Non-tonal approaches to composition including atonal techniques and synthetic sonorities are introduced. Students will apply these concepts in their original composition for appropriate ensembles including brass quintet, woodwind quintet, string quartet and jazz ensembles. I A study of European music styles and the principal composers of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Twentieth Century periods. Special attention is paid to forms, compositional techniques, related arts and aesthetic ideas of the times. A close study of the artists who have developed various manifestations of jazz, blues, and rock and roll.
Emphasis is placed on the origins, development, and characteristics of the styles.
MUS333 or permission of instructor. Individual teachers will provide sequencing of these studies so that all students will reach a requisite level of ability prior to enrollment in MUS448. Must be taken concurrently with MUS 100. Limited to music majors. More complex arrangements are performed, and there is a concentration on more advanced improvisation concepts such as altered harmonies and their corresponding scale forms, repertoire containing rapidly modulating chord progressions, and modal harmony and voicing.