Music Theory is a very practical subject that is completely entwined with performance and composition. The Music Theory course at the Saudi Music Hub are designed to provide learners developing their skills in musical literacy. Each grade represents a new challenge for the learner, providing motivation and structure to develop and hone skills in reading, writing, understanding and interpreting staff notation.
Grade 1
Course description
Grade 1 in Music Theory is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music notation, including pitches, rhythms, keys, time signatures, notational conventions, simple transpositions and common Italian terms.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Identify and write basic elements of music notation, including pitches, key signatures, tonic triads, scales, degrees of the scale and intervals in treble and bass clefs, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify, name and explain basic elements of music notation, including dynamics, other musical instructions, and Italian terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Complete musical extracts by adding time signatures, bar lines and rests, and amend them by grouping notes and rests, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of simple music, and transfer pitches and short melodic fragments between clefs and octaves, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 2
Course description
Grade 2 in Music Theory is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music notation, including pitches, rhythms, keys, time signatures, notational conventions, simple transpositions and common Italian terms. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at the grade 1.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Identify and write basic elements of music notation, including pitches, key signatures, tonic triads, scales, degrees of the scale and intervals in treble and bass clefs, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify, name and explain basic elements of music notation, including dynamics, other musical instructions, and Italian terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Complete musical extracts by adding time signatures, bar lines and rests, and amend them by grouping notes and rests, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of simple music, and transfer pitches and short melodic fragments between clefs and octaves, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 3
Course description
Grade 3 in Music Theory is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music notation, including pitches, rhythms, keys, time signatures, notational conventions, simple transpositions and common Italian terms. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at the grade 2.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Identify and write basic elements of music notation, including pitches, key signatures, tonic triads, scales, degrees of the scale and intervals in treble and bass clefs, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify, name and explain basic elements of music notation, including dynamics, other musical instructions, and Italian terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Complete musical extracts by adding time signatures, bar lines and rests, and amend them by grouping notes and rests, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of simple music, and transfer pitches and short melodic fragments between clefs and octaves, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 4
Course description
Grade 4 in Music Theory is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in more complex elements of Western music notation, including pitches, rhythms, keys, time signatures, notational conventions, transpositions and common Italian, French and German musical terms. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at the grade 3.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Identify and write elements of more advanced music notation, including pitches, key signatures, scales, technical names of notes in diatonic scales, intervals
and chords of I, IV V, bass, alto clefs, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify, name and explain more advanced elements of music notation, including dynamics, ornaments, other musical instructions, and Italian, French and German musical terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Complete musical extracts of moderate difficulty by adding time signatures, bar lines and rests; grouping notes and rests; and rewriting musical passages in notes of half or twice the value, or from compound to simple time and vice versa, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of moderately complex music, and transfer short melodic fragments between clefs, octaves and keys, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 5
Course description
Grade 5 in Music Theory is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in more complex elements of Western music notation, including pitches, rhythms, keys, time signatures, notational conventions, transpositions and common Italian, French and German musical terms. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at the grade 4.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Identify and write elements of more advanced music notation, including pitches, key signatures, scales, technical names of notes in diatonic scales, intervals and chords of I, IV V and II in treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify, name and explain more advanced elements of music notation, including dynamics, ornaments, other musical instructions, and Italian, French and German musical terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Complete musical extracts of moderate difficulty by adding time signatures, bar lines and rests; grouping notes and rests; and rewriting musical passages in notes of half or twice the value, or from compound to simple time and vice versa, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of moderately complex music, and transfer short melodic fragments between clefs, octaves and keys, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 6
Course description
Grade 6 is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music harmony, melodic writing and interpretation of complex written scores, covering figured bass, trio sonata, keyboard writing, and music in a range of styles up to full orchestral score. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at Grade 5.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Complete advanced harmonic tasks in interpreting figured bass, completing harmony and counterpoint exercises from a stimulus drawn from real repertoire, reconstructing music from skeleton scores with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of harmonic conventions, styles and characteristics.
Compose an original melody with a sense of shape and direction, generally continuing in the same style and character as indicated by the opening, and write idiomatically for a range of instruments with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of their technical characteristics and of stylistic conventions.
Identify, name and write advanced elements of music notation, including dynamics, ornaments, other music instructions, and Italian, French and German musical terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of complex music, including its underlying form and harmonic structure, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 7
Course description
Grade 7 is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music harmony, melodic writing and interpretation of complex written scores, covering figured bass, trio sonata, keyboard writing, and music in a range of styles up to full orchestral score. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at Grade 6.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Complete advanced harmonic tasks in interpreting figured bass, completing harmony and counterpoint exercises from a stimulus drawn from real repertoire, reconstructing music from skeleton scores with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of harmonic conventions, styles and characteristics.
Compose an original melody with a sense of shape and direction, generally continuing in the same style and character as indicated by the opening, and write idiomatically for a range of instruments with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of their technical characteristics and of stylistic conventions.
Identify, name and write advanced elements of music notation, including dynamics, ornaments, other music instructions, and Italian, French and German musical terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of complex music, including its underlying form and harmonic structure, with a general degree of accuracy.
Grade 8
Course description
Grade 8 is designed to provide learners with a solid foundation in fundamental elements of Western music harmony, melodic writing and interpretation of complex written scores, covering figured bass, trio sonata, keyboard writing, and music in a range of styles up to full orchestral score. The exact scope of the material covered is built cumulatively on material learned at Grade 7.
Learning outcomes
Learners will be able to:
Complete advanced harmonic tasks in interpreting figured bass, completing harmony and counterpoint exercises from a stimulus drawn from real repertoire, reconstructing music from skeleton scores with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of harmonic conventions, styles and characteristics.
Compose an original melody with a sense of shape and direction, generally continuing in the same style and character as indicated by the opening, and write idiomatically for a range of instruments with a general degree of accuracy and awareness of their technical characteristics and of stylistic conventions.
Identify, name and write advanced elements of music notation, including dynamics, ornaments, other music instructions, and Italian, French and German musical terms relating to tempo and expression, with a general degree of accuracy.
Identify and describe the meaning of various features of a piece of complex music, including its underlying form and harmonic structure, with a general degree of accuracy.
