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MUS20650

Academic Year 2024/2025

Music Theory 2 (MUS20650)

Subject:
Music
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Music
Level:
2 (Intermediate)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Conor Power
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module builds on the skills learned in Music Theory 1, focusing on theoretical concepts applicable to diverse repertoires, including twentieth- and twenty-first-century popular music. Students’ harmonic vocabulary is increased by further examination of the principles of tonality, modulation, and dissonance, and the module provides a grounding in analysis of thematic syntax, texture, and form. The module not only expands students’ music literacy, but provides a pathway to further extensive music theory and analysis as explored in Music Theory 3 in the spring. This module is supported by small-group tutorials which reinforce the students’ learning through analytical and theoretical exercises, and by Practical Musicianship classes, which focus on aural skills and basic keyboard harmony.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module students should be able to:
- demonstrate a foundational knowledge of the interaction between harmony and melody, and the processes that underpin common-practice tonal composition.
- recognise and identify melodic and harmonic formulae.
- read an alternative form of notated music, such as a lead sheet
- engage critically with form
- play simple chord progressions (using primary and secondary triads) on the keyboard, and harmonise a simple melody at sight.

Indicative Module Content:

Parts 3, 4, and 5 of Burstein & Straus, Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony (New York & London: W.W. Norton, 2020).

Parts 2, 3, and 4 of Aldwell, Schachter & Cadwallader, Harmony and Voice Leading (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2019).

Parts 1 and 2 of Caplin, Classical Form: A theory of formal functions for the instrumental music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

Advanced harmony
Modulations
Lead sheets
Analysis and interpretation
Texture
Form
Basic harmonic progressions and melodic harmonisation at the keyboard


Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

22
Tutorial

11
Practical

6
Specified Learning Activities

24
Autonomous Student Learning

37
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
In-person lectures
Face-to-face tutorials
Face-to-face practicals
Individual listening and practice
Task-based learning

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

Students attempting this module must have completed MUS10190, Music Theory 1, or equivalent.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
MUS20430 - Harmony & Keyboard Harmony


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Take Home Exercise Week 5 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
20
 No
Individual Project: Self-Directed Presentation (in Tutorials) - a short (5 minute) presentation on a song of your choice. Week 9 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
20
 No
Practical Skills Assessment: Keyboard Assessment (individual, with tutor) Week 10, Week 11 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
20
 No
Exam (In-person): Final Exam (closed-book) on theory components End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
40
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Burstein & Straus, Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony (New York and London: W.W. Norton, 2020).
Aldwell, Schachter and Cadwallader, Harmony and Voice Leading (Boston, MA: Cengage, 2019).
Caplin, Classical Form: A theory of formal functions for the instrumental music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven (Oxford and New York: OUP, 1998).

Name Role
Mr Connor Wilcox Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Fiona Baldwin Tutor
Tegan Sutherland Tutor

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 09:00 - 10:50
Autumn Tutorial Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 13:00 - 13:50
Autumn Tutorial Offering 2 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 11:00 - 11:50
Autumn Tutorial Offering 4 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Autumn Laboratory Offering 1 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 13:00 - 13:30
Autumn Laboratory Offering 2 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 11:00 - 11:30
Autumn Laboratory Offering 3 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 12:00 - 12:30
Autumn Practical Offering 4 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 13:00 - 13:50
Autumn Laboratory Offering 5 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 12:00 - 12:30
Autumn Laboratory Offering 6 Week(s) - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 11:00 - 11:30
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