Offers a foundation in the visual art practice and its critical analysis for beginning architecture students. Emphasis on long-range artistic development and its analogies to architectural thinking and practice. Learn to communicate ideas and experiences through various two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and time-based media, including sculpture, installation, performance, and video. Lectures, visiting artist presentations, field trips, and readings supplement studio practice. Required of and restricted to Course 4 majors. Lab fee.

Explores aesthetic and technical underpinnings of contemporary dance composition. Basic compositional techniques discussed and practiced with an emphasis on principles such as weight, space, time, effort, and shape. Principles of musicality considered and developed by each student. Working together, students create short compositions to help them understand the range of possibilities available when working with the medium of the human body. Selected viewing and reading exercises augment classroom work. Class attends at least two professional dance events in the Boston area.

This course will examine theory of scenic design as currently practiced, as well as historical traditions for use of performance space and audience/performer engagement. Four play scripts and one opera or dance theater piece will be designed after in-depth analysis; emphasis will be on the social, political and cultural milieu at the time of their creation, and now.

The following recipes, or games, are intended to be used as reference and study for the college course: Improvisation. This format has been set up to help with ease of quick learning and immediate application. Bon Appétit!

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
Identify Improvisational genres. Perform numerous and varying Improv games. Plan and Execute an Improv show. Evaluate performance. Examine and analyze aspects of the human experience and quickly construct an expression of that experience.

This course is an interdisciplinary exploration of three broad topics concerning music in relation to time.Music as Architecture: the creation of musical shapes in time;Music as Memory: how musical understanding depends upon memory and reminiscence, with attention to analysis of musical structures; andTime as the Substance of Music: how different disciplines such as philosophy and neuroscience view the temporal dimension of musical processes and/or performances.Classroom discussion of these topics is complemented by three weekend concerts with pre-concert forums, jointly presented by the Boston Chamber Music Society (BCMS) and MIT Music & Theater Arts.

" Offered in the spring and fall terms, Introduction to Stagecraft is a hands-on course that gets students working with the tools and techniques of theatrical production in a practical way. It is not a design course but one devoted to artisanship. Among the many remarkable final projects that have been proposed and presented at the end of the course have been a Renaissance hourglass blown in the MIT glass shop and set into a frame turned on our set shop lathe; a four harness loom built by a student who then wove cloth on it; a number of chain mail tunics and coifs; a wide variety of costume and furniture pieces and electrified period lighting fixtures."

An Introduction to Technical Theatre draws on the author’s experience in both the theatre and the classroom over the last 30 years. Intended as a resource for both secondary and post-secondary theatre courses, this text provides a comprehensive overview of technical theatre, including terminology and general practices.

Introduction to Technical Theatre’s accessible format is ideal for students at all levels, including those studying technical theatre as an elective part of their education. The text’s modular format is also intended to assist teachers approach the subject at their own pace and structure, a necessity for those who may regularly rearrange their syllabi around productions and space scheduling.

" This class explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific and cultural world through study of western Europe in the 17th century, the age of Descartes and Newton, Shakespeare, Milton and Ford. It compares period thinking to present-day debates about the scientific method, art, religion, and society. This team-taught, interdisciplinary subject draws on a wide range of literary, dramatic, historical, and scientific texts and images, and involves theatrical experimentation as well as reading, writing, researching and conversing. The primary theme of the class is to explore how England in the mid-seventeenth century became "a world turned upside down" by the new ideas and upheavals in religion, politics, and philosophy, ideas that would shape our modern world. Paying special attention to the "theatricality" of the new models and perspectives afforded by scientific experimentation, the class will read plays by Shakespeare, Tate, Brecht, Ford, Churchill, and Kushner, as well as primary and secondary texts from a wide range of disciplines. Students will also compose and perform in scenes based on that material."

Examines the field of theatrical lighting design. Students gain an overall technical working knowledge of the tools of the trade and learn how and where to apply them to a final design. Explores artistic, conceptual, and collaborative processes of the craft. Hands-on approach with several classes spent in the theater. Students take advantage of the Boston theater scene by touring several off campus spaces and learning how theater architecture affects design choices. Assignments include: written script analysis, plot and paperwork for theoretical design in MIT theater space, and adaptation of plot to different spatial situations and locations. Oral presentations and in-class critiques. Final project required in which students execute a fully realized production (frequently a dance concert) from start to finish. This class explores the artistry of Lighting Design. Students gain an overall technical working knowledge of the tools of the trade, and learn how, and where to apply them to a final design. However essential technical expertise is, the class stresses the artistic, conceptual, collaborative side of the craft. The class format is a "hands on" approach, with a good portion of class time spent in a theatre.

