Announcements
June 7, 2008
Hi class! Perhaps this will be my last email to you!
Tuesday is our final exam, from 11:30 to 2:30.
At 11:30 we will start the written theory portion of the exam. Here is what you should study:
* Go over all your quizzes from this quarter
* Full harmonic analyses, including key, non chord tones, modulations, scale degrees (Roman numeral analysis), and cadences.
* Secondary dominants
* Modes
* Cadence construction (following voice leading rules)
*** Be prepared to write your own definition of tonality. ***
This is a GUIDE of what you should study. Of course if you have areas of confusion not listed above you need to go over them.
Then, on to the keyboard and solfege. As I mentioned earlier, keyboardists should be able to comfortably play perfect authentic cadences in keys up to (and including) four accidentals in major and minor. Everyone else should practice up to two.
For solfege, study section 3, examples #234-252.
Attached is the schedule for solfege and keyboard. There will be a time cut-off of about an hour for the theory portion (I recommend you get enough sleep and eat breakfast so you can focus!), so keep that in mind. The schedule is randomized and approximate. If you have an exam at 3:00, let me know and you will be put at the top of the list. Otherwise, be prepared for the exam time to run a little late.
Best of luck and I'll see you on Tuesday!
Julie
May 30, 2008
Hello!
1) Midterm II grades have been posted. We'll go over it Monday morning.
2) There will be a quiz on Monday. It's the last one!!! It will most likely be on modulations.
3) The things covered in class next week will wrap up the entire year. Professor Beken will revisit important concepts, and wants you to think critically about what we have covered by providing various definitions of the things you have learned. These definitions will be on the final exam.
4) Next Wednesday is the last day in the lab. Keyboard will be on the final. Those new to the piano should ace perfect authentic cadences up to two accidentals in major and minor; keyboardists should know up to four.
5) Final projects are due next Thursday June 5 in class. If you have questions, ask. Your transcriptions should be either one minute of music or one sheet of Finale music, whichever comes first. The most important part of this project is the process, and the decisions you make when transcribing. Therefore,
***Along with your transcription, you must provide at least a paragraph telling about your experience with transcribing your music. Here you will discuss the problems and issues you faced, and tell why you made the decisions you did. You also need to include music along with your transcription, or for instance if you got it from online listening for another class, provide the link to hear it. ***
6) The final exam is Tuesday June 10 at 11:30.
One week of class left!
Julie
May 22, 2008
Hi,
Your solfege and keyboard grades are posted. The theory portion won't be graded as fast as it usually is--hopefully you will have them by the end of next week.
Don't forget that Monday is a holiday! You can come to class, but I certainly won't be there.
Remember that Wednesdays are usually spent in the lab. If you are not satisfied with your keyboard grade, you should come and practice on Wednesdays, even if you are not required. Also on Wednesdays you can work on your final projects (bring music on a CD or ipod), which I can help you with, or you can practice your ear training in general.
Office hours are tomorrow, I may be 10 minutes late.
Have a great weekend,
Julie
May 15, 2008
Hello,
1) Looks like I mistakingly posed on the website that the due date for the homework is not actually today, but next Thursday the 22, so we will honor that date. I apologize for the confusion. If you handed it in today, the good news is that you're done and can study for...
2) ...The second midterm! Which is next week on Wednesday and Thursday May 21 and 22. I will make a schedule soon.
2a) Yes, you need to have your keyboard cadence skills polished for the midterm, in ADDITION to solfege. Get those leading tones going!!
3) Yes, there is a quiz on Monday, on things like V-vi (V-VI) cadences and modulations in general.
4) Remember that my office hours are Friday 1-3 if you need extra practice.
Julie
May 11, 2008
Quick note--
This isn't an official homework assignment, but if you want more practice working with modulations, finish the worksheet you got in class on Tuesday and we'll go over it before the quiz tomorrow.
