[Smt-talk] MISSING THEORY COMPONENT?

[Richard Hermann]

Dear Ildar,

You might recheck the Aldwell and Schachter, Harmony and Voice-Leading. I assigned settings from it that were 18th- (chorales) and 19th-century (melody and accompaniment )in style and technique. 

Best,

Rick

Richard Hermann, PhD, Prof. of Music
Regent's Lecturer
Univ. of New Mexico
harhar at unm.edu


On May 25, 2014, at 12:05 06, Ildar Khannanov <etudetableau at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Stephen and the List,
> 
> you hit the spot! There are no melodies in contemporary textbooks. There is everything possibly imagined but no melody. I do not remember a single one after using them for years. In contrast with this, in my very old Igor Sposobin and Co textbook there are melodies. You can throw away the text if you do not like it but the melodies--ah, those nice melodies, written by composers of Romantic style in the first half of the 20th century--are magnificent. And each chapter ends with some 20 to 25 melody harmonization assignments. More than half of the textbook is melodies and explanations to their harmonization. It was so easy to understand the jazz standards and all other forms of melodicity after learning harmony with this textbook. It borrowed some materials from Richtee and from Louis and Thuille but melodies in it are original.
> 
> Later on in USSR they published some newer textbooks. They were more up to date but I would not recommend melodic material. Boring. Something has disappeared from music after WWII.
> 
> Happy Memorial Day!
> 
> Best,
> 
> Ildar Khannanov
> Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University
> etudetableau at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 2014-05-23 8:54 GMT-04:00 Stephen Jablonsky <jablonsky at optimum.net>:
> Yesterday I administered the last of my final exams for my 100th semester of teaching so it was a very special day. I am still basking in the glow.
> 
> Since we are talking about ideal theory curricula I thought I would mention one of my pet peeves. A survey of the leading music theory textbooks reveals that they are missing a component I consider significant––melody. The authors of most theory textbooks seem to think that music theory is all about harmony, counterpoint, and voice-leading. But that is the theory of multi-voice textures. When do our students learn to construct single lines, the things we all hum as we go about our day?
> 
> Back in the day, before I became chair, when I taught Theory 1 I always included a section on the composition of folk melodies in my syllabus. Because I am a composer I know that everyone of my students is a potential composer. Their ultimate success in this endeavor will depend on the degree of their talent, training, and time (The Three Ts) spent struggling to organize sounds and silences. Since I am a stickler for nonharmarmonic tones I find that they are best taught by having students use them in the composition of melodies. By writing folk melodies student learn about phrase structure, cadences, and contour in ways that are more lasting than just analysis alone. I am sure that all of you who teach theory know that beginning students have a difficult time discerning the harmonic implications of melodies and so it is hard for them to sit at the piano and harmonize a given tune. If they are taught to create melodies built on simple chord progressions they struggle less.
> 
> If any of you would like to receive a copy of my chapter on the composition of folk melodies from my Tonal Facts & Tonal Theories I would be happy to send you a pdf file.
> 
> I should mention that in Theory 2 I have my students write original melodies to the chord changes of the American Standard Songbook. The best students in the class come up with amazing solutions that employ melodic development, sequences, and the construction of well planned and executed climaxes and conclusions. Along the way they gain familiarity with secondary ii-Vs and modal borrowings as well as chromatic appoggiatures and piquant suspensions.
> 
> 
> Dr. Stephen Jablonsky, Ph.D.
> Music Department Chair
> The City College of New York
> Shepard Hall Room 72
> New York NY 10031
> (212) 650-7663
> music at ccny.cuny.edu
> 
> America's Greatest Chair 
> in the low-priced field
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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