Ears and Dots: Aural and Theory For The Modern World

This course immerses students in aural and notated concepts and techniques in music. It centres on a practical engagement with the parameters of sound as articulated by twentieth century composer John Cage, being frequency (pitch), amplitude (volume), timbre (tone) and duration (rhythm). From Cage as a starting point students then look backwards to Bach and concepts and techniques of tonal harmony, and they look forwards to producer Rick Rubin and his recordings of contemporary music (Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Lady Gaga) with specific reference to the modern producer’s hearing of and shaping of the parameters of sound and music in the recording studio. Students will be engaged in both aural performance (group singing) and aural analysis (of played excerpts and of recordings), hearing presentations about key artists and their work (composers, theorists, performers, producers), critiquing recordings, and they will be engaged in the essentials of notating rhythms, scales, chords, chord progression and standard voicings in tonal environments across a wide variety of styles.