-Julie
May 9, 2008
Hi everyone,
Just a few things:
1) Practice your keyboard skills. You should be able to play perfect authentic cadences in just about any key. The voicing should be one pitch in the left hand (the root, as you know) and three in the right. There are two worksheets on our website to walk you through the process. http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/courses/spring/2008/10c/readings.htm We have one more Wednesday in the lab before the midterm.
2) Quiz on Monday. It will be on modulations, mainly.
3) Homework due next Thursday.
4) Midterm #2 is week 8.
-Julie
May 2, 2008
Hello ladies and gentlemen,
1) Keyboard skills will be important from here on out. The final exam will include a keyboard section, and possibly the second midterm, too. You will need to do things like cadences, properly voiced, in different keys.
a) Wednesdays will therefore focus on Finale and keyboard practice in the lab. If you have these two things down, you could practice your ear training in Practica Musica or something else productive (solfege even). I will help people individually with keyboarding, so plan ahead for Wednesdays as a productive way to independently work on your own weaknesses.
2) Homework #4: This is a sort of research project, but with music theory. You are to go the library and look for books and possibly websites to find different techniques for writing chord symbols. For instance, many of your are aware how some jazz books use different symbols--this would be one technique. The assignment is therefore to:
Write all the types of chords we have studied (i.e. diminished triad, major seventh...), in at least four different ways of writing chord symbols. You must cite where you found each technique.
Try to find some rare or odd techniques if you can! They should be somewhat established techniques though. Due in two weeks, on Thursday May 22.
3) Final Project: Everyone will do a transcription project of their choice! This will be difficult but fun, so let's get started on it now. This weekend, think of a kind of music you are interested in studying, and that you would like to transcribe. Don't make life hard for yourself by choosing something difficult. We will talk about the project and provide more details on Monday, but it will be to transcribe at least one minute or one page of music, notated in western notation, in Finale. Musical selection and length need to be approved by Julie or Professor Beken. Feel free to bring music in on Monday, and we will discuss how you can plan your "attack."
Best,
Julie
April 27, 2008
There is no quiz tomorrow, Monday April 28. We will review the last quiz, the voice leading rules for cadences, and practice solfege.
Wednesday and Thursday are reserved for Midterm 1.
Julie
April 24, 2008
Hi class,
1) Attendance has been updated today.
2) Homework is up, too.
3) Quiz 2 grades are up.
**I graded very easy on the quizzes, basically taking off for wrong chords or cadences as whole concepts. One very important thing to remember when moving from one chord to the next is to retain your COMMON TONES. Things generally fall into place when you do this. The idea is to move the voices as little as possible, especially soprano, tenor, and alto. We'll review the rules on Monday.
4) Midterm 1 is next week! Wow!
As per usual, it will take place over Wednesday and Thursday (April 30 and May 1). Theory portion is on Thursday. Solfege is Wednesday and Thursday. Please see attached schedule [emailed] to know when you are scheduled. Since we only have 25 students, we have a little bit more breathing room.
Good luck!
Best,
Julie
April 21, 2008
Julie's office hours this week are by appointment on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday; or Thursday morning.
April 20, 2008
Hi guys,
The quiz tomorrow will be on cadences. We will review cadences at 9:00 before the quiz.
Julie
April 15, 2008
Hi folks,
When we think about OPEN VERSUS CLOSED positions of chords written in four voices, we are referring to the distance between the TENOR AND SOPRANO. Open position will be more than an octave between tenor and soprano, and closed will have less than an octave between tenor and soprano. Remember that tenor and soprano are not next to each other.
Don't confuse this idea with the general rules we learned before, which is that YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE MORE THAN AN OCTAVE BETWEEN SOPRANO AND ALTO OR BETWEEN TENOR AND ALTO. Basicially, it's just the idea that there shouldn't be a huge distance between voices that are normally somewhat close together. It's OK to have more than an octave between bass and tenor, though--they can handle it and it sounds fine.
Tomorrow we meet in the lab downstairs. You are welcome to use the time on Finale if you are not required to come.
