undamentals Lecture (topic: nonharmonic tones) (NB lass activities are in old, keyords in italics) I Exposure to concept Distriute handout pg 1 Have the class sing the melody of the first 6 ars of "My ountry, 'Tis of Thee" hile accompanying the class on the piano Begin a revie of triads y asking students to lael the triads of the first four chords of the piece: maor, D minor, G minor (not B maor!), and then maor Ask students hat lael they ould put on the second chord of ar to ('tis O thee), especially if they "had" to lael it A student ould possily remark that the chord might e D minor seventh, ith the seventh in the ass and missing the fifth (ithout this response, I ould posit that reading myself) Ask students to lael the third triad in the second measure ('tis of THEE); oviously maor Ask students if the second chord in m 2 sounds like a change to a different harmony (ie a different triad) like the changes of harmony in m 1 or if the second measure doesn't ust sound like one ig measure of maor Ask if anyone has any ideas aout hat the pitches {d} and {f} are doing in m 2 Students should easily see that {d} and {f} are simply transitioning from to notes in the maor triad to to other notes in the maor triad; {d} and {f} are thus a little ridge eteen chord tones of the maor harmony Explain that pitches {d} and {f}, since they do not elong to the maor harmony ut exist ithin a measure that is oviously maor, are therefore nonharmonic tones II Basic characteristics of nonharmonic tones Point out that, at the simplest level, the nonharmonic tones in m 2 came from a place of consonance ( maor) and move to another place of consonance (again, maor) yet themselves ere dissonant Define nonharmonic tones generically as dissonance (or dissonances) eteen consonances omment that hen looking at music, one has to differentiate eteen hat are important ("structural") notes and those notes that are simply moving eteen important notes; such a differentiation is sometimes tough, ut musical common sense often orks for most cases (music theory helps students uild on that musical common sense) Remark that nonharmonic tones are often called "ornamental" or "emellishing" tones ecause they ornament and emellish notes of a chord or chords III Use of nonharmonic tones Remark that as a means of ornamentation, nonharmonic tones can e used to make a simple composition or arrangement (such as "My ountry") more complex on the surface Play the "Unaccented Passing Notes" example from the handout pg 2 (not handed out yet, though) ontrast the ne arrangement ith the original Ask the students hat is different ith this arrangement Ask students hich arrangement they prefer Explain ho adding nonharmonic tones has filled out the ass line 1
Remark that the to arrangements have different feels (and so neither is inherently etter), ut that one is certainly an emellishment of the other III Position of nonharmonic tones Play the "Accented Passing Notes" example from the asofyetunhandedout handout pg 2 Ask students to descrie ho the accented passing notes arrangement differs from the unaccented passing notes arrangement (ie hat is the difference) Play ust the ornamented ass line from each example to clarify the difference in metrical eight assigned to the dissonances Ask students hich version sounds more "dissonant" (accented or unaccented) Remark that the location of the nonharmonic tone, ie hether it is accented or unaccented (on the change of harmony or in eteen) makes a ig difference in ho e perceive the nonharmonic tones Summarize that this distinction eteen accented and unaccented is an important category hen descriing nonharmonic tones Dra a simple diagram on oard of dissonance and its relationship to the eat or chord change IV Exploration of nonharmonic tones using stepise motion Dra a tocolumn tale on the oard, one for accented and one for unaccented (YI, the tale ill eventually e a simplified version of pg 5 of the handout) Define the nonharmonic tones that have een looked at thus far (m 2 and the ass line stuff) as passing notes Ask students to help define passing tones more clearly Remark (if the students don't) that passing tones alays move in stepise motion eteen to different notes reate a ro underneath the accented and unaccented columns laeled "stepise"; place the term "passing notes" into oth the accented and unaccented cells Have students practice creating passing notes ith a variety of astract chord pairs on staves on the oard (eg, ho can e make passing notes eteen B maor and minor) Using a maor triad and an maor triad, ask students if they can think of other ays of moving eteen notes of the to chords using stepise motion Define neighor notes and add them to the tale of unaccented and accented notes V Illustration of nonharmonic tones using stepise motion Distriute handout pg 2 (first to examples have already een discussed in class) Play through unaccented neighor notes arrangement, emphasizing emellishments Play through accented neighor notes arrangement Ask students hat they think aout the difference eteen the original, the version ith unaccented neighor notes, and the version ith accented neighor notes Have students sing melody of first to ars of neighor note examples (hile accompanying) Reemphasize the aural difference eteen accented and unaccented nonharmonic tones Reemphasize ho neighor notes, like all other nonharmonic tones, also move from consonance through dissonance to consonance Have students practice making neighor notes ith more astract chord pairs on the oard (as as done ith passing notes) 2
