Music Language 2: Chromaticism & Beyond (MUSI20061)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Southbank) and On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Summer Term - On Campus
Semester 2 - On Campus
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Building on the knowledge acquired in Music Language 1, Music Language 2 continues with a survey of chromatic harmony, select thematic and contrapuntal devices, and form, up to the beginnings of the dissolution of functional harmony in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Students will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of voice leading and harmonic function through regular assignments which will include analysis, chord construction, the writing of two-part contrapuntal textures and four-part chromatic harmonic textures (Bach-style chorales).

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • identify, analyse, and discuss chromatic harmonic structures including harmonic progressions, functions, and modulations as well as the chromatic movement in individual voices;
  • identify and analyse contrapuntal and thematic structures;
  • identify, analyse, and discuss common formal structures;
  • compose material based on a variety of harmonic, thematic or contrapuntal devices;
  • develop a wide-ranging harmonic, thematic, and structural vocabulary which can be used in a variety of compositional idioms.

Generic skills

On completion of this subject, students should have developed:

  • analytical skills;
  • skills in evaluative thinking, and in the application of theoretical criteria to practical outcomes.

Last updated: 29 April 2025