Your homework project for Professor Beken is due Thursday.
Those of you who are responsible for the little homework on cadences (the worksheet)--just try to find the authentic cadences for tomorrow. I'll extend the due date until after we cover plagal and deceptive and what not.
Happy chord resolving,
Julie
April 13, 2008
Office hours this week are Monday or Tuesday by appointment. I am leaving for the weekend, on Wednesday afternoon.
Julie
April 12, 2008
Hey there,
The homework #3 should be in all keys up to one accidental, BOTH MAJOR AND MINOR. I misunderstood. So that's 6 keys.
Julie
April 11, 2008
Your midterms are tentatively scheduled for weeks 5 and 8 this quarter. They will be as before, with written exam on Wednesday and solfege on Wednesday and Thursday.
Homework #3: Due Thursday April 17.
A printout of a finale file of the following: Compose two versions of authentic cadences (one in open position and one in closed position) in all keys up to one accidental (C, F, G). Without worrying too much about PAC versus IAC, etc, just keep the chords in root position. Avoid parallel fifths and octaves. Use 4/4 time and whole notes.
We will spend most of our Wednesdays in the lab from now on. Therefore, you can use class time to put this in Finale. I would recommend you have it written out by hand this weekend, however.
There will be no quiz next week. Monday we will instead MEET IN THE CHORAL ROOM (1344?) for Mike Seeger's lecture. Wednesday, MEET IN THE LAB.
Julie
April 9, 2008
Hi class,
I started entering your data into gradebook, so you can see your progress. Your quiz 1 grades are up.
Also note that under attendance, I left little notes for everyone. This is to give you an idea of how many classes you've missed thus far. B stands for Beken, and J stands for Julie. Thus, if you see B0 J1, that means you missed one of Julie's classes. If there is no J, that means you got an A- or above last quarter and don't need to come to Julie's sections.
Attendance has been really bad so far, which is weird because we're only in week two. What's written is actually ignoring all the absences from Wednesday 4/2, in case you didn't know you had to be there. Attendance is huge folks, as you know--not only do absences slow down everyone's progress, but it hurts your grade significantly.
Please understand that this information won't always be updated right away--it's just there as extra reference.
Remember that Monday April 14 is a required day for all, we are going to Mike Seeger's lecture.
My office hours are changing to 1-3 on Fridays (not 2-4).
See you!
Julie
April 4, 2008
Hello,
So, my office hours will be Fridays 2-4. If anything changes I will let you know.
I forgot to mention--Tana suggested that you as a class should have a way of communicating amongst yourselves so you can form study groups and the like. I see three possible ways of doing this:
1. Email list. I would ask you to send an email to Tana and she can put together an email list.
2. Release your profile information in the "My Classmates" function of MyUCLA. You can then see everyone's contact info.
3. Form a closed group on Facebook. Then you can easily let each other know about upcoming events, etc.
If you have an opinion on this, let me know, and we will decide very quickly Monday morning before the quiz.
I will never post students' full names, contact info, or ID numbers on the website, because that goes against privacy laws.
Remember that I also put important announcements up on our website http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/courses/spring/2008/10c/ so that you never have a reason not to receive important announcements!
Julie
April 2, 2008
Hi everyone!
I think most people are registered now.
Please make sure to finish and bring your homework tomorrow. The homework is the handout Professor Beken gave you with the musical selections. You are to identify the mode of each. After tomorrow, it will be considered late.
Also, mark your calendar for April 14. It is a Monday. During class time, we will go to the lecture given by Mike Seeger. This is a special event, so professor Beken would like EVERYONE to attend.
Your first quiz will be on Monday.
***You are exempt from attending regular Monday and Wednesday sessions IF YOU RECEIVED AN A- or HIGHER LAST QUARTER. If you received less than an A-, you need to attend every class day.***
Professor Beken is giving a talk at Yale tomorrow, so I will see you then!
Julie