Introduction
Comprehensive Musicianship, A Practical Resource
This Open Educational Resource (OER) presents an integrated suite of learning tutorials and exercises developed for the core music theory and musicianship curriculum at the University of Northern Iowa School of Music, but could be freely adapted for similar curricula at other schools and departments of music.
This work aims to provide a more comprehensive symbiosis of musicianship and music theory learning than can be found in existing textbooks, featuring a progressive series of music theory tutorials and exercises concurrent with interactive listening and vocal exercises in order to integrate musical knowledge with foundational musical skills at every step of the way. Additionally, this OER affords the flexibility to shape core musicianship and music theory learning to meet the needs of changing School of Music demographics well into the future, a resource for innovative and inclusive music programs accessible to all.
The text is divided into three main parts:
Main text
The bulk of the text is organized into a series of chapters and subchapters. Each main chapter focuses on a primary topic, such as Rhythm, Melodic Form, and Part Writing. Within each main chapter you will find subchapters on more focused topics.
Each subtopic is address through a series of four subchapters:
- Prose Tutorial explaining the new topic concepts, illustrated by visual and/or aural examples.
- Theory Exercise to build comprehension of new concepts
- Sight Singing exercise to foster embodied engagement with the new concepts
- Aural Training exercise to synthesize understanding of the concept by simultaneously engaging propositional knowledge with embodied action
Music Theory Workbook
The workbook features a compendium of additional theory exercises pertaining to each chapter and subtopic. These exercises may be used for additional music theory practice and/or assigned as homework by the instructor.
Sight Singing and Aural Training Supplement
This supplement features a graded series of sight singing and aural training examples aligned with the chapters and subtopics of the main text. These supplemental materials may be used for additional sight singing and aural training practice and/or assigned as homework by the instructor.