This resource is a syllabus intended for a 16-week online Music Appreciation (MUSI1306) course. 

Directed composition of larger forms of original writing involving voices and/or instruments. Includes a weekly seminar in composition for the presentation and discussion of student work in progress. Students are expected to produce at least one substantive work, performed in public, by the end of the term. Contemporary compositions and major works from twentieth-century music literature are studied. Meets with graduate subject 21M.505, but assignments vary.

This collection is the first of five dealing with the rudiments of music.

This collection is the second of five dealing with the rudiments of music.

Welcome to Music 1300, Music: Its Language History, and Culture. The course has a number of interrelated objectives:
1. To introduce you to works representative of a variety of music traditions.These include the repertoires of Western Europe from the Middle Agesthrough the present; of the United States, including art music, jazz, folk, rock, musical theater; and from at least two non-Western world areas (Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent).
2. To enable you to speak and write about the features of the music you study,employing vocabulary and concepts of melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, timbre,and form used by musicians.
3. To explore with you the historic, social, and cultural contexts and the role of class, ethnicity, and gender in the creation and performance of music,including practices of improvisation and the implications of oral andnotated transmission.
4. To acquaint you with the sources of musical sounds—instruments and voices fromdifferent cultures, found sounds, electronically generated sounds; basic principlesthat determine pitch and timbre.
5. To examine the influence of technology, mass media, globalization, and transnationalcurrents on the music of today.
The chapters in this reader contain definitions and explanations of musical terms and concepts,short essays on subjects related to music as a creative performing art, biographical sketchesof major figures in music, and historical and cultural background information on music fromdifferent periods and places.

Begins with the premise that the 1960s mark a great dividing point in the history of twentieth-century Western musical culture, and explores the ways in which various social and artistic concerns of composers, performers, and listeners have evolved since that decade. Focuses on works by classical composers from around the world. Topics to be explored include: the impact of rock, as it developed during the 1960s-70s; the concurrent emergence of post-serial, neo-tonal, Minimalist, and New Age styles; the globalization of Western musical traditions; the impact of new technologies; and the significance of music video, video games, and other versions of (digital) multimedia. Interweaves discussion of these topics with close study of seminal musical works, evenly distributed across the four decades since 1960. Works by MIT composers included.

NOTE: Note, if you cannot see the materials, click "View Resource" and then click "Link" on the blank page which appears (or go directly to http://musictheory.tech).

This open educational resource (OER) textbook which is available at http://musictheory.tech contains an explanation of concepts from Music Theory I, II, III, and IV. It is supplemented by video explanations and online assessment activities. It is available at no cost for students and faculty of music theory so long as they use it according to the terms. The copyright notice must not be removed and the terms of distribution may not be changed. Derivative works are permitted under the same terms. Derivative works must be registered by email to editor@musictheory.tech. The concise nature of the materials makes them especially useful for those wishing to review theory concepts before taking an entrance exam, or for students needing out-of-class review of theory topics. The book and materials are under active development and suggestions for improvements are welcome! The materials were created with partial support from an OER grant from Tarleton State University. Floyd Richmond the author has taught college-level music theory I, II, III, and IV for 15 years to hundreds of students.

The supplemental videos and interactive assessments are found in the text but are extracted and listed online at http://musictheory.tech.

The following list of concepts extracted from the Table of Contents shows the scope of the textbook.

