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Group Piano Level III Music 122.30 College of Fine Arts  Illinois State University  Group Piano Coordinator: Dr. Carlyn Morenus Instructor: Jessica Janaitis Co-Instructors: Yuri Sakiyama, Asako Shimasaki email Dr. Carlyn Morenus here email Jessica Janaitis here email Yuri Sakiyama here email Asako Shimasaki here

Required Materials

Course Objectives

Group Piano Level III builds on skills developed in Group Piano Levels I and II. Level III will cover materials in Chapters 9 through 11 and selected additional materials of PDM. This includes repertoire, technique, sight-reading, harmonization in a variety of styles, keyboard theory, improvisation, score reading, and transposition. Materials will be based on all major and minor keys, modes, and blues scale; diatonic triads and dominant seventh chords in root position and inversions, including closest-position chords; keyboard-style keyboard theory; transposition to close and distant keys and to differing modes; and classical and jazz/blues improvisation. Styles include baroque through contemporary art music, folk and popular tunes, and jazz/blues.

Group piano classes are designed to provide you with the keyboard skills you need in order to be functional at the piano as a musician. 

Attendance

Daily attendance in class is expected. There will be no make-ups for missed grades due to absences. If you have more than three unexcused absences during the semester, your participation grade will be affected and this may result in a lowered course grade. Official university business, such as ensemble tours, must be documented in advance in writing in order to be excused. If you must be absent from class because of a university activity or for a personal reason, it is important that you notify your teacher of this in advance. This will enable you to stay informed about class assignments.

Be in class on time. It is discourteous to your teacher and to your fellow students if you arrive late. Excessive tardiness will not be tolerated. If you have special circumstances which prevent your being on time, discuss this with your instructor in the first week of classes. There will be no make-ups for grades missed due to tardiness.

Grading

You will be graded regularly in class on assigned materials, through prepared in-class performances, written quizzes, 'pop' quizzes, written assignments, and compositions, or other materials. Your midterm and final juries will each result in several grades. Each grade assigned during the semester will be weighted equally in determining your final course grade. Missed grades due to absence or tardiness will be averaged into the final grade as zeros. You can view your grades at any time on WebCT. 

Juries/Profiencies

Midterm and final juries will take place in my teaching studio, Cook Hall 204. Each of these juries will consist of several components, which may include repertoire, sight reading, score reading, harmonization, transposition, keyboard theory, technique, and/or improvisation. You will receive detailed information regarding the content of each jury at least two weeks in advance of the jury date.

If you are in your final semester of group piano (all majors except Music Education), you must complete this course and each section of the final exam with a grade of B or better (Music Therapy) or a C or better (BA/BS, Performance, Composition) in order to satisfy piano proficiency requirements as outlined in the Student Handbook. 

Practicing

Practice rooms are available in Old Union. You may use the upright piano rooms. The grand piano rooms are reserved for those students enrolled in applied piano lessons. You need to check out a key at the Music Department office (Centennial East 230), which you may keep while you are attending ISU.

Practice rooms are available in the basement of Cook Hall. In order to practice after 7 PM or on weekends, you will need go to the Music Department Office to have your Student ID card activated for access.

You may also practice in the group piano lab (CE 209) during Open Lab Hours.

Plan on spending a minimum of 30 minutes per day practicing your group piano materials. Many students find that they need to allot 1 hour per day for practice. Do not attempt to 'cram' for your midterm and final juries. It won't work. Daily practice is necessary in order to develop piano skills, just as you need to practice your major instrument on a daily basis. 

Getting Help

If you are having difficulties, or when you have questions, see me right away. I welcome your questions, and I am here to help you in any way I can. You may see me during office hours or make an appointment (Cook Hall 204), drop me an email at cgmoren@ilstu.edu, or leave a phone message at 438-3470.

Interactive web-based tutorials are available for all levels of PDM.  You can use these tutorials by clicking here for the tutorial website.  You will need to have Shockwave and QuickTime readers on your computer in order to use these tutorials.  If you do not already have these on your computer, you can download them without cost.  The tutorial website will automatically link you to the needed downloading sites.

MIDI files are also available for selected items from PDM. You can access these here.

To see your grades, as well as other course information, you can also go to WebCT.

Don't wait until jury week to ask for help. If you have problems, get help early so that you can have a successful semester.