no class on Saturday, March 1st

just a reminder that theory classes are cancelled on the 1st - you still have regular rehearsals though!

reading Hebrew music

Per our discussion in CO Theory class today, here is the answer to the question regarding reading Hebrew music right-to-left or left-to-right.

http://choralnet.org/resources/viewResource.phtml?id=2164&category=12

So, it turns out that Hebrew music is still read left-to-right. However, the text under each individual note would still be read right-to-left when using the Hebrew language.

Non Chord Tones

We have limited our discussion of non-chord tones to passing tones and neighboring tones. There are quite a few more types of non-chord tones - if you are interested in learning more, check out this awesome website (make sure you have Flash installed):

http://www.musictheory.net/legacy/swf/id53.swf

Other websites with useful information on non-chord tones:

http://www.smu.edu/totw/nct.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonchord_tone

Composing

Come prepared to do some composing in the next few classes. (Don't worry - we'll still do sightsinging and work on our pentatonic scales.)

Also, I'm always happy to look over any "extra credit" composition exercises you'd like to bring to class. Feel free to challenge yourself in class exercises - you can write pieces as simple or as complex as you like, as long as they follow our class guidelines.

Pentatonic Scales

Did you practice your pentatonic scales this week? Sing them through in the car/on the train/on the bus on your way to class this Saturday!

Welcome back!

Welcome back to theory class! I hope you all had the chance to look through our new workbook. We will definitely be doing some composing this semester, so make sure you always bring a pencil to class.

At some point during the week (or at many points!) try to sing through the "do"-pentatonic scale, and all of the intervals from M2 to m7. Use a piano or your instrument to help you out - use C for "do" (your pentatonic scale will be C, D, E, G, A, C')