THEORY I

WHY IS MUSIC THEORY IMPORTANT

MUSIC THEORY THROUGHOUT HISTORY

WHICH NOTE TO PLAY
Staff, Clef, Treble (G), Bass (F), Alto (C), Tenor (C), Ledger Lines, Octaves

NAMING THE NOTES

ACCIDENTALS
Lines, Space, Accidentals, Sharps, Flats, Naturals, Double Sharps, Double Flats, Octave Numbers

RHYTHM
Note Shape, Heads, Stems, Beams, Rhythmic Names, Duration

STEM DIRECTION
Stem Direction, Special Cases, Center Line, Beamed Notes)

RHYTHMIC RELATIONSHIPS
Whole Notes, Half Notes, Quarter Notes, Eighth Rests, Sixteenth Notes
Whole Rests, Half Rests, Quarter Rests, Eighth Rests, Sixteenth Rests

PATTERNS AND COUNTING
One Beat Patterns, Two Beat Patterns, Kodaly, Gordan, Traditional

METER AND TIME SIGNATURES
Meter, Quadruple Meter, Triple Meter, Duple Meter, Conducting Patterns

PICKUP NOTES
Anacrusis, Conducting

MORE ABOUT TIME SIGNATURES
Common Time, Rhythmic Durations, Time Signatures with a 2, 4, or 8 on the bottom, Simple meter, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4

COMPOUND TIME SIGNATURES
6/8, 9/8, 12/8

DOTTED NOTE VALUES
Dotted Quarter/Eighth, Dotted Eighth/Sixteenth

TIES

SLURS

REPEATS
One-measure Repeats, Two measure Repeats, Simple Repeats, First and Second Endings, DC al Fine, DS al fine, DC al Coda, DS al Coda

MAJOR SCALES
Chromatic Scale, Major Scale, Solfege, do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do, Fixed and Movable do, Whole and Half Steps in a Major Scale

KEY SIGNATURES
Order of Sharps and Flats, Mnemonic Devices, Placement on the Staff, 15 Major Key Names and Number of Sharps and Flats

TONALITY

MINOR SCALES
Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic Minor Scales, Construction, 15 Mine Key Names and Number of Sharps and Flats

MODES
Minor Modes: Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian; Major Modes: Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian; Other Modes: Locrian; Other Scales: Pentatonic, Whole Tone, Octatonic, Pitch Class Set, Chromatic

INTERVALS
Consonant Intervals, Dissonant Intervals, Neutral Intervals, Melodic Intervals, Harmonic Intervals, Unison, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, Octave, Qualities of Interval: Major, Minor, Perfect, Diminished, Augmented, Doubly Diminished, Doubly Augmented, Listening to Intervals, Enharmonically Equivalent Intervals, Most Consonant, Neutral, and Dissonant Intervals, Inverting Intervals, Identifying Intervals, Constructing Intervals

SCALE DEGREE NAMES
Tonic, Supertonic, Mediant, Sub Dominant, Dominant, Submediant, Leading Tone, Sub Tonic

TRIADS
Major (Mm), Minor (mM), Diminished (mm), Augmented (MM), Arrangement on Scale Steps in Major Keys, Arrangement on Scale Steps in Minor Keys, Identifying Triads, Spelling Triads

CHORD SYMBOLS FOR TRIADS
Popular Music Conventions, Roman Numeral Conventions

TRIAD INVERSION
Root Position – Bass Note: Root, First Inversion (6) Bass Note: Third, Second Inversion (64) Bass Note: Fifth

HARMONIC PROGRESSIONS
Dominant to Tonic Movement, Circle of Fifths, . . . iii, vi, ii, V I . . .

CHORD SUBSTITUTIONS
Chords with Shared Notes, Common Chord Substitutions

MORE ABOUT CHORD PROGRESSIONS
Chord Substitutions in Major and Minor Keys, I64 as a dominant substitution, Cadential 64 Progressions

WRITING MUSIC
Rhythms, Melodies, Harmonies, Texture, Form

CREATING HARMONIES
Two Voices, Three Voices, Four Voices, Voice Leading Rules, Resolving Adjacent Chords, Resolving Chords with Tendency Tones

NON-CHORD TONES
Passing Tone, Neighboring Tone, Appoggiaturas, Escape Tones, Anticipations, Suspensions, Retardations, Pedal Tones, Suspension Numbers, Identifying, Constructing

CADENCES
Function of Cadences, Types of Cadences: Authentic Cadences, Perfect Authentic Cadences, Imperfect Authentic Cadences, Plagal Cadences, Half Cadences, Deceptive Cadences; Strength of Cadences

PERIOD AND PHRASE CONSTRUCTION
Phrases, Periods, Double Periods, Antecedent, Consequent, Parallel Construction

THEORY II

SEVENTH CHORDS
M7 (MmM), Mm7 (Mmm), m7 (mMm), Æ7 (mmM), °7 (mmm), Writing Quality with Popular and Roman Numeral Systems

