MUSC12413 - Language of Modern Music 3

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Building on the work covered in Language of Modern Music 2, you will continue to study aspects of the language of modern music. Modern harmony, melody, music structures, genre specific devices and stylistic idioms are all studied with weight given to practical applications as well as theoretical and analytical work. Analysis and written exercises are used to develop a competent knowledge of the structures and styles of modern harmony and melody.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

This unit has a prerequisite of MUSC11406 Language of Modern Music 2.

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

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mackay Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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 25%
2. Written Assessment 25%
3. Online Test 10%
4. Online Test 40%

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%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

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 25% 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
Feedback:
 Continue to deliver practical weekly activities in class.

Recommendation:
 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.

Action Taken:
 Classes include practical weekly activities aimed to bridge the gap between music theory and musicianship.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback:
 Provide more specific Sibelius tutorial videos relating to assessment item

Recommendation:
 Staff will develop customised Sibelius tutorial videos that relate to the lead sheet assessment item.

Action Taken:
 Additional Sibelius tutorials and supportive materials were developed to support student learning.
Source: Student evaluation
Feedback:
 Provide more exemplar arrangements from the industry for students.

Recommendation:
 Develop additional exemplar arrangements from the industry for students through the module activities.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Staff evaluation
Feedback:
 Review and enhance musicianship tasks to better support progressive skill development

Recommendation:
 Continue to review and enhance musicianship tasks to better support progressive skill development.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Contextualise your knowledge of contemporary music forms and lyric writing to complete a series of written tasks
  2. Create original melodic material for a variety of music composition exercises
  3. Identify pitch, rhythm, keys, scales, chords, chord progressions and melody through aural related tasks
  4. Apply contemporary music theory relating to rhythm, musical forms, chord scale theory and diatonic harmony.

N/A

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment •
2 - Written Assessment •
3 - Online Test •
4 - Online Test •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
4 - Online Test • • • •