1. MUSIC 7/8
Agenda Time
1. Gather Materials 3 min
2. Most Important Question,
Attendance
2 min
3. Genre/Invention Review 5 min
4. Crafting a Theme 10 min
5. Altering a Theme 10 min
6. Quiz/Work Time 20 min

2. WHAT ARE WE LEARNING TODAY?
 By the end of today’s class, you will know how to
begin working on your two-part inventions.
 Benchmarks: 6.1.1.3.1, 6.1.2.3.1, 6.2.1.3.1

3. GENRE/INVENTION REVIEW
 THIS IS ON TODAY’S QUIZ
 What is a symphony?
 A multi-movement work for orchestra
 What is a sonata?
 A multi-movement work for solo instrument
 What is a concerto?
 A multi-movement work for solo instrument & orchestra
 What is an invention?
 A two-part composition for keyboard
 What is a theme?
 A short melody
 What is the standard order of an invention?
 Exposition, Development, Recapitulation

4. CRAFTING A THEME
 A good theme starts on the tonic and has a variety
of motion (up and down; steps and leaps)
 The rhythm doesn’t have to be very complicated
 For a simpler theme, choose quarter and half notes
and strive for six notes
 For a more complex (and better) theme, choose
faster rhythms and consider more notes
 Happy theme: start on C
 Sad theme: start on A

5. CRAFTING A THEME
 A simple, happy theme:
 Upward & downward motion, starts on C, steps & leaps

6. CRAFTING A THEME
 A simple, boring theme
 Utilizes only space notes (bad)
 Has upward and downward motion, starts on C (good)

7. CRAFTING A THEME
 A complex, happy theme
 Variety of rhythms, starts on C, upward and
downward motion, steps and leaps

8. CRAFTING A THEME
 An overly complicated theme
 Doesn’t start on C, non-recycled, extremely fast rhythms
(bad)
 Variety of motion (good)

9. ALTERING A THEME
 There are three main ways to alter a theme:
 Sequencing
 Augmentation/Division
 Inversion
 Sequencing is shifting the pitches up or down by a
fixed interval

10. ALTERING A THEME
 Augmentation is extending rhythms by a fixed
amount (doubling is most common)

11. ALTERING A THEME
 Division is reducing rhythms by a fixed amount
(typically cutting in half)

12. ALTERING A THEME
 Inversion is moving in the opposite direction while
maintaining the same intervals

13. ALTERING A THEME
 The best thing, of course, is to combine these
strategies
 Which altering techniques do you see here?