Music Theory Courses at MSU:

MUS 178  Music Theory For Non Music Majors I
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2   Lab Hours: 1
2(2-1)
Restrictions:
Not open to music majors.
Not open to students with credit in:
MUS 180
Description:
Basic components of both written and aural music. No previous musical knowledge assumed.
 
MUS 179  Music Theory For Non Music Majors II
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 178 )
Restrictions:
Not open to music majors.
Not open to students with credit in:
MUS 180 or MUS 181
Description:
Common chords and chord progressions, harmonizing melodies, basic musical forms including some popular and jazz forms, introductory compositional techniques.
 
MUS 180  Fundamentals of Music
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2   Lab Hours: 1
2(2-1)
Description:
Conceptual and notational presentation of the basic components of musical structure. No previous familiarity with music is assumed.
 
MUS 181  Musicianship I
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 180 )
Description:
Hierarchical musical structure through species counterpoint and figured bass. Linear and vertical aspects of tonality.
 
MUS 182  Ear Training and Sight Singing I
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Description:
Dictation, melody singing using solfege (movable do) syllables, intervals to octave, error detection, quarter note values in rhythm, part singing.
 
MUS 183  Ear Training and Sight Singing II
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 182 )
Description:
Dictation, singing melodies in major and minor keys. Simple modulation, chromatic alteration, error detection, rhythms, triads and components, part singing.
 
MUS 200  Introduction to Music Theory
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in the School of Music.
Description:
Elements of music theory, with emphasis on voice-leading and harmonic analysis in diatonic and chromatic music.
Alias:
MUS 800
 
MUS 201  Aural Skills
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in the School of Music.
Description:
Ear training in the areas of melody, harmony, and rhythm. Sight singing using the solfege system. Computer-aided drill programs.
Alias:
MUS 801

MUS 280  Musicianship II
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 181 )
Description:
Techniques of diatonic modulation and soprano harmonization. Chromatic techniques.
 
MUS 281  Musicianship III
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 280 )
Description:
Research base for formal categorization. Large-scale principles of musical organization. Chromatic substitution and chords derived from voice-leading.
 
MUS 282  Advanced Ear Training and Sight Singing I
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 183 )
Description:
Dictation including recognition of triads, functions, cadences, seventh-chord harmonies, chord components. Two-and four-part dictation and singing.
 
MUS 283  Advanced Ear Training and Sight Singing II
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 1   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 1   Lab Hours: 1
1(1-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 282 )
Description:
Recognition of harmonic functions in major keys, minor keys, and modulations. Dictation in two-and four-part textures including augmented-sixth chords and nonharmonic tones.

MUS 380  Musical Styles and Forms (W)
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 281 ) and completion of Tier I writing requirement.
Restrictions:
Open only to majors in the School of Music.
Description:
Form in pre-20th century Western music. Stylistic analysis of representative medieval, renaissance, baroque, and 18th and 19th century compositions.
 
MUS 381  20th Century Music Theory
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3   Lab Hours: 1
3(3-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 380 )
Description:
Western art music and jazz. Stylistic and formal analysis of representative compositions and jazz improvisations. Post-tonal theory. Jazz nomenclature and harmonic practice.

MUS 480  Counterpoint
Semester:
Fall of every year. Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2
2(2-0)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 381 )
Restrictions:
Open only to majors in the School of Music.
Description:
Creative and analytical work with two-and three-part counterpoint in the style of J.S. Bach.

MUS 484  Instrumentation and Basic Orchestration
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2   Lab Hours: 1
2(2-1)
Prerequisite:
(MUS 380 )
Restrictions:
Open only to majors in the School of Music.
Description:
Four families of orchestral instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Acoustics, notation, range, articulation, dynamics, technique, and timbre for individual instruments and orchestral sections.

MUS 870  Contrapuntal Techniques I
Semester:
Fall of odd years.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3
3(3-0)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Techniques of voice-leading through imitative counterpoint. Compositional exercises modeled after sacred vocal polyphony of the sixteenth century, principally Palestrina and Victoria.
 
MUS 871  Contrapuntal Techniques II
Semester:
Spring of even years.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3
3(3-0)
Prerequisite:
MUS 870.
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Compositional exercises modeled after instrumental polyphony of the eighteenth century, principally J.S. Bach. Influence of fugal technique in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
 
MUS 872  Tonal Forms
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2
2(2-0)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Music from the period of common practice and its relationship to music composition. Interplay of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre in various structural units.
 
MUS 873  Early 20th Century Techniques
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2
2(2-0)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and textural devices employed in early twentieth century music.
 
MUS 874  Schenkerian Analysis
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2
2(2-0)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Thought, works, and influences of Heinrich Schenker. Techniques of linear analysis emphasizing the role of long-range voice-leading musical structure.
 
MUS 875  Analysis of Musical Scores
Semester:
Summer of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3
3(3-0)
Reenrollment Information:
A student may earn a maximum of 6 credits in all enrollments for this course.
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Analysis of choral, orchestral, and band music as a means of enhancing interpretation and performance.
 
MUS 876  History of Music Theory
Semester:
Fall of odd years.
Credits:
Total Credits: 3   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 3
3(3-0)
Prerequisite:
MUS 830 recommended.
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music.
Description:
Principal western theories of music from Pythagoras to the present. Ideas contributing to the development of modern musical thought and their place in western intellectual history.
 
MUS 877  Scoring for Orchestra and Band
Semester:
Fall of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2   Lab Hours: 1
2(2-1)
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in the School of Music.
Description:
Theory and practice in scoring for orchestra and band.
 
MUS 878  Advanced Scoring for Orchestra and Band
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Total Credits: 2   Lecture/Recitation/Discussion Hours: 2   Lab Hours: 1
2(2-1)
Prerequisite:
MUS 877.
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in the School of Music.
Description:
Orchestra scoring from Bach to Boulez and band scoring from Sousa to Maslanka. Advanced scoring projects.

MUS 883  Advanced Computer Music Projects
Semester:
Spring of every year.
Credits:
Variable from 1 to 4
Reenrollment Information:
A student may earn a maximum of 12 credits in all enrollments for this course.
Prerequisite:
MUS 882 or MUS 441.
Restrictions:
Open only to graduate students in School of Music and in Computer Science.
Description:
Techniques and principles of composition and research with computers. Use of computer hardware and software.

MUS 970 Pedagogy of Music Theory
Semester: Fall of odd years.
Credits: 3
Restrictions: Open only to graduate students in the School of Music.
Description: Organization, goals, and procedures for teaching music theory to undergraduates. Choice and sequencing of topics, pacing, supplementary materials, educational philosophies, and relevance to performance.