SEVENTH CHORD INVERSION
Root Position (7), First Inversion (65), Second Inversion (43), Third Inversion (42), Popular and Roman Numeral Conventions, Seventh Chord Progressions, Substitutions, Doubling, Resolving, Identifying, Construction, Using 9th, 11th, and 13th Chords

SECONDARY DOMINANTS
Concept, Purpose, Circle of Fifths, Major and Minor Keys, Identification, Construction, Resolution

SECONDARY SEVENTH CHORDS
Concept, Purpose, Identification, Construction, Resolution

THEORY III

MODULATIONS
Pivot Chords, Common Tones, Direct Modulations

BORROWED CHORDS

PREDOMINANT CHORDS
Neapolitan 6 (N6), Augmented Chords: German (G+6), Italian (I+6), French (F+6), Other +6 Chords, Enharmonic Spelling, Identification, Constructions, Resolution, Secondary Augmented Sixth Chords

THEORY IV

LATE ROMANTIC AND IMPRESSIONISTIC PRACTICES
More Substitute Chords, ct°7, Parallel Chords, Planing, Chromatic Mediants, Whole Tone Scales, Octatonic Scales, Pentatonic Scales, Modal Scales, Modified Modal Scales, Making Dissonances Approachable

TWENTIETH CENTURY AND BEYOND

TWENTIETH CENTURY CLASSICAL MUSIC
Meter (Changing Meters, Asymmetric Meters, Bimetric, Polymetric), Tonality (Bitonality, Polytonality), Non-Tertian Harmony (Tone Clusters, Secundal Harmony, Quartal Harmony, Quintal Harmony), Pandiatonic Harmony, Minimalism, Expressionism/Serialism, Aleatoric Music, Prepared Piano, Music Concrete, Electronic Music

JAZZ
Origins, Influences, Vocabularies, Melodies, Rhythms, Expression, Harmony

POP MUSIC
Decades, Instruments (Folk, Clean Electric, Distorted Electronic, Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Vocals), Harmonies, Memorization, Modulations, Forms, Timbres

FORMS
Binary, Ternary, Round/Canon, Invention, Fugue, Passacaglia, Minuet, Theme and Variation, Rondo, Sonata Allegro, Tone Poem

Music Theory for the 21st–Century Classroom is an openly–licensed online four–semester college music theory textbook. This text differs from other music theory textbooks by focusing less on four–part (SATB) voiceleading and more on relating harmony to the phrase. Also, in traditional music theory textbooks, there is little emphasis on motivic analysis and analysis of melodic units smaller than the phrase. In my opinion, this led to students having difficulty with creating melodies, since the training they are given is typically to write a “melody” in quarter notes in the soprano voice of part writing exercises. When the assignments in those texts ask students to do more than this, the majority of the students struggle to create a melody with continuity and with appropriate placement of harmonies within a phrase because the text had not prepared them to do so.

Music Theory for the 21st–Century Classroom is an openly–licensed online college music theory textbook that is meant to take the student from the basics of reading and writing pitches and rhythms through twelve–tone technique and minimalism over the course of four semesters. This text differs from other music theory textbooks by focusing less on four–part (SATB) voiceleading and more on relating harmony to the phrase. Also, in traditional music theory textbooks, there is little emphasis on motivic analysis and analysis of melodic units smaller than the phrase. Whenever possible, examples from popular music and music from film and musical theater are included to illustrate melodic and harmonic concepts, usually within the context of the phrase. Practice exercises (with answers), homework exercises, and practice tests are included.

This YouTube channel hosts a series of short (about 15 min) talks and performances for the Pavlov/Tertis Project, which explores connections between music and psychology. The talks were written and delivered by Michael Domjan, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, who is an internationally recognized expert in conditioning and learning. Dr. Domjan also received training as a violist in the preparatory division of the Juilliard School of Music. In this series of videos, he combines his knowledge of psychology with his knowledge of music. Topics include How is psychology relevant to music, Neuroscience and music, Habituation and sensitization in the music of J. S. Bach, Types of memory in musical performance, Why is it harder to teach playing the violin. than playing baseball, What is a Tertis viola?, How is Pavlovian conditioning relevant to music?, Talent vs practice in musical expertise, Why is it important to practice a musical instrument, and What I learned in a music conservatory that made me a better scientist.