This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Undergraduate Handbook 2021-2022 (archived)
Module MUSI2601: Advanced Musical Techniques
Department: Music
MUSI2601: Advanced Musical Techniques
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 2 | 20 | Available in 2021/2022 | Durham |
Pre-requisites
- Musical Techniques
Corequisites
- None
Excluded Combinations
- None.
Aims
- To build on and develop first-year work in Musical Techniques; to provide students with the opportunity to gain a more advanced understanding of the harmonic vocabulary, styles and compositional techniques employed by a variety of key historical figures working between c.1730-1920, as well as to undertake more complex and sophisticated tasks.
Content
- The topics covered may include (but will not necessarily be restricted to) the following: (a) eighteenth-century harmonic counterpoint (including invertible counterpoint); (b) advanced chromatic harmony; (c) realisation of song accompaniments for keyboard in a variety of nineteenth-century idioms; (from Schubert to Chaminade; (d) composition of short keyboard pieces or piano pieces such as mazurkas or ragtime compositions.
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Students will acquire a more advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, as well as the ways in which composers employed these resources during the historical period specified. A particular focus will be placed on the systematic exploration of the resources of chromatic harmony.
Subject-specific Skills
- Students will develop a more advanced understanding of musical styles and an insight into the craft of composition during the historical period in question.
Key Skills
- Students will acquire a more sophisticated competence in advanced techniques employed by composers during this historical period, gaining practical experience through regular assignments in pastiche composition.
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- The teaching is delivered through weekly lectures and regular tutorials/seminars. Students will be asked to submit regular formative exercises. The summative assessment will take the form of a portfolio of exercises, e.g. harmonisation of a given melody line, or completion of a composition on a given opening.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 20 | Weekly during terms 1 and 2 | 90 minutes | 30 | |
| Tutorials/seminars | 8 | During terms 1 and 2 | 30 minutes | 4 | |
| Reading and Preparation | 166 | ||||
| TOTAL | 200 |
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | 100% | A portfolio of exercises | 100% | Yes |
Formative Assessment
Regular formative exercises designed to help students to improve their compositional skills step by step.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.