

Project-based course designed to guide students through three advanced projects:
data visualization with APIs, games that communicate specific experiences, and cooperative networked interactions where two users work together to achieve a common goal. Each project is split into 3-4 weeks, so students have ample time to thoughtfully design a program, think through the technical architecture, develop it, and iterate based on in-class feedback.

An advanced course in expository writing for all students, especially those concerned with writing in school settings. Hours are arranged for individual counseling.

Principles and practice of identification, comparison, and evaluation of selected foods, ingredients, techniques, and equipment for recipe formulation, menu planning, or preparation with an emphasis on modifications to meet specific nutritional or other requirements.

This dance course explores the fifth element of Hip Hop Culture, "Knowledge of self" through progressive movement vocabulary within Hip Hop/Street Dance Culture. Focusing on Hip Hop as a method to endorse cultural exchange and awareness. Individuals critically reflect on the social change, political impact and the evolution of Hip Hop Culture. This course promotes the application of Hip Hop/street dance to inspire, empower, develop self-consciousness, identify social issues and examine the integration of all elements across multiple intelligences.

The principles of orchestral scoring are examined through detailed score analysis and writing projects, as well as related topics including transposition, score format, and new notation. Classical through contemporary styles.

This hands-on course provides the students with a practical toolkit to enable them to become proficient orchestrators in the field of film and media production. Using examples from traditional and contemporary practices, students analyze seminal scores written for the screen, orchestrate diverse exercises, and evaluate the results of their work by listening to live recordings of their exercises.

Projects selected by students to reflect their artistic preoccupation or to provide research in particular skills, subjects, or trends in printmaking.

Projects selected by students to reflect their artistic preoccupation or to provide research in particular skills, subjects, or trends in ceramics.

Projects selected by students to reflect their artistic preoccupation or to provide research in particular skills, subjects, or trends in painting.

Projects selected by students to reflect their artistic preoccupation or to provide research in particular skills, subjects, or trends in sculpture. Individual attention is given to the evaluation of each student’s work, black and white photographic processes and procedures and analysis of subject matter. The interrelationship with contemporary image making is emphasized.

Advanced level music theory. The courses build on techniques developed in Theory & Practice I and II.

Introduction to the materials and organizing principles of 20th and 21st century concert music and jazz. Students will engage with a range of analytical methods and compositional techniques applicable to a broad range of repertoire incorporating advanced chromaticism, modes, extended tonality, atonality, jazz harmony, and contemporary techniques in metric organization and form. The course will culminate in a final paper or presentation analyzing a 20th or 21st century work.

Introduction to the materials and organizing principles of 20th and 21st
century concert music and jazz. Students will engage with a range of
analytical methods and compositional techniques applicable to a broad range
of repertoire incorporating advanced chromaticism, modes, extended
tonality, atonality, jazz harmony, and contemporary techniques in metric
organization and form. The course will culminate in a final paper or
presentation analyzing a 20th or 21st century work.

Hands-on work with the materials of chromatic tonality and an introduction to complex forms. This course builds on composition and analysis skills developed in Theory & Practice II: Tonal Harmony & Voice Leading, and introduces students to advanced techniques in four-part contrapuntal writing, arranging, model composition, and formal analysis in 18th and 19th century common-practice classical music.

Digital audio workstations (DAW), such as Garage Band, Audacity, and Ableton provide students with a hands-on polyphonic platform for studying and composing contrapuntal music. This course aims to bridge traditions and practices to accommodate students in various specializations and to impart a creative understanding of counterpoint and polyphonic thinking relevant to a broad range of musical repertoire. Working in DAW, students practice contrapuntal techniques and styles using different types of audio material. The course culminates in a final composition project.