New Page 1

MU 315-01– Vocal Composition and Arranging – 2 Credits – [last updated: fall 2007]

Students should be able to meet any reasonable choral arranging request after completing this course. While art music is studied for exposure to vocal polyphony and counterpoint, the application is broader. Prerequisites: MU102 or permission of instructor. [This description from 2005–2007 College Catalogue, p. 146]

1.1. Specific (C) Understand roles of complementary, separate, necessary elements in each piece

1.3. Specific (C) Understand how to think from FORM to specific steps required of an arranger / composer and from specific projects out to whole pieces

3. General (A) Enjoy both a subsidiary appreciation for and a technical mastery of choral music

3.3. Specific (A) Enjoy choral music—broadly—from exposure to its design and nature

Composition and arranging is daunting. Even the most experienced artists find that each creative effort involves unique challenges. Creativity is difficult to teach. The concept of “apprenticeship,” involves seeing what a master does, and mimicking it. The creative impulse must be nurtured. It cannot be implanted. Craftsmanship, the know-how of forming structures and measuring out specific relationships, is easier to teach systematically. It can be taught by practice with small projects that serve to strengthen particular skills, or, it can be taught through the study of completed works that prepare the student to see what specific skills they will most need to hone.

Our course is structured with these principles clearly in mind. (1) We look over—sing through and listen through—whole pieces regularly. Our aim is to see the particulars in light of the whole. (2) We perform “mimesis” assignments for homework—copying choral pieces by accomplished composers and arrangers. This is like a miniature apprenticeship. (3) We carefully study a textbook that explains particular aspects of choral arranging in a clear, systematic way. This is not really a “recipe book” for writing our music, rather a concordance of common practice techniques to broaden our horizons.

The process of learning—the sequence of the course—is ordered by (1) grammar: the elements of choral music (2) logic: the principles of combining elements in an intelligent way—composition, and (3) rhetoric: composition and arranging that is appropriate to a text, style, and occasion. The semester is divided into three parts corresponding to grammar, logic and rhetoric. A unit exam concludes each.

Ostrander, Arthur E. and Dana Wilson. Contemporary Choral Arranging. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice

Students must purchase the edition listed above. New copies are available at the bookstore. Students are accountable for required reading assignments beginning on the first day of classes. By the end of the first week of classes, students must have their own copies of each text. This text should be brought to each class.

This course is designed to depend largely on the instructor’s review of student composition assignments. For the course to be most effective, timely feedback is crucial. Due to this, the instructor must schedule fixed times for playing through, analyzing and making important suggestions for each individual student. Musical creativity is not always second nature. Most of the time notes don’t just flow out easily onto the blank page in front of us. Nonetheless, the importance of handing in assignments on time stands. As a result, there is no late assignment grade reduction policy for this course. Instead, assignments are separated into steps. Each step constitutes a portion of the whole assignment. These will have due dates and will be graded. Parameters for each step will be provided, indicating exactly what will be graded. The final step is the completed assignment. The final grade for each assignment will be an average of all the steps—however: students may elect to complete as many or as few steps as they choose. Only the final step—the finished assignment—is a mandatory deadline. Once the final step is due, no late submissions will be collected. This means that students have the opportunity to receive ample feedback and may average their grade out over several steps.

Please note the institutional policies that govern academic integrity, class attendance, absence appeals, and instructional accommodations as delineated in the Student Handbook (available in the Office of Student Development). All students are responsible to keep track of their own class cuts / absences. This includes both the date of each individual cut as well as the reason. At the end of the semester, the student will have an opportunity to appeal cuts if they exceed the allowable limit. Without complete information, the appeal will be denied.

Homework grade average is compiled from various exercises, mimesis assignments, analyses, etc. Three exams correspond to the three sections of the course: (1) Grammar (2) Logic and (3) Rhetoric. The Final Project is an original work by the student that serves as a capstone for the. Unexcused absences beyond the allowable number of cuts will reduce the final grade by 5%.

HWK AVG	Exam AVG (3)	FINAL PROJECT	( - ) Absences	Final Grade
50% of Final	30% of Final	20% of Final	( - ) 5%	= 100%