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Com210
Songwriting
Req/vocalists;
Elective/ instrumentalists — 3 units
Through listening, analysis and imitation of
a wide range of genres, this elective course
focuses on techniques used to write songs that
have stood the test of time. Considerations
including form, song title and lyrics, and melodic,
harmonic and rhythmic content are covered and
applied to students’ original work.
3 hours lecture
Com300
Jazz Composition
3 units
A concentrated writing course utilizing the
compositional styles and techniques of the
master composers as a point of departure
in creating new work. Composers studied
include Ellington, Parker, Silver, Mingus,
Monk, Coltrane, Hancock, Henderson, Shorter,
Brecker, Liebman, Grolnick, Pastorius, Towner
and more. Melodic, harmonic and rhythmic
techniques employed in the music of Mozart,
Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy and other relevant
past masters are also examined and applied
to students’ work. Prerequisites: Mus110B or
equivalent, or consent of instructor.
3 hours lecture
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Com301
Jazz Arranging
3 units
A one-semester introductory course on basic jazz
arranging techniques for the small ensemble. Students
learn ranges and characteristics of instruments,
rules for notating rhythm, how to lay out a
score, how to write for the rhythm section, how to
compose melodies and chord progressions, how
to set a melody to chords, how to voice choralestyle
chords, how to harmonize a moving melodic
line with two to five voices, and various ways of
addressing form. Required texts: Jazz Arranging
and Composing — a Linear Approach, by Bill
Dobbins; Inside the Score, by Rayburn Wright.
Students are assigned three to five arranging
projects. The final project is an arrangement for
five horns and rhythm sections that is recorded.
3 hours lecture
Com380
Counterpoint
Elective — 2 units
Contrapuntal techniques and styles of seventeenth-
and eighteenth-century instrumental
and vocal music, providing a solid foundation
for voice leading. Includes the writing of cantus
firmus, two- and three-part species counterpoint,
and combined species in three voices, in
major and minor modes. Analysis of a range of
important contrapuntal work including the canons,
inventions and fugues of J.S. Bach.
2 hours lecture
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