Irene McCormack Catholic College
11ATAR MUSIC PROGRAM Contemporary: Rock
WK
UNIT TOPIC
1
Rock & Roll Roots:
The Blues
CULT & HIST
Characteristics
AURAL & THEORY
Rhythmic Dictation: 4 bars – 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, C
(all rhythms & rests)
Purpose
ANALYSIS (include
scores of up to 4 parts)
Intro to score reading:
Notate basic rock beat
Order of Instruments
4 bar rhythms onto
sibelius (practice using
software)
Chords: I, IV, V & V7
Instruments
ARR & COMP
Dom 7ths: I7, IV7, V7
Following a score/lead
sheet
Treble clef & bass clef notation within the stave
Musical signs
Major Pentatonic
“In the Mood” Glen
Miller
Artists
Slavery
African-American culture
Circle of fifths
Great Depression
(America)
Influence on Rock
and Roll
“St Louis Blues”
Major key sigs: up to 2b & 2# (& scale degree numbers)
Blues scale & progression – major & minor
Modulation: relative major & minor
8, 12 & 16 bar structure – “Watermelon Man”
Primary & Secondary Triads
2
Rock & Roll Roots:
Country
Characteristics
Strategies for rhythmic dictation – memory
Score reading practice:
Purpose
Rhythmic dictation: 4 bar imitate & write 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, C
(incl. simple rhythms, shuffle feel, rests & triplets)
“Sweetheart of the
rodeo” The Byrds
Power chords
The Everly Brothers
Musical elements: Dynamics
Jerry Lee Lewis
Instruments: Guitar & bass (timbre & techniques). Banjo &
mandolin - country genre.
Johnny Cash
Instruments
Artists
Vocal shading
Influence on Rock and Roll
TAB notation
Major key sigs: up to 5b & 5#
Circle of fifths cont.
Recognizing & writing intervals: PU, mj2, mj3, P4, P5
“T’Aint nobody’s
business” Bessie Smith
Guitar tablature
programs & software
ASSESS
3
Rock & Roll Roots:
Rhythm and Blues
Characteristics
Strategies for rhythmic dictation – notation techniques
Purpose
Rhythmic dictation: ALL simple rhythms & rests, 2/2
Instruments
Rhythmic dictation 4 bars pitch given
Artists
Musical elements: Tempo
Influence on Rock
and Roll
Major scales ascending and descending up to 2b & 2#
Unsighted work: Aural
Analysis
Identifying the key of a
piece/section
Notate using sibelius an
8 bar rock shuffle
rhythm – 5 line stave:
bass drum, snare HiHat
or cymbals
(by hand first)
Instruments: Drum Kit (timbre and techniques)
Writing chords: I, I7, IV, IV7, V, V7, Dom7, Min7, Maj7
Major keys: up to 5b & # (CO5)
Shuffle feel rhythm
Melodic dictation: discrepancy & sight singing (doh – soh)
4
Rock and Roll:
50s and early 60s
Characteristics
Strategies for rhythmic dictation: beat sub-division
(including all rests)
Purpose
SET WORK 1:
“Hound Dog” Elvis
Presley
Scoring individual
parts: rock ensemble
Cont. 4 bar rhythmic dictation: all time sigs (incl. 5/4, 7/5)
Instruments
Musical elements: texture
Unsighted work: aural
analysis
Artists
Modulations: subdominant & dominant
Elvis Presley
Identifying chords in a
piece/section
Major scales ascending & descending up to 5b & #
Cultural impact
Melodic minor scales up to 2b & #
50s progression & other
typical rock
progressions
Major keys cont.
