[Smt-talk] MISSING THEORY COMPONENT?

Sun May 25 18:56:37 PDT 2014

Dear Richard, Steven abd the List,

of course, I exaggerated! There are some very good melodies. Aldwell and
Schachter is my favorite textbook. It is serious and profoundly
professional and there are some good melodies, especially from Baroque
style.

However, on average, our textbooks are focusing on other aspects (which are
very important), i.e., figured bass tradition. I only wish that the fb
would be supported by enhanced melody harmonization exercises, so that the
fb would be improvized at the keyboard, and not realized in written take
home assignments.

For your fun, I attached a melody from Igor Sposopin'g textbook and its
possible harmonization. Dear Steven, yes, you are right, it is not the hw
1. And yes, your metaphors can be continued: harmonizing this melody may
feel the same as suddenly, when chewing on chocolate candy, biting on a
shard of glass. Or hitting a brick wall. Dr. Sposobin has done this on
purpose, I believe!

By the way, I have finished writing a textbook with melodies borrowed from
Sposobin. If anyone would like to help me with pre-publication reading and
assessment, please, email me privately.

Best wishes,

Ildar Khannanov
drkhannanov at gmail.com

2014-05-26 5:02 GMT+04:00 Richard Hermann <harhar at unm.edu>:

> 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 <%28212%29%20650-7663>*
>> *music at ccny.cuny.edu <music at ccny.cuny.edu>*
>>
>> America's Greatest Chair
>> in the low-priced field
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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