Unit Synopsis
In this unit you will be introduced to foundational aspects of the language of modern music as derived from both the western art-music tradition and contemporary popular music styles. You will study music theory elements covering introductory aspects of pitch, rhythm, pulse, tempo, articulation and expression. You will apply this knowledge in a range of activities applicable to this study.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 15% |
| 2. Online Test | 25% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 15% |
| 4. Online Test | 10% |
| 5. Online Test | 35% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 34.78% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Staff reflection
Continue to deliver practical weekly activities in class.
It is recommended to continue to deliver practical weekly activities in class. These activities bridge music theory concepts to real-world scenarios in music performance.
Classes include practical weekly activities aimed to bridge the gap between music theory and musicianship.
Source: Student Evaluations
Update exercises in the Musition software program.
Staff will update the exercises from Musition for the weekly modules. This will include exercises relating to rhythm studies, intervals and major and minot harmony.
Musition weekly tasks were updated to reflect the software upgrade and current curriculum.
Source: Student evaluation
Provide more exemplar arrangements from the industry for students.
Develop additional exemplar arrangements from the industry for students through the module activities.
In Progress
Source: Staff evaluation
Review and enhance musicianship tasks to better support progressive skill development.
Continue to review and enhance musicianship tasks to better support progressive skill development.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Create original rhythmic patterns in a variety of time signatures
- Create a musical score using music notation software
- Identify pitch, rhythm, keys, scales and chords through aural-related tasks
- Apply the basic rudiments of music relating to pitch, rhythm, keys, scales and chords.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | |||
| 2 - Online Test | • | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | |||
| 4 - Online Test | • | |||
| 5 - Online Test | • | |||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • |
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||||||
| 2 - Online Test | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||||||||
| 4 - Online Test | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| 5 - Online Test | • | • | • | • | |||||||