Klarinet Archive - Posting 000137.txt from 2004/05

From: Anna Benassi <acb@-----.is>
Subj: [kl] general teaching of music basics
Date: Fri, 7 May 2004 04:36:01 -0400

Cindy,

I would bet that a first-year college-level traditional harmony course
- preferably coupled with first-year ear training, unless they're
melded into the same course - would help a great deal. When I took
Harmony I, Lo! these many years ago, we were swiftly shunted into the
kind of thing you seem to be seeking.

My husband teaches this stuff at the collegiate level, and he has
found that what most students need in order to study harmony
successfully is a full and facile grasp of intervals and their
inversions - a major third inverts to become a minor sixth, a perfect
fourth inverts to become a perfect fifth, and so on. This is where ear
training can, and usually does, come in.

If a "fundamentals of theory" course covers this and you aren't
comfortable with it, then such a course might not be a waste of time
at all. In addition, the person who can read both treble and bass clef
with ease is a step ahead of the person who struggles with one or the
other. If you're not comfortable with bass clef, you might want to
start there.

Just a few thoughts. Check out the content of the coursework available
to you. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Best of luck,
Anna

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