An Introduction to my "Intro to Music Class" Posts

As part of an Introduction to Music course I’m offering through Delaware Valley College (held on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College), I’ve been posting about various topics here on my blog for the students.

While these may be of interest to other “non-musicians” wanting to know more about classical music, this is not meant to be a self-contained course nor is it geared to be all-inclusive.These are merely more detailed presentations on class topics.

It was not my intent, given the nature of the course and the role of an adjunct professor, to write my own textbook for the class.

This particular page is a table of contents with links to the individual posts: I will continue to add to them as the course progresses over the semester.

It began with posting about Dissonance & Consonance which had more information I wanted them to have access to. Most people think "dissonance" is just "an ugly sound" but in reality it's anything that creates tension - melodic or harmonic - that requires resolution (to consonance).

An Introduction to the Orchestra with a video clip of Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra."

Fugue, Imitation & Counterpoint with some more detailed explanation about the definition of a "fugue" and different types of fugue-like writing.

Terminology in any field can be so confusing - not just because there's so much of it but it can often sound contradictory partly because, in too many instances, it is...

Tonality is one of the most significant aspects of classical music from the Baroque Period to the present, the predominant organizational system of music between, say, 1700 and 1900. The general concept may have been in use before and after but often in slightly different ways.

Sonata Form is the driving force behind formal structure in music of the Classical and Romantic period.

Intro to Beethoven is only the briefest of introductions to the man and his music, the role of the composer in society and the time and a pivotal figure in the development of music from the Classical to the Romantic Era and beyond.

More to come...

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You can also follow the generic thread (scrolling down for the earlier posts) through this tag or label link.


- Dick Strawser