KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY
KUTZTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
COLLEGE OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
MUS 328 Hearing Musical Form I
Date Approved by Department: April 5, 2011
I. Course Description
This course develops the ability to identify and hear structural form in Western music. In addition to
motives, cadences, and musical phrases, the formal structures of 1-Part form, Binary, Ternary,
Ostinato, Variations, and Contrapuntal forms from the 17th through 19th centuries will be studied.
Emphasis is placed on techniques for hearing form, analysis of musical scores, and the application of
both to performance.
Prerequisite: MUS 214 Harmony and Theory III.
and MUS 213 Aural Skills III.
1 Semester hour
1 Clock hour
II. Course Rationale
The growth of Western music is manifested in the evolution of both harmony and form. Harmonic
analysis as learned in the core harmony and theory courses provides insight into harmonic evolution,
but musical education is not complete without the study of formal structure in music, culminating in
the ability to aurally identify the various forms used in Western music, to provide critical
commentary and analysis of these structures, and to create meaningful performances with the help of
these skills. This course will fulfill these goals.
III. Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
1. Visually and aurally identify smaller musical forms such as phrases and periods in Western
music from the 17th through 19th centuries.
2. Recognize the thematic development of musical materials, both melodic and rhythmic, and
identify by listening and by score study all of the musical forms studied in class.
IV. Assessment
Assessment of each student's level of accomplishment with reference to the course objectives will be
based upon a subset of the following:
1. Regular assignments in analyzing music for overall structure, melody, harmony, texture,
and expressive devices.
2. In-class presentations.
3. Examinations and quizzes.
V. Course Outline
1. Fundamental Melodic Elements
a. Figure and motive
b. Theme
c. Phrase
d. Period
e. Cadences
2. One-Part Form
3. Binary Forms
4. Ternary Form
5. Ostinato forms
6. Variations
7. Contrapuntal
VI. Instructional Resources
Benjamin, Thomas. Music for Analysis. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1984.
Bent, Ian. Music Analysis in the Nineteenth Century, Vol. 2: Hermeneutic Approaches. Cambridge
University Press, 1994.
Berry, Wallace. Musical Structure and Performance. Yale University Press, 1989.
Burkhart, Charles. Anthology for Musical Analysis. 6th ed. Thomson-Schirmer, 2004.
Burkholder, J. Peter; Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music, Seventh
Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 2005.
Caplin, William E. Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition, 2000.
Clendinning, Jane Piper and Elizabeth West Marvin, The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis.
W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Cone, Edward T. Musical Form and Musical Performance. W. W. Norton & Company, 1968.
Cook, Nicholas. A Guide to Musical Analysis. Norton Publishers, 1992
Dunsby, Jonathan. Music Anaylsis in Theory and Practice. Yale University Press, 1989.
Forte, Allen, and Steven Gilbert. Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis: Form and Content in Tonal
Music. W. W. Norton & Company, 1982.
Fux, Johann J. (Alfred Mann, Trans. and Ed.). The Study of Counterpoint: From Johann J. Fux’s
"Gradus ad Parnassum." W. W. Norton & Company, 1965.
Gauldin, Robert. Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music, 5th ed. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Glyn, Margaret Henrietta. The Evolution of Musical Form. Library Reprints, 2001.
Hanning, Barbara Russano. Concise History of Western Music, 3rd ed. W. W. Norton and Company,
2006.
Kamien, Roger. The Norton Scores, 5th ed. W. W. Norton and Company, 1990.
Kostka, Stefan and Roger Graybill. Anthology of Music for Analysis. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004
Lester, Joel. Analytic Approaches to Twentieth-Century Music. W. W. Norton & Company, 1989
Mathes, James R. The Analysis of Musical Form. Prentice Hall, 2007.
Perone, James E. Form and Analysis Theory: A Bibliography. Greenwood Press, 1998.
Santa, Matthew. Hearing Form. Musical Analysis With and Without the Score. Routledge, 2010.
Spencer, Peter and Peter Temko. A Practical Approach to the Study of Form in Music. Waveland
Press Inc., 1994.
Stein, Leon. Anthology of Musical Forms. Warner Bros., 1962
Turek, Ralph. Analytical Anthology of Music. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, 1992.