Canary PAU Music Analysis II study plan
Canary PAU Music Analysis II · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Musical language and formal analysis: notation, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture and timbre applied to the reading of scores
Label every chord symbol, figured bass inversion and non-chord tone in a 24-bar tonal excerpt without consulting a key reference
Transcribe by ear and then notate the rhythmic profile of two contrasting passages, marking syncopation, hemiola and phrase-level accent
Reduce a four-voice texture to a two-voice outer-line sketch and annotate the implied harmonic rhythm
Build a one-page glossary of 20 texture and timbre terms and attach each to a concrete notational sign or score marking
Your checkpoint
A fully annotated 24-bar score (chords, NCTs, rhythmic accents, texture labels) plus the two-voice reduction, submitted as a single PDF
Musical language and formal analysis: notation, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture and timbre applied to the reading of scores & Analysis of tonal works: harmonic functions, cadences, modulations, phrase structure and thematic development
Identify and name all cadence types (PAC, IAC, HC, plagal, deceptive, Phrygian) in three short tonal works and justify each label in one sentence
Map phrase structure of a 16-bar period using letter labels (a, a', b) and state the cadence that closes each phrase
Detect and label every modulation in a binary-form movement, naming the pivot chord and the arrival key
Notate the melodic contour of the principal theme and mark its motivic cells
Your checkpoint
A phrase-and-cadence diagram of one complete binary-form movement with every cadence and modulation labelled and justified
Analysis of tonal works: harmonic functions, cadences, modulations, phrase structure and thematic development
Assign Roman numerals and harmonic functions (T, S, D) to every chord of a sonata exposition and flag any chromatic or borrowed chords
Trace the thematic development section of a sonata movement, listing each transformation of the main motive
Compare two recordings or editions of the same passage and note any structural differences in phrasing or repeats
Write 150 words arguing which cadence most strongly articulates the structural close of the exposition
Your checkpoint
A harmonic-function chart of a complete sonata exposition plus a 150-word written justification of its structural cadence
Analysis of tonal works: harmonic functions, cadences, modulations, phrase structure and thematic development & Historical-stylistic contextualisation: relating analysed works to their period, genre, composer and social function
Place three analysed tonal works on a timeline by composer, genre and approximate date, and state one social function for each (church, court, concert hall, domestic)
Identify the stylistic markers (ornamentation, texture, instrumentation) that distinguish Baroque, Classical and Romantic treatment of the same formal type
Explain in writing how the function of a genre (e.g. a dance suite, a symphony) shaped its formal design
Revise earlier analyses to correct any mislabelled cadence or function
Your checkpoint
A comparative one-page table linking three analysed works to period, genre, composer, social function and the formal features that follow from that function
Analysis of works from the 20th and 21st centuries: new scales, atonality, serialism, rhythmic and textural procedures
Identify and notate the pitch-class content of at least three non-diatonic scales (whole-tone, octatonic, modal) from short excerpts
Label the row form (P, R, I, RI with transposition index) of a serial passage and mark the first hexachord
Analyse a passage of free atonality, describing interval cells and registral/textural strategies instead of chord functions
Annotate a rhythmically complex excerpt using additive metre, changing time signatures or proportional notation
Your checkpoint
A 20th/21st-century analysis sheet covering one serial and one non-serial excerpt, with row-form labels, scale identification and rhythmic notation explained
Analysis of works from the 20th and 21st centuries: new scales, atonality, serialism, rhythmic and textural procedures & Musical language and formal analysis: notation, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture and timbre applied to the reading of scores
Describe the textural procedures (layering, klangfarbenmelodie, micropolyphony, collage) in a post-1945 work and link each to a notational sign
Compare the role of timbre in a 19th-century orchestral passage and a spectral or minimalist passage
Notate the rhythmic process (additive/subtractive, phasing, isorhythmic) of a minimalist passage
Identify three passages where conventional harmonic analysis fails and propose an alternative analytical vocabulary for each
Your checkpoint
A comparative textural-and-timbral analysis of two 20th/21st-century excerpts (300 words) with notated rhythmic or pitch examples
Commentary and written expression: structured analytical commentary, correct use of musical terminology and justified personal judgement & Historical-stylistic contextualisation: relating analysed works to their period, genre, composer and social function
Draft a structured analytical commentary (introduction, harmonic/formal analysis, stylistic contextualisation, conclusion) of 500 words on an unseen score
Revise the draft for precise terminology, replacing vague adjectives with specific analytical terms
Integrate historical context into the commentary without letting it replace the analysis
Formulate a justified personal judgement about the work's effectiveness, supported by at least two analytical observations
Your checkpoint
A complete 500-word analytical commentary on an unseen score, structured with headings and terminology-checked
Analysis of tonal works: harmonic functions, cadences, modulations, phrase structure and thematic development & Analysis of works from the 20th and 21st centuries: new scales, atonality, serialism, rhythmic and textural procedures & Commentary and written expression: structured analytical commentary, correct use of musical terminology and justified personal judgement
Complete a timed mock analysis of a tonal work and a 20th-century work under exam conditions
Self-mark both mock answers against a checklist of cadence, modulation, phrase, scale and terminology criteria
Rewrite the weakest section of each mock answer to full-marks standard
Consolidate a one-page summary of recurring analytical traps (pivot-chord errors, mislabelled cadences, row-form confusion)
Your checkpoint
Two timed mock analyses plus a corrected rewrite and a one-page error checklist
Milestones
Week 2: Can label every cadence and modulation in a short tonal work without reference material, scoring at least 80% on a self-marked checklist
Week 4: Can place three analysed works correctly on a period/genre/social-function table and justify each placement in writing
Week 6: Can identify row forms, non-diatonic scales and rhythmic procedures in 20th/21st-century excerpts with at least 80% accuracy
Week 8: Completes two timed mock analyses and a corrected rewrite, with terminology and structure meeting the commentary rubric