Music Theory Class for Adults: Grade 3
8 weeks, two hours a week
Grade 3 introduces composition of melodies, cadences, four-part harmony, and modes. Participants must have completed Susan's courses of Grades 1 and 2 before attending this course.
Course Outline
Week 1
- More About Scales and Keys and the Cycle of Fifths
- Simple and compound time signatures
Week 2
- An Introduction to Choral Writing
- Composition: Text setting
Week 3
- Cadences and Chord progressions
- Composition: Melody Writing
Week 4
- More About Cadences
- Form or Structure in music
Week 5
- More About Intervals
- Chords with alternate bass notes
- More About Rhythm
Week 6
- Modulations
- Secondary dominants
- Notating Expression and Form
Week 7
- Modes
- Other types of scales
- The pentatonic scale
- The Whole Tone scale
- A Brief History of Western Music
Week 8
- Revision
- Past paper
About Susan Deas
Susan Deas is a professional musician, lecturer and teacher. She has been teaching piano for over twenty years, and her students learn both classical and contemporary styles, including playing by ear and improvisation. Susan also gives professional development workshops and lessons to private music teachers. She performs professionally as a pianist and organist, and lectures in music theory and music appreciation for Sydney University’s Centre for Continuing Education. Susan’s training includes a Bachelor of Music with a major in Performance (Piano) and Musicology, a Master of Music Studies (Studio Pedagogy), a Bachelor of Arts (Communications), and an A.Mus.A in Musicianship. Susan is an Accredited Member of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW.
More about Susan’s qualifications
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