University Requirements: The University requires that each department designate as "writing-intensive" at least one course which is required of all students in that department, and that the student's writing in this course be guided by the professor to represent the kind of writing that is accepted as suitable in the professor's professional field. The minimum requirement is a total of 15 pages of writing spread over several different assignments (not a single "term paper") all of which follow a process of drafting, evaluation, revision, and final polishing.

Early Music Literature has been designated by the Music Department as one of four "writing-intensive" courses, along with Symphonic Literature, Choral Literature, and 20th-Century Literature. For music majors any of these courses fulfills the requirement for a writing-intensive course in the major. For non-majors they may fulfill the requirement for a second writing-intensive course outside the major.

There are 4 (or 6, depending on how you count them) writing assignments in this course, but THIS COURSE IS DIFFERENT! All these assignments involve transcribing music from early (medieval and renaissance) notation into modern notation. The deadlines are given below and also on the Course Calendar. All assignments will involve music score paper. Music majors and others who can must submit the final version as a computer printout from Finale, Sibelius, or another computer music program. Non-majors and musi minors may submit neat, hand-written manuscript. NOTE: I may ask for assignments to be turned in as Sibelius files, for those who can, rather than on paper. I'll let you know.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE that this is a revision from earlier years, and the details and due dates may need to be adjusted as the semester progresses.

Non-music majors are encouraged to pair up with a music major. These assignments will be brand new to everyone, but in theory music major will have more depth of background in both modern theory and modern analysis.

• For paper submission, use computer printout OR neat hand manuscript on good music papter, 8 1/2" x 11" in size, with 10 or 12 staves per page. It is better if the staff lines do NOT run off the sides of the page. Use a ruler (a music copyist's best friend!) to draw bar lines, when bar lines are appropriate. Use a good dark pencil that erases well. (The generic Office Max No. 2 pencils are pretty good, but if you can find No. 1 pencils that's even better. And get a GOOD eraser; you'll need it!) If you want to copy final drafts in ink, I recommend PenStix, available (probably) at Mish-Mish, but you'll need to experiment with the size because it's been so long since I used hand copy I can't remember!
• Don't crowd the page! Remember that if text is involved (and it usually will be), words take a LOT more space than notes, even though they are often added last. Plan ahead!
  
• Staple the pages together in the upper-left corner. No fancy binders, please.
  
• Put a heading with your name, your student number(s) (last 4 digits only, please), MUSIC 3144, the assignment, and the date you turn it in at the top of the first page.
  
• Number every bar, not just SOME bars.
  
• Place a simple header on the following pages with your last name and the page number in case the pages get separated and mixed up.
  
• Title pages are not appropriate.

E-mail Submission: For e-mail submission (generally only appropriate for Sibelius files OR .pdf files of computer engraving), prepare your paper as above and transmit your file as an attachment to an e-mail message. Include your last name in the filename (Howell-Jones-Gomez/1.2). It is better to automate this because when I print the paper the page breaks may not be the same. An e-mail submission is on time if it is sent by 11:59:59 pm on the date due.

If you submit regular text files for any reason (like the two Reviews of the Early Music Ensemble concerts), be aware that there is a problem with Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows. The .docx files it produces by default are not compatible with any previous version of Word, or with the Macs used by the Music Department. Save your files in the available older format (Word 2003) as .doc files before submitting them.

Although many attempts were made to develop a useable notation throughout history, the beginning of our modern notation can be traced directly to the Italian Monk, Guido d'Arezzo, who lived and worked in the early 11th century. The notation he developed was for the chants of the Church, but the approach he developed was designed to teach his choirboys to read music in his new notation. That notation is still the best notation for that music.

The Assignment: I may assign specific chants or I may give you a choice. In either case, you are to transcribe the chant notation into clear and readable modern notation while keeping as much information as possible and adding as little as possible We will discuss this in class. Yes, you must include the text, and you must make the intended text underlay clear in your transcription. (Not that difficult, since it is clear in the original notation.

The Process: Work individually, although anyone who is having real trouble may certainly ask other class members for help. Everyone will be starting at a different point, and that's fine.

The Schedule: Due on Thursday, February 5, and will be handed by Thu Feb 12. Any revisions required should be turned in by the following Tuesday.

