AP+Theory+Figured+Bass+Lesson

This lesson is for the AP Music Theory class here at the high school. We've been working on reviewing and relearning key concepts to figured bass and part-writing. The lesson involved creation of the bass and other voices by the students. The lesson was hard for them but by the end they were pleased with what they had learned.

Teacher Name: Jamie Tucker

Subject/Grade: AP Music Theory

Concepts/Skills/Values: Part-writing, counterpoint, and figured bass

National Standards (check all that apply): X 1. Sing X 2. Play 3. Improvise X 4. Compose/Arr. X 5. Read/Notate

X 6. Listen X 7. Evaluate 8. Related Arts 9. History/Culture

Behavioral Learning Objectives: Provided with a key and 4 measures, students will be able to create a figured bass as well as compose a melody and inner voices to accompany the figured bass. The students will also perform the melody created on the piano in order to evaluate the quality of the composition

Materials: Pre-determined key and measure amount Theory Book: The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis by Jane Clendinning and Elizabeth Marvin

Sequence of Activities and Assessment:

1. Students are given the key and measure amount for their composition to be composed as a class -Key-Bb Major -Amount of Measures-4; last measure is a whole note. 2. Students are given the first and last note in the bass voice -Bb in the bass clef -First note duration is a quarter note 3. Students will come up with roman numeral analysis for the composition -Chords are limited to I, ii, IV, V(V7), vii* 4. Students are to come up with figured bass -The figured bass must have at least one 1st inversion triad, one dominant seventh, and one 1st inversion seventh -Note values are to be quarter notes and half notes. 5. Students then compose the melody -Melody is limited to one highest note and one lowest note. -Melody can't have any leaps larger than a fourth 6. Students will then play the melody to decide what notes to change or keep. 7. Students then fill in the remaining notes of the chords -Students must follow all part-writing rules 8. Students will each choose a voice to play on the piano and perform the composition. The students will make any last changes before checking for errors.

Assessment: Once the composition is completed the students, using the part-writing checklist provided in class, students will check for any errors they've committed. They will then analyze and fix any errors committed. ***I also checked for errors on the composition.***

The students loved this lesson because they got to control everything about the composition and they've been really wanting to apply what they've been learning.

//Lesson looks great, and students get a good deal of creative freedom, though you did a good job of controlling parameters that coerce them into demonstrating they understand basic partwriting. I'm assuming you had them use a homorhythmic texture with the upper voices in regards to the bass, which whether you did or not is fine, it's just one more parameter one can set. I like you specifically break down the restrictions in regards to chords, rhythm, etc., so you could reuse the basic lesson idea just switching parameters as the students become more advanced to expand their abilities. - Dave S.//