Motivic Development

Objectives

• Students will understand the use of motive in a musical composition
• Students will be able to identify different types of development of a particular motive.
• Students will be able to develop a given motive in several different ways (transposition, inversion, retrograde, augmentation, diminution, etc.).

Class Activities

• Discussion and definition of motive and leitmotif
• Discussion and exploration of different kinds of motivic development
• Identification and analysis of different kinds of motivic development in different genres of music
• Composition and improvisation involving development of a given motive
• Listening and analysis of a fugue for motivic variations

Assignments

• Identification and analysis of leitmotif in dramatic settings
• Identification and analysis of motivic development in written and recorded music
• Development of a short motive in multiple ways
• Compose a short fugal introduction with any given motive