The first major development beyond chant notation, which indicated pitch but not rhythm, was the late 12th century development of the Rhythmic Modes by the musicians at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. It was based on chant notation and the graphic figures used in chant notation, but was given rhythmic significance. This notation was only in use for between 50 and 75 years, but it influenced musical styles for at least the next 200 years!

The Subject: I will assign a specific example of Rhythmic Modal Notation for everyone to work on, so you can compare your transcriptions. The theory of the Rhythmic Modes is simple enough, but the practice is difficult for us because it is so completely different either from our own modern notation or the earlier chant notation. And as you will find in your assigned readings, musicians were just as likely to argue about it as musicians have been to argue about anything else throughout history!

The Process: You may pair up and collaborate on this project, but you are not required to. If you do pair up, both partners should be clearly identified and both will share the final score. And yes, the text underlay is important, and won't be NEARLY as easy as with chant notation.

The Schedule: Due on Thursday, February 26. Handed back on Thu Mar 5. Any needed revisions due by the following Tuesday.

The first notation to combine rhythmic flexibility with clear pitch notation, and therefore the direct ancestor of our modern notation, is the notation first described by Franco of Cologne in about 1260 or so, so he gets the credit and we call it Franconian notation. In theory it is very clear, and you can learn to sightread it even though there are a couple of unexpected surprises that you simply have to learn and remember. In fact he was also the first to assign rhythmic value to rest marks. Once again, he used the graphic elements that everyone knew from both chant notation and modal notation, but he changed their meanings. This is the notation that almost immediately began to be further developed by other musicians, and over the next 150 years became the most complex notation in existence prior to the 20th century. Understanding it opens up almost all late Medieval and Renaissance music to you in its original notation.

The Subject: I will again provide a specific assignment so that you can compare your transcriptions. It may be from a slightly later time period, but it will be as close to pure Franconian notation as I can give you.

The Process: This will probably be a piece in 3 parts, with the 3 parts on different parts of the page in the original. You'll first want to start with one part and transcribe it for a few phrases in a way that makes musical sense. THEN, add a second part, go about the same length, and see whether the two parts sound OK together. If not, back to the drawing board! (Finding an error can be frustrating, which is why you should work through a phrase or so at a time.) If those 2 parts work, then add the third. And yes, the text underlay is important, but you'll need to think like a singer in order to underlay it in a way that makes musical sense. Again, if you want to work in pairs that's perfectly all right.

The Schedule: Due on Thursday, March 19. Handed back on Thu Mar 26 (after Spring Break). Any needed revisions should be turned in by the following Tuesday.

A transcription of a polyphonic piece of 15th-century music from the original "White" notation into a performing edition in modern notation and clefs. It includes decisions regarding Musica Ficta and, again, text underlay. This is a more fully developed version of Franconian notation, using both white (outlined) and black (filled in) notes, and a few other little interesting traps.

The Subject: This project is built into the Atlas textbook, and will be approached exactly as he presents it in Chapters 4, 17, 21, and 30 as they come, although we won't do much of the work from Chapter 30.

The Process: To be done individually, but helping each other in such a way as to critique and instruct each other is perfectly all right. For non-music majors this will be an exercise in learning the music theory and notation of the 15th century. The following principles apply in general: If the original has names for the parts, they should be retained. The modern clefs selected should represent the original clefs, but should also take into account practical modern voicings and vocal ranges. An incipit at the beginning of each part should show the original clef, key signature, time signature, and the form of the first few notes in each part. The 1st draft may be in manuscript and must be complete in terms of notes; the 2nd draft should include editorial musica ficta; the final draft should incorporate editorial decisions, including text underlay, and should be computer-printed and camera-ready for publication for music majors. The text is French (well, 15th century French!), and there is always a question about whether the entire text can actually be used for the music as given. Interesting question!

The Schedule: The first draft is due on Thursday, April 2, and will be handed back Thu Apr 9. Revisions of that draft are due on Thu Apr 16, and will be handed back Thu Apr 23. The second draft is due on Thu Apr 30, and will be handed back Tue May 5. The final draft is due on Thu May 7 (Reading Day).