Musical Analysis and Theory. Basics

lmusi1120  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Musical Analysis and Theory. Basics
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
15.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Van Wymeersch Brigitte;
Language
French
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required, but an upgrade in musical reading is offered to students who have no background in this area.
Main themes
Upgrading the foundations of musical theory (solfeggio, bases of formal and harmonic analysis).
Knowledge of the most important musical forms and genres (form-sonata, fugue, suite of dances, theme and variation, aria da capo, rondo, etc.). These are placed in their cultural and historical context. The structure of these forms will be analyzed globally, from musical extracts and scores.
 
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1
Acquisition of essential bases for university-type musical analysis.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled "Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit".
 
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
The course is divided into three parts
  • The first is a refresher and / or a deepening of the basic elements of the musical technique (solfeggio, theory).
  • The second part considers the basics of harmonic and tonal analysis (chord theory, harmonic path, etc.).
  • The third part focuses on the structural analysis of some major works in the repertoire, representative of the genres and forms of Western music.
This course is organized in good intelligence with the course LMUSI 1130 (campus-concert)
 
Teaching methods
This is a course that is both theoretical and practical. The two aspects are integrated in the same teaching: the exercises (solfeggio, theory, notions of analysis and writing) fit directly into the main part of the course. The teaching has an interactive and progressive character for which the presence of the student is required.
Student participation is solicited at each session, informally. The exercises delivered by the students and corrected by the teacher or the assistant (individual and progressive work) are an indispensable part of this learning process.
After a broad introduction that outlines the genres and forms of Western music and highlights some of the major works of the repertoire, the course develops around concerts in which students are invited to participate and commented plays of works from the classical repertoire or current creations.
Different levels are foreseen, according to the knowledge of each one. Remediation courses are also organized to enable everyone to acquire the required skills.
 
Evaluation methods
The evaluation mode is twofold:
  • continuous evaluation based on progressive analysis exercises carried out throughout the semester (30% of the grade);
  • written examination including a more theoretical part and a part of analysis on scores on the model of the practical exercises made during the course (70% of the note).
Participation in the course and exercises are mandatory.
 
Bibliography
Des indications bibliographiques sont données lors du cours et mentionnées sur le site Moodle
Faculty or entity
ARKE


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Bachelor in History of Art and Archaeology : Musicology