Placement

Student placement in musicianship courses is determined by age, grade level, and faculty recommendation. Placement exams for older students will help to determine the appropriate levels for Musicianship and Solfege courses.

Attendance

Regular attendance is essential to ensure the best possible musical development for each student. Numerous absences may necessitate repeating the course and missed work is always the responsibility of the student. Students or parents should notify the teacher in advance if it is known that they will be absent. Older students, in particular, should see the teacher before the next class begins if they have been absent.

At the successful completion of each level of Musicianship, I, II, III and IV, students will be awarded certificates.

Composition

Students who have completed Musicianship II may elect to study composition in private tutorial.

Faculty

Jayne McDonald, Chair
Emily Paladin
Jason Steele

Musicianship I (Grades 3 and 4)

This is an integrated theory and solfege course for third and fourth grade students. Coursework explores the elements of music through a variety of activities such as singing, playing, reading, and listening over a period of two years. Students will learn the vocabulary of sound and notation; develop music reading skills; how to read dynamic, articulation, and tempo markings; and how to recognize and perform melodic and rhythmic patterns using solfege and rhythm syllables. Students will also develop interval recognition through listening and standard pitch notation. Sol-Fa syllables will be introduced, simple melodies will be sung and analyzed and students will take short rhythmic dictation. This course is taken along with Elementary Eurhythmics.

Musicianship II (Grades 5 and 6)

Musicianship II is also a two-year integrated theory and solfege course for fifth and sixth grade music students in which the students further develop the skills gained in Eurhythmics and Musicianship I. Concepts explored include a variety of rhythmic patterns in binary and ternary meters; ties, dotted notes and syncopation; solfege syllables and chromatics; interval recognition through singing and notation; major and minor key signatures; all symbols used in music notation; and, reading music in treble and bass clefs. This course will also help students to further develop aural and oral skills, sing increasingly difficult melodies with “moveable Do,” larger melodic intervals, and major and minor triads. Finally, students will work with both rhythmic and melodic dictation. This course is taken along with Intermediate Eurhythmics.

Musicianship III (Grades 7-8)

Musicianship III is the third course in the integrated theory and solfege sequence. It is designed for seventh and eighth grade music students. Increasingly difficult theory and solfege concepts are the foundation for this two-year course. Concepts include: simple/compound meters; rhythms in augmentation and diminution; major and minor scales and modes; major, minor, augmented and diminished triads, alto clef reading/writing and basic form analysis within classical music. Students will develop aural skills through rhythmic and melodic dictation as well as interval and triad dictation.

Pre-requisites: Eurhythmics, Musicianship I and/or II or a placement exam.

Musicianship IV – Harmony I (Grades 9-12)

Musicianship IV is the fourth level of the integrated theory and solfege courses. This course explores advanced concepts of music theory, harmony and solfege and uses these concepts through composition and analysis. Students will explore music history, harmonic analysis, modes, and compositional rules, techniques and styles. Students will be required to take increasingly difficult rhythmic and melodic dictation, sing specific musical examples using solfege syllables in moveable Do, and write down a chain of harmonic intervals using all four types of triads. A variety of musical styles will be examined as part of the process, of applying music theory and solfege to the student’s musical development.

Pre-requisites: Musicianship or General Musicianship, or placement exam.

General Musicianship

A two-year course for new middle school and high school students. This course will introduce students to eurhythmics, theory and solfege. Concepts explored include a variety of rhythmic patterns in binary and ternary meters; ties, dots and syncopation; solfege syllables and chromatics; interval recognition through singing and notation; major and minor key signatures; all symbols used in music notation; triad recognition and notation; and reading music in treble, alto and bass clefs. Students will also develop interval recognition through listening and standard pitch notation. Students will also be introduced to Sol-Fa syllables, sing simple melodies and take rhythmic and melodic dictation.

Fundamentals I

This is a new offering for the 2012-13 season. A description will be posted shortly.

Fundamentals II

This is a new offering for the 2012-13 season. A description will be posted shortly.

Theory I

This is a new offering for the 2012-13 season. A description will be posted shortly.

History

This is a new offering for the 2012-13 season. A description will be posted shortly.

College Prep Theory for High School Students

Students preparing for auditions for entrance to a university music department or conservatory may schedule private tutoring in preparation for entrance exams.

Computer Laboratory

To supplement the work in the studio and classes, students may schedule a weekly half-hour to use the software in the computer lab. Opportunities include: ear training drill, rhythm practice, and sight reading skills. All students under the age of nine must be accompanied by a parent in the computer lab.

Dalcroze Eurhythmics

The goals in a Eurhythmics class are threefold: to become a better listener, reader and performer of music. Through listening and movement activities, the student learns to perceive and to discriminate among the rhythmic and structural elements of music: tempo, dynamics, articulation, pitch, pulse, meter, rhythmic and melodic patterns, phrasing and simple form. The student develops a kinesthetic understanding of those elements and works in movement to expand and to elaborate his understanding of those elements. Eurhythmics classes include: movement, solfege and improvisation.

Five levels of Dalcroze Eurhythmics are offered at City Music Center. Courses are designed in a two-year cycle. The courses are listed in the following section.

Preschool (Ages 3 and 4)

This course introduces the pre-school child to the basic elements of music through singing and movement.

Kindergarten (Age 5 before January 1 and current Kindergarten)

Work at this level is designed to bring the building blocks of music to the student through rhythmic movement, singing, listening and creating.

Primary (Grades 1 and 2)

Students will continue to explore the elements of music through rhythmic movement, ear training with syllables, rhythmic and melodic sight-reading, listening and creating.

Elementary (Grades 3 and 4)

Designed to challenge the student to a more thorough understanding of the elements of music: binary rhythm patterns, conducting patterns, syncopation, major scale patterns and intervals, ostinato, simple form, solfege and expressive elements of music. This course is taken along with Musicianship I.

Intermediate (Grades 5 and 6)

Students take a deeper look at the elements of music. Music is analyzed in detail through movement, solfege and improvisation. Advanced musical concepts are presented and the students are challenged to create rhythmic movement, which describes both the musical concepts and analysis. This course is taken along with Musicianship II.