16th CENTURY COUNTERPOINT (Spring 1999)
Professor: Stephen Peles Office: 252-A Moody Music Building
Office phone: 348-1472 Office
Hours: by appointment
Materials (bring with you to all classes)
Textbooks: A
Practical Approach to Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint, Robert Gauldin
Other: music
paper, note paper, pencils.
Grading
The final grade for this course will be determined as follows.
Homework assignments
and quizzes: 50%
Midterm exam: 20%
Final exam: 30%
In accordance with University of Alabama grading
policy, final letter grades are assigned according to the following scale.
A+ = 97-100 A = 93-96 A- = 90-92
B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- = 80-82
C+ = 77-79 C = 73-76 C- = 70-72
D+ = 67-69 D = 63-66 D- = 60-62
F = 0-59
Course material is
presented in three forms: textbook
readings, handouts, and lectures. You
are responsible for all material, regardless of the medium of presentation. A great deal of course content is presented only through the lectures. It is therefore of utmost importance that you bring note paper
and music paper to class and take notes. In the event that you are absent for a
lecture, be sure to get the notes for that class from a classmate.
To request disability
accommodations, please contact Disabilities Services (348-4285). After initial arrangements are made with
that office, contact your professor.
Attendance Policy:
Students will be
allowed 5 unexcused absences.
Students will be excused for the following
reasons only:
(1) a death in the
family
(2) illness
accompanied by a doctor's excuse indicating that the student was too ill to
attend class
(3) a recognized
departmental or university function
One percentage point
shall be deducted from the final grade for each unexcused absence in excess of
five.
Late assignments are
not accepted.
Any student who misses
more than 20% of the total number of classes is advised to withdraw from the
course. Failure to do so will result in
a grade of F.
Schedule*
UNIT I: Characteristics of the Single Melodic Line
____________________________________________________________________________________
Week 1 (1/6-1/8): Introduction; Plainchant; Correlation of
Latin Text with Melody
Weeks 2-4
(1/11-1/29): Melodic Writing with White
Notes
Gauldin chaps. 1 & 2
UNIT II: Two-voice Counterpoint with White Notes
____________________________________________________________________________________
Week 5 (2/1-2/5): Consonance/Dissonance; Cadences; Imitation
Gauldin chap. 3
UNIT III: Two-voice Counterpoint with Black Notes
____________________________________________________________________________________
Week 6
(2/8-2/12): Melodic Writing with Black
Notes
Gauldin chap. 4
Week 7-8
(2/15-2/26): Two-Voice Counterpoint
Gauldin chap. 5
Week 9 (3/1-3/5): Double Counterpoint & Canon
Gauldin chap. 6
UNIT IV: Three-voice Counterpoint
____________________________________________________________________________________
Week 10
(3/8-3/12): Three-voice Counterpoint in
White Notes; MIDTERM EXAM
Gauldin chaps. 8 & 9
Weeks 11-12
(3/15-3/26): Three-voice Counterpoint
in Black Notes
Gauldin chap. 10
Week 13
(3/29-4/2): Spring Break
Week 14
(4/5-4/9): Paraphrase Technique; Canon
in Three Voices
Gauldin chap. 11
UNIT V: Four-voice Counterpoint
____________________________________________________________________________________
Weeks 15-17
(4/12-4/30): Four-Part
Counterpoint: "Familiar
Style"
Gauldin chap. 13
Additional readings
(apart from the textbook) may also be assigned.