Class Ensemble Project — Short Score MUS 111 Syllabus & ScheduleWilliam Wieland
Submit a MuseScore or PDF file which meets the following criteria:
  • Short (1 to 2 minutes) — so you have time to complete a full score and extract parts and so we have time to perform it.
  • Polyphonic — at least 2 independent parts
  • Just enough staves for all of your parts. (An SATB piece will use 4 staves.) This will make it easy to copy and paste into your final score.
  • Simple — so your classmates can sight read it. We are all too busy to rehearse these.
    • Transpose the piece to an easy key—1 flat, 1 sharp, or none.
    • Avoid sixteenth notes and syncopations. (If your rhythms are tricky, ask me for suggestions.)
  • Complete — all pitches and rhythms — Don't simply write chord symbols.
Writing music well for a unique ensemble is a useful skill. You will create a piece for instruments available in class. You may do one of the following:
  • Composition — an original work. You create everything.
  • Arrangement — an adaptation that retains the melody or harmony of the original but otherwise is new
      — A good example is a lead sheet. You are given the melody and bass line, but you must write the inner part(s).
  • Transcription — music scored for different performing forces. You might change the key, but the music remains fundamentally unchanged.
      — If you want to keep things simple, you may select a Christmas Carol.
Voices and piano are not included because you will compose a threefold amen and a piano piece this semester.
 
Please ask questions and show me your progress before this is due.