Undergraduate Course: Creative Musicianship (MUSI08077)
Course Outline
School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | This course focuses on putting together the various 'building blocks' of broadly tonal music (i.e. tonal music and its immediate antecedents) in order to understand how these combine to have particular compositional and aesthetic effects. Students will be expected to understand how the basics of melody, rhythm, counterpoint, functional harmony, and musical form combine to create music across a range of different styles. It also focuses on developing from these building blocks into the beginnings of creative musical practice and the discovery of students' own contemporary musical voices. |
Course description |
This course follows on from the course 'Fundamentals of Music Theory' in which students will have understood the 'building blocks' of broadly tonal music (i.e. tonal music and its immediate antecedents), both in a written and an aural sense, in isolation. Creative musicianship essentially has two focuses, demonstrating how these isolated elements are brought together to create music in a variety of different historical styles, and allowing students to find new approaches to these elements as a starting point to find their own creative musical voices.
Topics will include: melody, rhythm, counterpoint, functional harmony, and musical form.
The learning experience brings together a number of different approaches. Music analysis will be taught and examined in both a literate and aural manner, alongside creative musicianship through performance and composition. Performance and listening will be a continuous part of the course, even for those sessions that focus on traditional analytical approaches, allowing students to engage with the music studied through performance at keyboard, with the voice, or on their own first-study instruments.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students with an A at A Level or Advanced highers, Grade VI Music Theory, or who have passed the Fundamentals of Music Theory Diagnostic test do not need to have taken Fundamentals of Music Theory. All others must has passed Fundamentals of Music Theory. |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have the equivalent of Grade VI Music Theory. You must contact the Course Organiser for the course to seek their permission to enrol in the course, then send that written confirmation to the Visiting Student Office for consideration. |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 60 |
Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
163 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative assessment
Exam (score reading, aural, analysis, and pastiche composition based on pieces not covered in the course): 50%. To be taken in the examination period.
Creative Project: 50% - this involves the creation and presentation of a 'scored' group composition of 5-7 minutes, in groups of 6-8, accompanied by an individual 500-word commentary. 30% weighting for the composition and 20% for the commentary. To be presented during Week 11 tutorials - either online or in person, or a combination of both. The presentation will take into account the practicalities of virtual and mixed-modes of performance, and may include pre-recorded, multi-tracked, or partial modes of performance. Not all students have to perform in their own composition but must be involved in its genesis and development. The presentation will be followed by a Q and A where the students will discuss the work they have created together.
Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 % |
Feedback |
Students will have the opportunity for feedback weekly, especially during tutorial sessions and in response to online quizzes. Formative feedback for the creative project will be given verbally in c. week 10.
Summative feedback will be written and back in 15 working days. |
No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Aurally discriminate various harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, contrapuntal, and formal structures
- Study and discuss compositional techniques across styles and genres, and explore these techniques through the creation of their own work
- Demonstrate an understanding of compositional techniques of broadly tonal music
- Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamentals of harmony, counterpoint, and the basic skills of composition
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Reading List
Anna Butterworth, Harmony in Practice. London, Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 1999 plus reprints
Owen Swindale, Polyphonic Composition. Oxford, 1962 plus reprints.
Eric Taylor, The AB Guide to Music Theory, Part I & Part II. Published by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Connie Mayfield, Theory essentials: an integrated approach to harmony, ear training, and keyboard skills. California & London: Thomson Schirmer, 2013
Joel Phillips, The musician's guide to aural skills. New York & London: W.W. Norton, 2005 |
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Music literacy
Aural skills
Ensemble performance skills
Composition skills
Analysis skills
Critical thinking |
Keywords | musicianship,composition,listening,analysis,harmony,melody,rhythm,counterpoint,form |
Contacts
Course organiser | Mr Neil Smith
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Dr Ellen Jeffrey
Tel: (0131 6)50 2430
Email: |
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