Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

• Use an understanding of baroque era contrapuntal practices to provide a formal analysis of works by J.S. Bach and compose original works modeled on these practices.
• Identify stylistic differences between works of the baroque and classical eras including: texture, dynamics, phrase structure, harmony, and formal tonal relationships.
• Provide formal harmonic analysis of works from the 18th-century including the use of chromatic harmonic idioms and tonal modulation.
• Compose original examples modeled on 18th century musical practices.

Material will primarily be presented in a lecture/discussion format. Other educational methods will be used to enhance lectures. These will include guest presentations and performances, research papers, small group work, original composition assignments and concert attendance.

A large amount of student to teacher and student to student contact should be achieved throughout the term in order to encourage and accomplish successful student development. The application of concepts presented will be accomplished through the examination of musical works in a variety of musical genres. Composition assignments that focus on particular aspects of music will be regularly scheduled.  Whenever possible students should be encouraged to perform assignments and compositions in the classroom. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to learn and use music technology (MIDI, internet, CD, DVD) to supplement the regular course work.

The instructor should make the criteria for assigning a course grade and for evaluating student progress clear at the beginning of the term. The individual instructor will determine the methods of assessment. Assessment methods may include:

Qualitative examinations
Quantitative examinations
Homework assignments
Music presentations
Class participation
Composition projects
Small group work/problem solving
Concert reports

Eighteenth Century Contrapuntal Techniques
  Compositional devices
  Anatomy of J.S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions
  Anatomy of the baroque fugue
Eighteenth Century Classical Style
  The tonic/dominant axis
  Classical  vs. baroque aesthetics
  Alberti style accompaniment
  Variation technique
Chromatic Harmony
  Neapolitan sixth chord
  Augmented sixth chords
  Mode mixture/parallel relation 
  Chromatic third relation
  Eighteenth century chromatic modulation

• Provide analysis of J.S. Bach Invention including harmony and contrapuntal components and techniques.
• Compose examples using baroque era contrapuntal techniques. 
• Compose original excerpts that employ chromatic modulations. 
• Provide analysis of baroque fugue including harmony and fugal components. 
• Identify classical era variation techniques. 
• Identify and label examples of chromatic predominant chords. 
• Compose examples of chromatic predominant chords. 
• Identify examples of mode mixture and related tonalities. 
• Identify examples of chromatic third relations. 
• Compose examples using chromatic third relations. 
• Identify examples of eighteenth century chromatic modulations. 
• Provide complete harmonic analysis of eighteenth century works including all material covered in the course.