MUS 110, Music Theory I
3 credits
Every Fall Semester
Mon, Wed, & Fri — 10:00 to 10:50 am
Spafford Hall 305 		Instructor: William Wieland
Office: Spafford Hall Room 304
Phone: 626-2499
Office Hours: Please refer to my Class Schedule.
E-mail Address: William.Wieland@northern.edu
(I usually respond within 24 hours except weekends and holidays.)
Course Description: An integrated study and application of tonality, melody, harmony, texture and form, from music notation through modulation. Includes sight singing, ear training and dictation. Introduction to composition and arranging, i.e. instrument ranges, transposition, tessitura and preliminary score analysis.
Instructional Methods: Listening, lecture, discussion, analysis, singing, playing, composing, arranging, Internet tutorials, online drills, computer software, quizzes, speed quizzes, and a comprehensive final exam.
Materials: Please acquire music notation software. Several are free online. Please bring a pencil, paper, scratch paper, and staff paper to every class. (Other sizes of free staff paper can be printed from my web site. Go to Theory Things and look under Staff Paper.) You will also receive handouts.
Free Online Materials:  Theory Things  musictheory.net  music theory & history online  teoría.com

  Fundamentals, Function, and Form  Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom  Open Music Theory
Great Apps: musictheory.net
Good Music Theory Textbooks: (not required)
 Burstein & Straus. Concise Introduction to Tonal Harmony. 2nd ed. W.W. Norton, 2020.
 Kostka & Almén. Tonal Harmony. 9th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2024.
Objectives: (from the NASM Handbook 2023–24, Section VIII. B. Common Body of Knowledge and Skills)
1. c. Students must acquire the ability to read at sight with fluency.
2. a. Students must acquire an understanding of the common elements and organizational patterns of music and their interaction, the ability to employ this understanding in aural, verbal, and visual analyses, and the ability to take aural dictation.
2. b. Students must acquire sufficient understanding of and capability with musical forms, processes, and structures to use this knowledge and skill in compositional, performance, analytical, scholarly, and pedagogical applications according to the requisites of their specializations.
3. Students must acquire a rudimentary capacity to create original or derivative music.
5. While synthesis is a lifetime process, by the end of undergraduate study students must be able to work on musical problems by combining, as appropriate to the issue, their capabilities in performance; aural, verbal, and visual analysis; composition/improvisation; and history and repertory.
Performance Standards / Grading Policies: I weigh MUS 110 grades as follows:
A — 90% to 100%
B — 80% to 90%
C — 70% to 80%
D — 60% to 70%
F — Below 60%
To pass MUS 110, you must
  • earn at least a 60% semester grade average,
  • score 100% on Music Fundamentals Quiz I, and
  • earn at least a 60% on the Final Exam.
  • Two Exceptions:
    1. If your semester grade average is 70% or higher, but your final exam grade is in the 50s, you will receive a D rather than an F for the semester.
    2. If your final exam grade average is 70% or higher, but your semester grade is in the 50s, you will receive a D rather than an F for the semester.
Score Your Quiz
Quizzes: You may retake any quiz during my office hours before 5:00 pm on the last day of class. However, you may only retake a particular quiz or performing evaluation once a day. I will record only the highest grades. Note: Even if you earn a good grade on the first attempt at a quiz, you may wish to take it again as a review. Most quiz material appears on the final exam.
What is an A? An A is going beyond what is usual. Students who simply meet minimum course requirements earn Bs or Cs. An A indicates extraordinary work and a B is a good grade.
Attendance: Regular daily attendance is strongly recommended and is required during class exercises, activities and quizzes. Of course, those with certified and serious reasons for missing class will be accomodated. Excessive absenteeism or tardiness usually results in lower grades. Students are responsible for information missed as a result of being absent or tardy.
Northern State University Policy Statements   Technology in the Classroom
Caveat: This syllabus is subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.