Overview
This course is designed for performers and composers who desire to get a deeper knowledge of how the elements of music interact with each other, giving a resulting combination we call “form”.
For the performers, it will bring a profound understanding of the pieces they are studying, providing insight into their aesthetic decisions as musicians, and acquiring more detailed information about the stylistic choices of the composers.
For composers, it will structure their thinking to get into a higher level of interconnectedness between the elements that conform to their music, giving them a more detailed view of their own pieces, and setting strategies into the composition process. The course is based on the renowed theorist and analysis, Jan LaRue, who provides a clear method, his “Style Analysis” to understand the music in simple steps, seeing it organically, and taking it as a whole musical “being”.
Skills you will gain
Analyse the relationship between the technical details and aesthetics of any piece, regardless of the style.
Discover ways in which music theory may be relevant to enjoying, communicating, composing and performing music.
Gain confidence in musical self-analysis that can help you develop your own musical ideas and performance.
Bibliography
The material and insights of this course are based on the analytical approach of Jan LaRue in his book “Guidelines to Style Analysis”.
Uses of Musical Analysis for composers and performers
Use of Musical Analysis for Performers:
- Understanding the Composition: Musical analysis allows performers to gain a deeper understanding of the music they’re performing. By studying the structure and elements of a piece, they can better interpret the composer’s intentions and deliver a performance that aligns with that vision.
- Communication: Analysis can help performers effectively communicate the composer’s musical ideas to their audience. thus making more informed choices in their performances.
- Expressive Performance: Understanding the underlying structure and thematic content of a piece can enable performers to deliver a more expressive and emotive performance. They can use the insights gained from analysis to inform their phrasing, dynamics, and interpretative choices.
Purpose of Musical Analysis for Composers:
- Inspiration and Learning: Composers often analyse the work of others to draw inspiration and learn new techniques. By understanding how other composers have structured their work, they can incorporate similar techniques into their own compositions.
- Evaluation: Composers can use musical analysis as a tool for self-evaluation, allowing them to scrutinise their own works in progress and make necessary alterations.
- Innovation: Through analysing music, composers can understand conventional musical structures and techniques, which they can then choose to adhere to or deviate from in their own work. This can lead to innovative compositions that push the boundaries of existing musical forms.
Course Information
Course Instructor
Module 1: Introduction to Style Analytical Approach
1.1 – Introduction – Uses – Cosmogony and Paradigms
1.2 – Structure of analysis: Background, Observation and Evaluation
1.3 – Cosmogony of Music and its contributing elements
1.4 – Large, Middle and Small Dimensions
1.5 – Movement: States of Change
1.6 – The Four Options of Continuation
1.7 – The Style Analytical Routine
1.8 – Evaluation
Module 2: The role of Sound in Music Analysis
2.1 – Timbre, Dynamics, Texture and Fabric
2.2 – Contributions of Sound to Movement and Shape
2.3 – Sound in Large, Middle and Small Dimensions
Module 3: The role of Melody in Music Analysis
3.1 – Melody: Definition and Types
3.2 – Melody in Large Dimensions
3.3 – Melody in Middle Dimensions
3.4 -Melody in Small Dimensions
Module 4: The role of Harmony in Music Analysis
4.1 – Main functions: Color and tension
4.2 – Stages of Tonality: Linear and modal, migrant, bifocal, unified, expanded.
4.3 – Contributions to the Movement and Shape. Harmony in Large Dimensions
4.4 – Harmony in Middle Dimensions
4.5 – Harmony in Small Dimensions
Module 5: The role of Rhythm in Music Analysis
5.1 – The layers of rhythm – The component States of Rhythm
5.2 – Rhythmic typology
5.3 – Rhythmic contributions to the Shape and Movement
5.4 -Rhythm in Small, Middle and Large Dimensions
Module 6: The Growth process (The Fifth element)
6.1 – The morphology of Growth
6.2 – The articulation of different elements in the movement
6.3 – Interlocking Articulations and thematic relationships
6.4 – Growth in Small, Middle and Large Dimensions
Module 7: Symbols for Analysis and Stereotypes of Shape (Form)
7.2 – Binary and Ternary Forms
7.3 – Rondo and Variation Forms
7.4 – Fugue
7.5 – Sonata Form
7.6 – Example of Style Analysis