Harmony and Form in Jazz and Popular Music

3.00 credits · Undergraduate

This course focuses on the study of tonal harmony, chromaticism, and form, drawing from jazz and popular music repertoires. Topics include: mode mixture, tritone substitutions, common-tone chromatic chords, extended and altered chords, ii-V-I progressions and substitutions, reharmonization, popular song forms, and issues of rhythm and meter in jazz and popular music. Students will learn the tools necessary to analyze music drawn from this repertoire and articulate their findings in their writing. Through regular quizzes, assignments, and projects, students will gain facility to compose music that models the idioms from the chosen repertoire of study.