This course immerses students in aural and notated concepts and techniques in music. It centres on a practical engagement with the parameters of sound as defined by twentieth century composer John Cage being frequency (pitch), amplitude (volume), timbre (tone) and duration (rhythm). From Cage as a starting point students then look backwards to Bach and concepts and techniques of tonal harmony, and they look forwards to producer Rick Rubin and his recordings of contemporary music (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Lady Gaga) with specific reference to the modern producer’s hearing of and shaping of the parameters of sound and music in the recording studio. Students will be engaged in both aural performance (group singing) and aural analysis (of played excerpts and of recordings), hearing presentations about key artists and their work (composers, theorists, performers, producers), critiquing recordings, and they will be engaged in the essentials of notating rhythms, scales, chords, chord progression and standard voicings in tonal environments across a wide variety of styles.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- demonstrate audiation by accurately singing tonal melodies and simple harmonies in group settings, performing both short excerpts and complete arranged pieces from memory;
- interpret and notate tonal melodies, chords, and standard chord progressions using conventional notation or digital audio workstation (DAW) software, applying appropriate voicing conventions; and
- explain how pitch (frequency), volume (amplitude), tone quality (timbre), and rhythm (duration) contribute to expressive and structural features in recorded music.
Other Information
DAW and popular styles specialisations are accommodated within this course and lecturer will facilitate negotiated adaptations with any relevant students. Eg; a popular music specialist may create a portfolio of progressions from the main style with which they are engaged, a Celtic folk music specialist similarly, a film music DAW based composer similarly.
Indicative Assessment
- Group Performance (7-10 minutes) (35) [LO 1,2]
- Notation Portfolio (equivalent to 1,800 words) (30) [LO 2,3]
- Aural Analysis Presentation or Essay (10 minutes or 1,200 words) (35) [LO 2,3]
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks; and
b) 94 hours of independent studio practice and contextual research (reading and writing).
Prescribed Texts
Provided via Canvas.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 12
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
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