Unit I: Strict voice-leading (two parts)

Goals

The primary goal for this unit is to review and solidify the principles of good voice-leading in a strict style (two-voice species counterpoint), which will serve as the basis for further compositional work later in the semester. Though the specific rules of strict voice-leading are important, the underlying principles of good voice-leading are the most important aspect of this unit.

The secondary goal for this unit is to introduce you to some of the tools and methods we will employ in this course so that you will be comfortable with them before we address wholly new material. Chief among these are active work in class, collaboration, self-evaluation, criterion-referenced assessment, and several technological tools.

Classwork and unit project

This unit will address strict counterpoint in two voices, covering the first four species. For each species, we will follow the same pattern:

Monday (in class): analytical inquiry (using Piazza)
Tuesday (due online): read/watch assigned resource and take a short, online quiz
Wednesday (in class): resource and quiz discussion (using Learning Catalytics), compositional practice
Thursday (due online): submit self-evaluation
Ongoing (out of class): assemble final portfolio

(First species’s schedule will be different, due to the Labor Day holiday, but the pattern will be the same.)

The unit will center around the creation of a final portfolio, due at the end of the unit. This portfolio will be a group project. You will choose your own work groups of 2–4 students and submit a single portfolio. That portfolio should include the following exercises for each species (total of 16 exercises):

Counterpoint above the cantus firmus in major
Counterpoint above the cantus firmus in minor
Counterpoint below the cantus firmus in major
Counterpoint below the cantus firmus in minor

This portfolio should be submitted electronically (Google Drive, DropBox, or email), using music notation software.

Assessment

Unit I will address the following concepts and skills provided on the syllabus: strict voice-leading (two-part), professionalism, and liberal education values. (The latter two will continue on through the rest of the semester.)

Students will be assessed individually, according to each student’s self-evaluation. In that self-evaluation, you should make the case, citing evidence from class activity, that you have mastered the material for each concept/skill or are on the way to doing so by the deadline. For the strict voice-leading (two-part) conceptual category, you should cite evidence from your contributions to the group portfolio, your activities in class, and your out-of-class activities (such as online quizzes, Piazza discussions, etc.). Be sure to keep records of anything not automatically recorded (in other words, things done on paper or in-person, rather than on Piazza, Learning Catalytics, or Google Drive). If you have any questions about this process, please consult me early.

Keep in mind that though mastery of the musical material covered in Unit I will be essential to progressing through the remainder of the semester, very little of the final grade will be determined at the end of Unit I. Though there is very little wiggle room musically, there will be plenty of wiggle room in terms of final grades after the first unit is over.