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Unit of study_
OLET1801: Music Theory and Notation Essentials
2025 unit information
This Online Learning Environment unit (OLE) provides a grounding in music notation and music theory. It is aimed at students with no background in music, but also caters for students with some background in music who are looking to refresh their skills. Course material starts with the absolute basics and progresses quickly. An understanding of how music theory works is extremely useful to a range of diverse disciplines that engage with music: game and user interface designers, film and drama studies students, and those who have learnt musical practice from an aural rather than notated tradition, such as contemporary popular musicians and singers.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Analysis, History and Cultural Studies |
| Credit points | 2 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
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None |
|---|---|
|
Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
?
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MUSC1503 or MUSC1504 or MCGY1008 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. read basic pitch notation that uses treble and bass clefs
- LO2. understand the principles of rhythmic notation that uses time signatures
- LO3. identify some basic musical elements which may include intervals, major and minor scales and triads, from notation and aurally
- LO4. understand the basics of how a musical score works
- LO5. understand some of the history behind basic music notation and theory
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
|
Online | Sydney | |
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Intensive January - February 2025
|
Online | Sydney | |
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Semester 2 2025
|
Online | Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
