“Human history at last took off around 50,000 years ago, at the time of what I have termed the Great Leap Forward. The earliest definite signs of that leap come from East African sites with standardized stone tools and the first preserved jewelry (ostrich-shell beads). Similar developments soon appear in Near East and in Southeastern Europe, then (some 40,000 years ago) in southwestern Europe, where abundant artifacts are associated with fully modern skeletons of people termed Cro-Magnon. Thereafter, the garbage preserved at archaeological sites becomes more and more interesting and leaves no doubt that we are dealing with biologically and behaviorally modern humans.” (Diamond, 1997, p. 39). 

"Technology use is often not commonplace. When it is used, it is frequently not integrated in a way that optimizes its potential to support learning, and perhaps to even transform the learning experience of students through innovative pedagogical approaches and the study of unique content" (Bauer, 2014, p. 6).

"When making decisions about whether or not to use a particular technology, teachers should conduct a cost/benefit analysis that considers the technology's affordances (benefits) and constraints (limiting features) in relation to learning outcomes and the classroom context. Technology approaches shouldn't be used for technology's sake. They should only be incorporated when there is a clear benefit to learning" (Bauer, 2020, p. 8).

“In measure 23 the music makes me feel as if I’m flying away to far-away lands filled with magic and mystery. This section reminds me of dancing unicorns and whimsical fairies playing in meadows of rainbow flowers.”

“The virtuosic sixteenth note arpeggios in measures 23-30 evoke the sensation of flight before subsiding into a repetitive dance-like rhythmic motive in measure 31 that emphasizes this section’s compound meter.”

“In measure one the subject is introduced in C minor. In measure 2 the subject modulates to G minor and it is a tonal answer. In measure 2 the countersubject also enters for the first time. Measures 4 and 5 are a sequence that modulates back to C minor.”

“It is clear with the pauses in the alto voice that the piece is about to conclude and the pause in measure 28 supports this feeling. The terminative function is further made clear with the added voices and tonic pedal in measures 30-31 that makes the passage sound more polished and conclusive.”

“Measure 11 contains a G7 chord which would be analyzed as V7/IV. This then resolves to a C chord (the tonic triad in the subdominant key) and repeats this pattern two beats later. This modulation is subtle and difficult to notice in the recording, but when tonic shifts back to the original key with a D7 chord it causes tension for the listener until its resolution in G two measures later.”

“Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most famous composers of the Baroque era. He is considered to be a master of the fugue because he wrote them in such an intelligent way. Bach published two volumes titled The Well-Tempered Clavier. These books contain a set of preludes and fugues in every key. The first volume was publish in 1722 and the second in 1744.”

1. THE NOTES ON THE PIANO: The first item is perhaps the most obvious. Arriving with an understanding that each key on the piano keyboard represents one half step and the names of at least the white keys. While there are other instruments where theory can be easily understood (guitar, for example), the piano remains the basic musical instrument.
2. MAJOR SCALES: The ability to perform major scales in more than one key and a basic understanding that scales are patterns. This concept is necessary to understand transposition, a key skill for understanding the structural relationships that we will explore throughout the sequence.
3. SOLMIZATION: Aural skills begins with material slightly ahead of music theory, so it is really useful if students arrive with knowledge of a solmization system. I personally favor fixed-do solfege syllables but again I'm more concerned with the conceptual understanding of solmization than I am the actual system. 
4. INTERVALS: While vital to understanding all manner of musical structures, intervals are my least favorite music fundamental to teach because they have very little value out of context, especially early in the theory curriculum. Interval identification is a skill that begins with the simple counting of half steps and can be readily learned and practiced online.
5. COMPOUND METER: Few students arrive as music majors without a basic knowledge of simple meters, particularly those with a quarter note beat unit. However, the ability to hear and internalize the difference between a beat division in two (simple) and a beat division in three (compound) is often lacking. This leads to a misunderstanding of how compound meter works and some of the more spirited class discussions of the fall semester.