There are several ways to address unfamiliarity with theory fundamentals or to improve aural skills. A music educator in your area (your choir director, band or orchestra conductor, or private instructor) may be able to help you. Furthermore, many of these skills can be addressed through piano study, so if you’re not a pianist you might consider taking some piano lessons during the summer.
We also recommend an online course from the Eastman School of Music designed for students who are entering college and conservatory programs and wish to prepare for theory placement exams. To learn more about Eastman's e-theory course, please click on the following link: http://www.esm.rochester.edu/iml/entrepreneurship/eTheory/
To register for Eastman's e-course, use the following link in order to receive a $20 discount for Lawrence students:
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http://www.regonline.com/checkin.asp?eventid=724522
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Enter your email address in the appropriate box.
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In the box labeled Eastman, please enter “lawrence12s”. This will change the price from $87 to $67
Once you register, your login information will be sent to you within 24 hours.
Finally, we recommend you obtain the following materials and use them as the basis of your summer study. The textbooks can be ordered from a variety of online booksellers. Those so indicated will also be required texts in the core theory curriculum:
Written Fundamentals
Steven G. Laitz, The Complete Musician, third edition (Oxford University Press, 2011). ISBN: 978-0199742783 Required text for all theory sections.
We strongly encourage all incoming students to purchase this text and use it as the basis of your summer study. In particular, please master the theory fundamentals covered in Appendices 1A (Pitch), 1B (Rhythm and Meter), and 1C (Intervals). We will go through this material very quickly in the fall, because we expect you to know it. If you have time, we suggest you also read Appendices 1D (Triads) and 1E (Seventh Chords), which will prepare you for the more advanced treatment of harmony and part-writing we begin in the fall term. Even if you think you know a little (or even a lot) about theory fundamentals, we urge you to read these appendices, as this material is essential to all that follows in the theory curriculum.
John Clough, Joyce Conley, and Claire Boge, Scales, Intervals, Keys, Triads, Rhythm, and Meter, third edition. (New York: Norton, 1999). Recommended text for theory fundamentals.
In addition, links to downloadable worksheets for theory fundamentals (with answer sheets) are available on Professor Biringer’s webpage.
Aural Skills
Robert W. Ottman and Nancy Rogers, Music for Sight Singing, 8th edition (Pearson/Prenctice-Hall, 2011). ISBN: 978-0205760084. Required sight singing text.
Anne C. Hall, Studying Rhythm, 3rd edition (Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005). ISBN: 978-0130406026. Required sight singing text.
Leo Kraft, A New Approach to Ear Training (New York: Norton, 1999). Recommended text for self-study melodic and harmonic dictation.
MacGAMUT 6 Ear Training Software. Recommended software for ear training and theory fundamentals; cross-platform for Mac and Windows. MacGAMUT can be purchased directly from the publisher ($40 plus $3.00 shipping, or download to avoid shipping costs): www.macgamut.com or 800-305-8731.
Additional Required Text
The following anthology is also a required text in the theory curriculum; we list it here not because we expect you to use it for your summer study but only in case you’d like to purchase in advance all your required theory textbooks.
Charles Burkhart and William Rothstein, Anthology for Musical Analysis, 7th edition, (Cengage/Schirmer, 2012). ISBN-13: 9780495916079. Required music theory text.
