Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module the student will:
Demonstrate an awareness of the interaction between figuration and harmony and the basic principles of variation technique by composing a florid solo instrumental part to a given bass;
Be able to reduce an orchestral or choral score to a keyboard texture;
Show an awareness of two-part counterpoint in vocal and keyboard idioms;
Develop a basic awareness of more complex musical forms (ternary, rondo, sonata and fugue);
Understand the basic principles of chromatic harmony, and be able to identify chromatic chords in musical examples;
At the keyboard, demonstrate the ability to realize simple figured-bass textures, harmonise a short melodic fragment, and play common cadential formulas at the keyboard.
Indicative Module Content:
Chapters 17, 22–31, 34 and 38–39 of Burstein & Straus, Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony (New York & London: W. W. Norton, 2016).
Harmonic figuration and variation technique.
Keyboard reductions.
Two-part counterpoint.
Ternary, rondo and sonata forms.
Chromatic harmony (diatonic and applied diminished sevenths, Neopolitan and augmented sixths).
More advanced aural skills.
Reading figured bass and playing cadential formulas at the keyboard.