The course is designed to acquaint the student with the basic elements of musical composition and the relationship of these elements to a musical composition as a whole. Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• understand the art of musical performance
• understand the contrasting elements of music from different periods
• describe the variances verbally as well as recognize them aurally
• recognize basic musical shapes and compositional techniques
• correlate musical growth with the historical growth of art as a whole
• recognize various musical forms and styles
• understand the correlation between the music found in various periods and other art and sociological factors