Music Theory
Instructor: Melissa Cox
Melissa Cox is currently a lecturer in music at Emory University in Atlanta, where she teaches both written theory and aural skills.
Previously she taught AP Music Theory for fifteen years at St. Gregory College Preparatory School in Tucson, Arizona. Her undergraduate and master’s degrees are in
music and musicology from Harvard University, and she earned a DMA in conducting from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Cox’s experience with the AP Music Theory curriculum and examination is extensive. In addition to teaching the class for many years, she has been a Reader for the
AP Music Theory examination for eight years. She is currently the College Board Advisor to the AP Music Theory Test Development Committee and a member of that
committee. As an endorsed College Board Consultant Dr. Cox has presented or co-presented workshops and institutes on the AP Music Theory curriculum and
examination throughout the United States. You can email Melissa at mcox5@emory.edu
2010 General Session Outline
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
To familiarize participants with the AP Music Theory course and examination, and to share effective pedagogical and classroom strategies for the course.
Monday
Morning Session –
Introduction.
Survey of participants’ workshop goals.
Workshop overview and review of packets.
Building an AP* Music Theory Program: rationale and recruitment, accessibility and prerequisites, the one-year vs. the two-year sequence
Course overview: the role of the AP® exam in course planning
The Course Audit: Preparing a Syllabus
Afternoon Session –
Practice exam: Items without aural stimulus
Basic skills/knowledge needed for competence.
Using the Teachers Guide as a benchmark
Effective pedagogy for basic skills
Tuesday
Morning Session –
Sight singing: Basic skills/knowledge needed for competence.
Sight singing methods
Integration of sight singing and aural skills
Practice exam: the sight singing portion and its grading
Melodic dictation: building connections between sight singing and melodic dictation
Computer lab session - using the internet effectively
Afternoon Session –
Practice exam: the melodic dictation portion and its grading
Common areas of student weakness
Listening and analysis: basic skills/knowledge needed for competence
Practice exam: listening/analysis multiple choice portion
Methods and strategies for building skills: using anthologies effectively; creating a spiral learning collection
Wednesday
Morning Session –
Written skills: Part-writing, figured bass realization, and basic skills/knowledge needed for competence.
Methods and strategies for building skills
Integration of written and aural skills
Practice exam: part writing and figured bass and their grading
Common areas of student weakness
Afternoon Session –
Discussion of textbooks and other materials
Using electronic and online resources effectively
Online resources, including the AP* Music Theory Web site
Other technology resources, including CD-ROM programs, theory fundamentals programs, and notation programs
Thursday
Morning Session –
Harmonic dictation: skills/knowledge needed for competence; relationship to melodic harmonization.
Practice exam: harmonic dictation and its grading
Common areas of student weakness
Melody harmonization: skills/knowledge needed for competence
Practice exam: harmonization of a melodic line and its grading.
Basic skills/knowledge needed for competence: harmonic/melodic patterns, cadence types, etc
Common areas of student weakness
Afternoon Session –
Overflow: topics not completed above; covering or expansion of topics as requested by participants.
Effective teaching methods demonstrations by participants
Miscellaneous: using contemporary, non-western and popular sources, using student composition as a tool, integrating aural, visual and written skills.
Evaluation