Minor keys up to 2b & #
Modes: mixolydian,
Aeolian, Ionian
Instruments: keyboard, synthesizer, electric organ (chord
charts)
Writing chords: I, I7, ii, IV, IV7, V, V7, vi, vii, VII, Dom7,
Min7, Maj7 (root position, 1st & 2nd inversion)
Aeolian scale
5
Late 60s and the
British Invasion
Strategies for melodic dictation: memory & contour maps
SET WORK 2:
Melodic dictation: 4 bar imitate & write (doh – soh)
“(I can’t get no)
Satisfaction” The
Rolling Stones
Sight singing: Doh – soh
Compose a simple
melody to a chosen
chord progression
Given a style/mood (8-
Recognizing & writing intervals: PU, mj2, mn2, mj3, mn3,
P4, P5, Aug4, Dim5
Scales
Musical elements: Form/Structure (through-composed)
Writing typical chord progressions
The Beatles
Unsighted work: aural
analysis
12 bars) for solo
instrument or voice,
demonstrate contrast
through the use of
modulation (major to
minor)
Identifying chord
progressions in a
piece/section
Major keys: ALL
Minor keys: cont
Writing chords: I, IV, V, I7, IV7, V7, ii, vi, iii
Modes: Ionian
6
Pop Rock and the
Post-war migration
Albert productions
“Easyfever”
Chords: previous chords, 8 bars plus 7th chords & power
chords. Inversions on chord I. Chord names (broken &
block)
* I, Ib, Ic, ii, IV, V, V7, vi – and in minor
Unsighted work: aural
analysis
Song structure
Write rhythm & melody
to given lyrics
Australian Rock & Roll
Compound rhythms: 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 all rhythms & rests
Post-war migration
Sight singing: Doh – Lah
Recognizing intervals: PU, mj2, mn2, mj3, mn3, P4, P5,
mj6, mn6, Aug4, Dim5
Melodic dictation: 8 bar imitate & write
Compositional devices: ostinato, pedal note, sequence,
imitation, inversion, diminution, augmentation, backing riff
Minor keys cont.
Musical elements: signs, symbols & tonality
Instrument: Vocals (techniques, styles, articulation &
ornamentation)
Modes: Mixolydian
7
Hard Rock:
Punk rock and Pop
punk
Harmonic Minor scales
Unsighted work: aural
analysis
Chromatic scale
Song structure
Sight singing: Doh – Lah
Writing harmony to a
given melody
Music Skills 8%
Recognizing & writing intervals: PU, mj2, mn2, mj3, mn3,
P4, Aug4, Dim5, P5, mj6, mn6
Compound rhythms: 9/8 & 12/8, all rhythms & rests
Dissonance vs Consonance
8
Australian New
Wave/Ska
Sight singing: Doh – Doh
SET WORK #:
Recognizing & writing intervals: All
“Highway to Hell”
AC/DC
Arrangement Style:
Reggae
Group
Performance 4%
Transposition: Alto & tenor Saxophone
Instruments: Woodwind (saxophone) – role/purpose,
timbre, techniques
Sight singing: doh – doh
9
Unsighted work: aural
analysis
“Know your product”
Saints (Brass &
woodwind)
Unsighted work: Baggy
Trousers Madness (Ska)
Start composition task
Aural 1 6%
Recognizing intervals: all
Recognizing intervals within a score (written): all
Effects: all
Transposition: Alto & tenor Saxophone
10
Harmonic dictation: previous chords
12/8 score reading
Harmonic/melodic minor scales: as before
Signs in scores
Major scales: as before
x (double sharp) & bb
(double flats)
In-Class Essay 5%
enharmonic notes
11
Indie Rock
Modulations: Dominant, Subdominant, relative
minor/major
Harmonic dictations
12
Minor Pentatonic scale
Rhythmic & melodic dictation: 7 Nation Army (white
stripes)
SET WORK 4:
Analysis 5%
Arrangement: brass
Aural 2 6%
“Smells Like Teen
Spirit” Nirvana
Einsturzende
Neubauten: Haus der
Luge (Live) (Brass)
Transposition: Trumpet & Clarinet (Bb)
Scales: Major, minor, blues, chromatic
Arrangement style:
Rock
Bjork: Vertebrae by
Vertebrae
Modes
13
Harmonic dictation: all chords
Dirty 3 (violin)
Transposition: Trumpet, clarinet, Alto& tenor saxophone
Einsturzende
Neubauten: Armenia
(Strings)
Modulations: Sub-dominant, dominant, relative
major/minor
14
All dictations
16 horsepower: I gotta
girl (banjo)
Arrangement: strings
Arrangement style:
country
Musical elements: form, dynamics, expression, texture
Yothu Yindi: Treaty
Modulations
Gerling
Transpositions
Instruments: Didgeridoo, Electronic
15
16
17
Revision
Revision
EXAM REVISION
Performance Exam 30%
Written Exam 20%
Revision
Technical Work 6%
In-Class
Performance 10%