Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1985

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Music

Major

Music

Major Professor

Donald Pederson

Abstract

Most of the microcomputer software for music educators has been aimed at drill and testing of aural skills. The advancing capabilities of microcomputer graphics have opened the way for programs designed to teach visual music skills as well. The purpose of this study was to build a set of programs which could be used as support material for basic courses in music theory. Most previous music software has limited the material by allowing only lessons designed by the programmer to be used. This study consists of a set of three programs, one of which is a utility program designed so any music teacher can enter lessons specifically designed for his/her needs.

The three programs are designed to run on Apple IIe or II+ microcomputers with 64K of RAM memory. The instructor can use the software editor utility to control course content and the students use the other two programs, one designed to test (or drill) chord recognition, the other to test (or drill) chord spelling.

The programs allow students to proceed at their own pace. Records of progress in the form of test scores are kept for each student. All common-practice chords are supported by the programs except those with double-sharps or double-flats.

The chords appear in whole-notes on a grand staff. Both open and close position chords are accepted by the program. Since the chords are written in black notation on a white background, a color monitor is not necessary.

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