VI Exploration of nonharmonic tones using ties or repeated notes Using a maor triad and G maor triad on the chalkoard, ask students if they can think of other means of creating nonharmonic tones eteen the to chords Through discussions ith the students (or lack thereof), create to more ros in the tale of accented/unaccented nonharmonic tones, one ith the title of ties/repeated notes, the other ith the title involving leaps ocus on differentiating all the ays that nonharmonic tones can e created ith ties or repeated notes eteen and G maor, asking the students for input reate definitions for retardations, suspensions, and anticipations hile adding those terms to the tale of nonharmonic tones on the chalkoard VII Illustration of nonharmonic tones using ties or repeated notes Distriute handout pg 3 Play through retardations arrangement, emphasizing emellishments Have students sing the melody of the retardations example (hile accompanying) Play through suspensions arrangement Have students sing the melody of the suspensions example (hile accompanying) Play through the anticipations arrangement Have students sing the melody of the anticipations example (hile accompanying) Ask students to veralize the aural difference and effect of these ne types of nonharmonic tones Have students practice making retardations, suspensions, and anticipations ith a variety of astract chord pairs on the chalkoard VIII Exploration of nonharmonic tones involving leaps Return to chalkoard; using and G maor triads, explore ith students the ays that nonharmonic tones can e created hen leaps are involved reate definitions for appoggiaturas and escape notes, adding those final terms to the tale on the chalkoard Point out the pseudoneighorlike quality of these nonharmonic tones Mention that these nonharmonic tones are also called incomplete neighors IX Illustration of nonharmonic tones involving leaps Distriute handout pg 4 Play through appoggiaturas arrangement, emphasizing emellishments Have students sing the melody of the appoggiatura example (hile accompanying) Play through escape notes arrangement Have students sing the melody of the escape notes example (hile accompanying) Ask students to veralize the aural difference and effect of these ne types of nonharmonic tones, commenting on all nonharmonic tones since the tale on the chalkoard has een completed Have students practice making appoggiaturas and escape notes ith a variety of astract chord pairs on the chalkoard X Student revie and application Distriute handout pg 5 3
Explain handout and sho ho the handout mimics the tale that has een created y the class on the chalkoard Ask students to see if they can insert nonharmonic tones into the second phrase of "My ountry" (as the handouts only sho nonharmonic tones in the first phrase); progress sequentially from stepise, to tied/repeated, to those involving leaps; have students attempt to create oth accented and unaccented versions in the second phrase Play students' ideas for nonharmonic emellishments of the second phrase of "My ountry", going ack and forth ith ideas and renditions; particularly effective ones may e sung (hich may require notation on the chalkoard) XI Student analysis Time alloing, hand out scores of one or to Bach chorales; play through chorales efore discussion horale 5 (Riemenschneider): unaccented passing notes, suspensions horale 286 (Riemenschneider): suspensions, unaccented and accented passing notes Ask students to find (and try to lael) anything they may think is a nonharmonic tone; giving some prompts or specific examples may e required XII Summary Pass out homeork (3 pages) and give some quick explanations (NB The Bach horale has een slightly recomposed to engender a more road array of nonharmonic tones) Go home and have a eer 4
My ountry, 'Tis of Thee 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, 5 sing Land here my fa thers died, Land of the 10 pil grims' pride, rom ev 'ry moun tain side Let free dom ring handout pg 1
Examples of NonHarmonic Tones using STEPWISE motion Unaccented Passing Notes 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Accented Passing Notes 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Unaccented Neighor Notes 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Accented Neighor Notes 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing handout pg 2
Examples of NonHarmonic Tones using TIES or REPEATED notes Retardations My coun try 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Suspensions 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Anticipations 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing handout pg 3
Examples of NonHarmonic Tones involving LEAPS Appoggiaturas 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing Escape Notes 'tis of thee, Seet land of li er ty, sing handout pg 4
= nonharmonic tone TABLE of OMMON NONHARMONI TONES AENTED UNAENTED passing note passing note G G c Stepise neighor note neighor note c retardation suspension anticipation Tied / Repeated G c G appoggiatura camiata Involving Leaps (Incomplete Neighor) G c escape note G G c G G handout pg 5
Homeork (NonHarmonic Tones) Part I: Melodic NonHarmonic Tones Lael passing notes (P), neighor notes (N), and suspensions (S) in the upper voice of the counterpoint elo y putting either a (P), (N), or (S) aove any nonharmonic tones The first instance is laeled for you c Ó S n c c Part II: NonHarmonic Tones in our Voices Where numers have een circled eneath the score elo, lael the type of nonharmonic tone occuring at that point in the music using the associated spaces provided underneath The first tone has een done for you c c U U U ex 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ex 1 2 3 4 Unaccented Upper Neighor 5 6 7 8 9 homeork pg 1
Part III: reating Unaccented NonHarmonic Tones Add unaccented nonharmonic tones to each ar as requested y providing the missing quarter note (each measure is in common time) ollo the example shon Example: passing note 1 loer neighor 2 anticipation 3 passing note 4 upper neighor 5 anticipation 6 escape note 7 escape note 8 passing note homeork pg 2
Part IV: reating Accented NonHarmonic Tones Add accented nonharmonic tones to each ar as requested y providing the missing quarter note (each measure is in common time) Use ties as necessary ollo the example shon Example: passing note 1 passing note 2 suspension 3 loer neighor 4 appoggiatura 5 retardation 6 passing note 7 suspension 8 appoggiatura homeork pg 3