REPERTOIRES AND PERFORMANCE
Melodic Ornamentation
6 sessions
Online
Course Description
Melodic ornamentation was a crucial feature in the performance of vocal and instrumental music during the Middle Ages. Singers and instrumentalists used it to color, enhance, amplify, emphasize, or obscure certain elements of the melodic line (or text). It also helped them to create different sounding textures, to catch the interest of the audience, and to display their musical and technical skills. Furthermore, ornamentation placed a piece within certain regional and stylistic contexts and could have even contributed to melodic/textual memorization. The arsenal of ornamentation devices used by medieval performers included pitch inflection, repercussive and tremulous sounds, passing and neighboring tones, and the substitution and transposition of notes and entire melodic segments.
The goal of this course is to learn to ornament medieval vocal and instrumental melodies in different medieval styles and according to different repertoires: Chant, troubadour and trouvère chanson, Parisian conductus, instrumental music.
In this course, students will:
Explore the nature and use of ornaments in medieval musical and rhetorical discourses
Examine the indications given in contemporary treatises (900-1300)
Identify ornamentation recorded in written music
Consider different stylistic traits and the use of ornaments in different repertoires, regions, and periods.
Create ornamentation charts
Apply (both written and extempore) ornaments to a collection of pieces in different styles
Instructor:
Dr. Mauricio Molina
COURSE INFO
DATES & DURATION
February 17 to June 9, 2025
6 sessions
Location
Online
Price 1.5 credits
1.5 credit ECTS: 340€
Languages
English - Spanish
Prerequisites
Student must have basic musical knowledge and be able to read modern music notation.
Syllabus
Session 1 | The Concept of Ornamentation in Medieval Music and Rhetoric
Session 2 | Pitch Inflection and Repercussion I
Session 3 | Pitch Inflection and Repercussion II
Session 4 | Passing and Neighboring Notes
Session 5 | Substitution and Transposition
Session 6 | Long Melismas
Teaching Methodology
This course will be comprised of:
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- 6 tutorial videos of 20-35 minutes each (total 3.5 hours)
- 6 recorded lectures of 45 minute each (total 4.5 hours)
- 3 biweekly live Q&A sessions of 1hour and 15 minutes each (total 3.5 hours) conducted through the course. The sessions will be recorded so that students can access them at any time.
- Downloadable materials and links to additional resources
Schedules and assignments:
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- The course is self-paced.
- The majority of pre-recorded video lessons, lectures, and study materials will be posted on the first day of the term.
- Students will have access to all session and their materials until the last day of the term.
- The student workload to review the materials and complete the assignments is approximately 6.25 hours per session
- There will be some suggested deadlines to submit assignments
- Homework will be accepted until a week before the end of the term
- Students taking the course for credit must complete all assignments and class requirements
Technical Requirements
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- Broadband Internet connection / WIFI
- External or internal webcam
- External or internal microphone
- Speakers or headphones
- Possibility of printing downloaded materials
- Possibility of scanning your assignments
- Possibility of auto-recording (audio and video)
Enroll Now
Places are limited for each section, so sign up early.