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Association
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Elizabeth Milne's Language of Music Elizabeth Milne's Language of Music sets new standards of excellence for textbooks on the teaching of the fundamentals of music theory. After using Book 4 of the series over the past twelve months I have been delighted to see that my own enthusiasm for it has been matched by that of my students. It is no small feat to produce theory texts that are so enjoyed by students. My own students have really appreciated the simple page layout and they say that the large print makes for easy and inviting reading. One said 'The poetry is such fun and, in its big bold print, it almost jumps out of the page to us'. They have thoroughly enjoyed the clarity of explanation and presentation and also the short cuts which they find both novel and useful for remembering and understanding; a reversible sentence which assists in recalling the order of sharps and flats for example. Most importantly they appreciate the clear and logical step by step processes, together with the constant testing and re-testing of the same small points, so that they feel confident in their steady mastering of the material as they progress through the course.
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One of the most impressive qualities of the course is the way in which it constantly relates its assignments and small exercises to the much wider and more complex world of musical learning. Tonality is related to structure from the start, history of music is related to other artistic endeavours and the socio-economic influences of the time, and four-part vocal harmony is always presented within the broader context of composition, to which it can be seen to be leading, and as the basis of orchestral writing. To this end great emphasis is given to the understanding and use of the C clef, particularly in its alto and tenor positions. Sixteen of the twenty-three chapters of Book 4 include exercises that use one or both of these clefs. Students who have successfully completed these exercises will find examination questions on clefs extremely easy. It will no longer be the problem of 'Which line of the stave is C when using an alto clef?' or 'How do I write key signatures for these peculiar clefs?' or 'Which C am I writing anyway, middle C or an octave below?' Focus on the C clef also prepares students for the move to open score and the easy reading of the alto and tenor staves.
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Milne relates 'close' and 'open' score by giving exercises in arranging closed to open and vice versa; excellent preparation for orchestral score reading and understanding. The fact that boring old four-part vocal harmony can be written out in open score and then played as part of an orchestral score is a very exciting thought. Furthermore, it is a small step to the students' understanding that three identical sets of four-part vocal harmony, transposed to suit the needs of various instruments and arranged vertically on a page as the string, brass and woodwind families, form a rudimentary orchestral score. It is this constant presenting of material within a wider context that is one of the most satisfying aspects of this course. One feels the excitement of 'This is what music is really about' rather than 'Why do I have to do these boring cadences?' or 'Will I ever use these again?' Closely related to this process are the compositional exercises that say, in effect, 'You are developing a useable chord vocabulary and understanding. Go ahead and experiment with what you know so far. Make your own music'.
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One of the most brilliant innovations in Language of Music Book 4 is the extremely logical procedure for the teaching of harmonic writing. Surely the theory teachers' greatest bugbear is the many hours spent unpicking and unravelling the distorted, illogical and undigested particles of jagged part-writing, the ungainly chord progressions, the impossibly unbalanced parts, and so on... Milne introduces primary triads in root position in Book 3 and, in doing this, introduces all four main cadences that are based solely on the primary triads. She stresses the need for smooth voice leading in cadences through logical resolution of the leading note, retaining a note in common, and employing stepwise movement between chords where possible. The assignments in the first four chapters of Book 4 include much practise of these techniques. This joining of two chords is then extended to three by the addition of a preceding chord which, if the same as the final chord, can have the same arrangement. Her next major step is the harmonisation of a complete bass line using primary triads in root position only and, after this, she moves on to the harmonisation of a soprano line using the same harmonic vocabulary. Both of these harmonisation procedures are explained logically and clearly as they are worked through and the average student should be able to manage the assignments that follow.
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The primary triads are then introduced in first inversion, one per chapter, so that a more interesting and flowing bass line is possible. This process of developing a reasonably musically competent form of harmonisation, using only the primary triads, is particularly commendable. It is only after this much is achieved that secondary triads on II and VI are introduced (again one per chapter) and it is by then very easy to understand their proper function as substitutes for and extensions of primary triads. The last harmony topic approached in Book 4 is that of sequences, which could be likened to the opening of Pandora's Box. However, if one follows Elizabeth Milne's very precise instructions, especially for the link between the sequence patterns, this new found freedom (imagine a legalised mediant chord!) can be used to create a much greater variety of musical effects. The culmination of the whole process is the assignment in Chapter 21 - the invitation to write a short composition in four-part harmony showing examples of each of the four main cadences.
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In summary, Elizabeth Milne's method of teaching harmonisation moves in sure small steps; easily achievable steps that build gradually to form a total harmonic edifice. Students are not plunged into the deep end with nothing to hang on to. Because Language of Music is intended for both individual and class instruction, assignments at the end of each chapter are designed to consolidate the understanding of that chapter and practise any new skills being developed as well as to further revise, practise and check details from previous chapters. Milne's assignments certainly achieve this and their way of doing so is very interesting. Some of the questions are framed to work on many different levels simultaneously. There is the multi-purpose question in which more than one task is required. What could be just a simple piano style cadence might need to be written in simple duple or alla breve time. There is also the multi-purpose question in which the tasks force students to revise, remember, and understand. My favourite question of this variety (much appreciated by my students also) is in Book 4, Chapter 3: 'Using the treble clef, write and name the simple diatonic dissonant intervals which are heard above F # and G in the scale of E harmonic minor'. Lastly there is the multi-purpose question that forces the student to acquire new skills, such as questions that have to be answered using one of the C clefs.
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Milne also uses a technique of testing from opposite directions as in (a) Harmonise this four-bar phrase and (b) Analyse this four-bar phrase. The same kind of opposite and complementary tasks are represented by (a) Do these cadences and (b) Find the faults in these cadences. There is a great variety of tasks that require written answers. Assignment questions, all of which are presented in constantly varying ways, might require single word answers, sentence answers, or whole paragraph answers.In keeping with the wider scope of the book there are questions for which reference books must be consulted, thus continually extending and enriching the students' musical knowledge. Lastly, the composition assignments! These are designed as musical summations of all the concepts presented in the course and, as such, make the vital connection between theory and practice. As mentioned earlier my class has been using Book 4 of Language of Music. Half of the class commenced this book (at Chapter 70 of the entire 138 ) with no prior knowledge of harmony and therefore the groundwork on cadences done in Book 3 had to be covered also. However, most of them now have a good understanding of simple four-part harmony and can write quite presentable exercises. They are also very enthusiastic about composing and have developed sufficient knowledge and skill to commence this in a small way. They have been, and are, enjoying working with Language of Music.
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In conclusion I would like to endorse Graham Bartle's comment in the Foreword: 'Above all, students are treated as intelligent young musicians, capable of grasping concepts and putting them to practical use'. Language of Music distributed to music stores by: |
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