Course overview
Music Analysis 2 is designed primarily with the needs of composers in mind, and is a requirement for students majoring in musical composition. It is also available as a BMus elective and covers concepts that are relevant to performers (in the classical and jazz traditions), musicologists and others. At Level 2 the focus is on tonal music and analytical methods that can assist an understanding of how tonal music operates. Each two-hour session will be divided with the first hour consisting of lecture-style explanation of techniques and methods, and the second hour devoted to student-centred analytical exercises on pieces drawn from the classical repertory. The overall approach is empirical (in that it takes key works from the classical repertoire as the primary material and points of departure) rather than theoretical (as a defence of any particular theory or analytical method).
Course learning outcomes
- Knowledge of a range of methods suitable for analysing tonal music
- Ability to evaluate the various methods of tonal analysis in a critically constructive manner
- Ability to analyse the structure of a tonal form and present a structural segmentation
- Ability to analyse the various voice-leading levels of a tonal piece according to the principles of Schenkerian reduction
- Ability to present analytical reasoning in a written form including charts, diagrams, and musical notation
- Ability to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the various analytical methods in relation to chosen pieces of tonal music
- Ability to present and communicate analytical ideas through musical notation supported by text commentary