Summer 2009

MUS 160: Fundamentals of Music

Description of Course This is a course in the fundamental skills of reading music, writing music, and listening to music. Students will participate in online multimedia activities to increase their understanding and enjoyment of music. Instructor: Dr. Mario Ajero Office: FA 309 (Fine Arts Building) Office Hours: Email for an appointment Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Online Course Delivery There are no traditional in-class meetings for this course. I will present lectures that are available online in an MPEG-4 audio or video format. Students are required to have regular access to a computer with high-speed broadband Internet capabilities. Students should also access the myCourses class site at http://mycourses.sfasu.edu on a regular basis to keep up-to-date with class assignments and updates. Quizzes and assignments will also be delivered online to assess the students’ understanding of musical material. Required Software To ensure minimal errors when you access online material, you should use a computer running either the latest version of Windows XP or Mac OS X. Recommended web browsers are the latest versions of Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Safari. If you find difficulty in accessing online materials, make sure you have the following free programs and plugins installed: Adobe Flash Plugin, iTunes, Quicktime, Sibelius Scorch Links to where you can download these programs are in the “Links” section of the mycourses.sfasu.edu course site. Podcasts Course lectures will be podcasted so that students can listen to and/or view lectures at a time and place that is most convenient. If you are unfamiliar with podcasts, Wikipedia provides a pretty thorough explanation of podcasts at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting An iPod is NOT required for students to consume the podcasts. However, the iTunes application is highly recommended since lectures will be in an enhanced audio podcast format (.m4a), which means graphics and pictures will be presented in the iTunes artwork window in sync with the audio files. The mariOUniversity podcast website/blog is located at: http:/mariouniversity.blogspot.com If you have iTunes already installed, you can access the podcast on the iTunes Store directly at: http://tinyurl.com/5pcre5 There you can download individual episodes or click on the Subscribe button so that new episodes are downloaded automatically as soon as they are published by me. And it’s all FREE!

Fundamentals of Music - Course Syllabus for Summer 2009

1

Summer 2009

Fundamentals of Music

Required Textbook Study Outline and Workbook in the Fundamentals of Music: 11th edition by Frank Hill, Roland Searight, Dorothy Hendrickson, and Steven Estrella

Topics Covered: Chapter 1 - Staves, Pitches, Clefs, and Keyboards Chapter 2 - Notes, Scales, and Key Signatures Chapter 3 - More Scales and Key Signatures Chapter 4 - Rhythm Notation Chapter 5 - Meter Chapter 6 - Reading Rhythm Chapter 7 - Intervals Chapter 8 - Chords Chapter 9 - Melody and Harmony Chapter 10 - Composition and Form Due Dates (subject to change): June 15 5:00 p.m. Chapter 1-3 Online Learning Center Activities June 17 5:00 p.m. Online Quizzes 1.1, 2.1, 3.1 June 22 5:00 p.m. Chapter 4-6 Online Learning Center Activities June 25 5:00 p.m. Online Quizzes 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 July 7 5:00 p.m. Chapter 7-10 Online Learning Center Activities July 9 5:00 p.m. Online Quizzes 7.1, 8.1, 9.1, 10.1

Grade evaluation: 70% 30%

Online Learning Center Activities (2% for each activity) Online Quizzes (3% for each quiz)

Fundamentals of Music - Course Syllabus for Summer 2009

2