General Knowledge Workshops: Music Fundamentals

1 day, 9:15 am - 4:00 pm

This workshop explores the big picture of music: how the notes fit together into scales and keys, how harmony affects everything we hear and feel in music, and how the structures of music guide what we hear and how we perform.
For high school students, aged 12 to 18.

Course Outline

Session 1: Scales, Keys and Modulations

Discussion: what are scales for?
How we hear music
What is a scale?
The Major Scale
The Cycle of Fifths
The Minor Scale: three types
Changing Key (Modulations)
How to spot modulations

Session 2: Modes and other scales

Where do our notes come from?
The origins of western music
The Medieval Modes
Other types of scales
Equal Temperament

Session 3: Large Musical Forms

Discussion: What is structure for?
Movements
The Sonata
The Symphony
The Concerto
The Suite
The Overture
Summing up

Session 4: Forms Within Forms

Through-composed
Theme and Variations
Fugue
Binary
Ternary
Song form/32 bar form/A-A-B-A form
Minuet and Trio form, and Scherzo
Rondo
First Movement or Sonata Form
Sonata Rondo form
Analysing forms
Form in performance
Summing up

This workshop can be split into two 3-hour workshops, Key, Tonality, Modes & Modulations and Form and Structure

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General information about the workshops

What people say

“I learnt more about the modes, how keys are related to each other, the point of having keys and scales”

“I liked how music and science is interrelated, and it was interesting about the history and culture behind modes and keys. This session consolidated my knowledge of keys, tones, etc.”

“I think that this session was very informative and gave me a deeper understanding and knowledge of the ‘rules and guidelines’ or the simple stuff that composers base their works on”

“It gave me a clearer knowledge of the different forms and structures which I can relate to different pieces of music”