Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Create a composition based on a serial, cell-based, minimalist, generative, or aleatoric process.

2. Apply pitch transformations (transposition, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde-inversion) to a given musical fragment.

3. Analyze variation techniques as applied in a musical composition.

4. Arrange a short musical example for multiple musical instruments and/or voices.

5. Create a graphic or event score.

Material will primarily be presented in a lecture/discussion format. Other educational methods will be used to enhance lectures. These will include guest presentations and performances, research papers, small group work, original composition assignments and concert attendance.
A large amount of student to teacher and student to student contact should be achieved throughout the term in order to encourage and accomplish successful student development. The application of concepts presented will be accomplished through the examination of musical works in a variety of musical genres. Composition assignments that focus on particular aspects of music will be regularly scheduled.  Whenever possible students should be encouraged to perform assignments and compositions in the classroom. In addition, students will be given the opportunity to learn and use music technology (MIDI) to supplement the regular course work.

The instructor should make the criteria for assigning a course grade and for evaluating student progress clear at the beginning of the term. The individual instructor will determine the methods of assessment. Assessment methods may include:

Qualitative examinations
Quantitative examinations
Homework assignments
Music presentations
Class participation
Composition projects
Small group work/problem solving
Concert reports

• Serial, atonal, and cell-based composition

• Minimalist techniques

• Conceptualism, event pieces, and graphic notation

• Deep Listening

• Intermedia composition

• Generative composition

• Musique concrète and studio techniques

• Aleatoric composition

• Experimentalism

• Microtonality

• Tuning and remperament 

• Orchestration and arranging 

• Instrument transposition

• Variation rechnique