Cal Poly SLO - Department of Music
Course Syllabus - Music 210 (Musicianship IV) - Fall 2001

Lab Hours will be announced in class.

Materials:

Studying Rhythm by Anne Carothers Hall; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Music for Sight-Singing by Robert W. Ottman (4th edition); Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1996.

You will need a tablet of music paper; I prefer 8-1/2 by 11 sheets, myself. And, of course, Pencils! Erasers! Metronomes!

Please bring your materials to every class meeting.

A reminder of mnemonics you can use to identify intervals is linked to this page.

Here is a link to a web site that may interest you: MacGamut

Course Description: Music 212 is a second-year course in the practical skills of being a musician. More attention will be given to the type of ear-training exercises required on graduate entrance exams. Like private lessons, practicing will be on your own; the time you spend with me is only the tip of the iceberg, and probably will not be sufficient for you to master all the areas we will cover. The course will consist of discussions, guided and independent skills practice, and periodic examinations. Did I mention practicing?

Prerequisites: satisfactory completion of Music 211 (I recommend 'B' or better) or permission of the instructor.

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Course Requirements:

I. Nine quizzes. Each quiz will count as 7% of the final grade, although I will drop the lowest grade. The quizzes will be given every Monday, beginning 2nd week (except during Week 8, when the quiz will be on Wednesday). There will not be a quiz in Week 11. Missed quizzes: Make-up quizzes are a privilege, not a right. One missed quiz will be treated as your "dropped" quiz. A make-up quiz for a second missed quiz will be allowed only when 1) the reasons for your absence are beyond your control and 2) you keep me informed about your status (via any of the means suggested at the top of the syllabus!).

II. A final (which is cumulative), which will constitute 13% of the course grade.

III. Three individual performance tests. These will be conducted in class, during the third, sixth, and tenth weeks of the quarter. Each is worth 7% of the total course grade.

IV. Practice / Homework. Surprise! Practicing is important! So is doing your homework! Each week, you will be given a grade that averages your "practicing" grade with your grade(s) on homework assignments for that week. Each of these averaged grades counts for 1% of your overall grade (therefore, 10 grades will equal 10% of the course grade). Homework will be graded as follows:

The Practice Log will be checked every Monday (except in Week 8, when it will be collected on Wednesday). The grading scale for each week's practicing will be based on time:

A	161-180(+) minutes	B-	81-100
A-	141-160	C+	61-80
B+	121-140	C	60
B	101-120	F	<60

Contract Policy: We often say that small amounts of daily practice are more beneficial to musicians than long but infrequent "cramming" sessions. In order to underscore this point, you may elect to become a "contract" student, in which a lower weekly total (140 mins.) is required to earn an "A"—but your practicing needs to be at least 20 minutes daily. Details are at the top of the practice log.

No Free Lunch: Since Music 210 is primarily a 'skills' course, absence (or tardiness) undercuts the amount of time you spend working on your musicianship skills. Therefore, absences or tardies need to be 'made up' during your weekly practice to maintain your practice-log grade for that week. In other words, if you miss a day of class (50 minutes), you'll need to put in 110 minutes over the course of the week to get a "C" for that week. If you're 10 minutes late one day, you'll need to show 70 minutes of practicing on that week's log for a "C." Please–it is your responsibility to talk to me about what was covered before the next class meeting!

There are many "practice" activities you can undertake to fulfill your practice requirement, including work on the computers (either in the Piano Lab or in the Department Office), work with the course cassettes, practice with a partner, the teaching assistant, or me, and, of course, practice on your own. All practice time recorded on your log must be initialed—by the department secretaries, the teaching assistants, your partner, me, or yourself (if you worked alone).

V. All portions of the course requirements must be completed in order to receive a passing grade.

Course Outline - Music 210 - Fall 2001

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this page was modified on 9-21-01