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The curriculum of the Precollege Division has
been carefully devised to assure a thorough musical education.
A typical program of study includes:
The basic tuition covers lessons, theory, ear training, and one
large or small ensemble. Please refer to the separate fee schedule
for costs of additional studies.
Juries
Juries will occur once a year at the end of each spring semester.
Juries occur to ensure that a student's progress merits continuation
in his or her program of study. Jury scores are also a determining
factor in evaluating eligibility for scholarship for the following
year. Repertoire requirements are available in the Precollege Division
office.
A student who is absent from his or her jury must make up the jury
before the end of the spring semester. The only excused absences
for juries are illness and family emergencies. Those who do not
make up their juries or fail their jury will not be allowed to return
to the Precollege Division the following year.
Students are officially excused from juries if:
- They are a graduating senior who has been accepted to the Manhattan
School of Music College Division
- They are not studying privately with a Precollege faculty member
- They began studying with a teacher or entered the Precollege
in the spring semester
To download the Precollege Division Jury Requirements, click
here.
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Theory and Ear
Training Classes (Classical)
Courses in music theory and ear training are a mandatory
part of every student’s study and complement private instruction.
Regular attendance is required.
Elementary Theory and Ear Training (ages 5-9)
Elementary Theory provides students with a fundamental background
in the development of coordination and rhythmic awareness, listening
awareness, responses to pitch, dynamics and tempo, and emphasizes
basic reading skills.
Junior Theory and Ear Training (ages 10-13)
This level involves study of scales, intervals, chords, melody harmonization,
and form with appropriate analysis and creative work. The ear training
levels stress the singing, aural recognition, and writing of all
elements studied in the theory classes. The materials used are selected
from music literature appropriate to the age level and degree of
advancement of the students.
High School Theory and Ear Training (ages 13 and
older)
This level is a comprehensive study of the elements of music from
rudiments through chromatic harmony. Areas covered include melody,
harmony, part writing, form and analysis, counterpoint, orchestration,
and some elementary compositional techniques. Corresponding ear
training courses cover rhythmic solfège, melodic sight singing,
rhythm and movement, diatonic-modal improvisation, harmonic perception,
contemporary sight singing, dictation, and advanced choral literature
survey.
Theory, Ear Training, and History/Styles/Analysis
Classes (Jazz)
Jazz Theory I
This course covers jazz theory on a basic level, and it is designed
to help students develop the necessary theoretical foundations in
order to be able to improvise, arrange, and compose.
Jazz Theory II
The Jazz Theory II curriculum involves a study of topics such as
chord function, extension and alteration, common chord progressions,
scales, key relationships, superimposition, form, modulation, re-harmonization,
rhythmic permutation, voice leading, counterpoint, composition,
arranging and ear training. Traditional or classical harmonic principles
and their relevance in jazz settings will also be studied.
Jazz Theory III
Jazz Theory III focuses on the practical application of theory to
the students' writing and playing. Subjects covered in Jazz Theory
I and II will be reviewed and utilized as a basis for compositional
techniques.
Jazz Theory IV (Theoretical Applications
in Jazz Arranging and Composition)
This course will include guided instruction in jazz arranging and
composition using the tools and techniques learned in Jazz Theory
I, II, and III. Laboratory groups will include members of the class
as well as school ensembles.
Jazz Ear Training A
This class will cover, with an emphasis on fluency, intervallic
dictation and singing, rhythmic dictation and tapping, simple harmonic
dictation to the 7th degree, simple sight-singing, and simple melodic
dictation, as well as an introduction to the art of transcription
of jazz solos.
Jazz Ear Training B
This class will cover, with an emphasis on fluency, melodic
dictation, sight singing, harmonic dictation to the 9th degree,
and harmonic singing (arpeggios of common chord progressions to
the 9th degree in jazz standards), as well as a continuation of
the art of transcription of jazz solos.
Jazz History/Styles/Analysis I
This course provides a yearlong overview of the history of jazz
music, including its major innovators, trends, and musical examples.
Students will learn about artists and their work and will acquire
critical listening skills.
Jazz History/Styles/Analysis II
This course is a continuation of Jazz History/Styles/Analysis 1
and serves to broaden the base already provided by using more in-depth
listening, research, and comparative analyses of works.
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Elective Courses
Electives are offered in a variety of subjects. Please see tuition
and fees page for details. With the exception of chamber ensembles,
all classes must have a minimum of five students.
Acting for Singers
A class primarily for voice majors of high school age but open to
all students who wish to learn more about stage presence, acting,
and audition techniques.
Composition Workshop
Students interested in composition are placed in small groups according
to their levels, which range from beginning to advanced. Students
receive much individual attention and develop techniques and skills
for writing for small ensembles and orchestra. Exploration of style,
both traditional and experimental, is encouraged. Private lessons
are also offered.
Conducting
A class in which students learn the fundamentals of orchestral conducting
techniques and score reading. Two levels, beginning and intermediate,
are offered.
Guitar Ensemble
Guitar Ensemble is a class in which guitar majors explore
the growing repertoire for multiple guitars. Works examined and
performed are written by prominent contemporary composers for the
growing number of professional ensembles around the world. There
is also a sizeable number of transcriptions of works by the great
masters, such as J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and Franz Josef Haydn.
Rehearsal skills are stressed, sight-reading is enhanced, and the
sense of belonging to a musical community is a goal of the class.
Jazz Keyboard Harmony
This course is an introduction to common jazz keyboard techniques,
chord symbols, and chord voicings. The focus is on current jazz
performance practice.
Music History
Surveys trends and styles of western music from medieval to the
21st century.
Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre focuses on contemporary broadway literature through
a combination of applied voice, acting, and movement technique.
The first semester is devoted to developing the skills necessary
to perform this exciting and ever evolving genre, while the second
semester is spent working on a performance project selected to utilize
the gifts of the ensemble.
Opera Workshop
The Opera Workshop is designed for high school students who are
interested in musical theater or opera performance. The class works
on performance and auditon techniques and presents a public performance
at the end of the spring semester. Auditions are required.
Piano Lab
A class in elementary to intermediate piano for non-piano majors.
Students having some or no prior training may register.
Piano Literature
A survey of the literature written for piano from Bach to the present
with emphasis on the performing legacy left by the great pianists
of the past such as Horowitz, Michelangeli, Hess, and Lipatti. History
of works will be presented, and in addition to listening to recordings,
student will be invited and encouraged to perform the works being
studied.
Repertoire Preparation for Singers
The objective is to teach singers the process of learning new repertoire
and preparing for a performance or audition through both a practical
and creative approach. Students will learn how to plan a recital,
how to prepare for an audition, how to learn a role and will perform
some of what they’ve prepared in class at an end of the year
performance.
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