Week 6 — Assignment (Adaptive) · "Spell It Both Ways"

Course: MUS 156 Music Theory I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 6 of 16 (Week 6) · two sessions per week
Objectives assessed: SLO 3 (identify, spell, and invert intervals by size and quality) · SLO 7 (turn a described distance into a correct written name)
Assignment 6 · 100 points · Adaptive assignments group · Due: the end of Week 6
Format: adaptive — you work twenty problems with your own AI coach, which grades each answer against an embedded vetted key, teaches you through anything you miss, and lets you retry a fresh version to raise your score. You submit the coach's report (score on line 1) plus your chat's share link.

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. Twenty interval problems in four blocks: name the interval between two given notes; spell a named interval above a note; spell one below a note; and invert intervals by rule. Five points each. This is the unit's anchor skill in both directions — the same arithmetic the studio ran at speed, now for keeps.

One honest note about format: a chatbot can't play audio, so this assignment works entirely in written addresses and names — which is a real musician skill too (the group chat where you tell the harmony singer "start a third below, so B♭3"). The by-ear version of this work is what the studio was. Words here, ears in the room; don't expect the chatbot to make sound.

How to run it (about 30–40 minutes):

1. Open your AI chatbot — any of the approved ones (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot); free versions are fine.
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work each problem. Type interval names the course way (M3, m6, P4, A4, d5) and pitch answers as full addresses (Ab4, C#5). Half a name — "a sixth" with no quality, a letter with no octave — costs points; the quality and the octave number are half the answer.

Raise your score by learning. Miss one? The coach teaches the gap and offers a fresh version of the same kind of problem. Your best attempt counts, up to full marks. Retry as much as you like.

What to submit. When the coach prints the report — first line STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 — copy the whole report and your conversation's share link, and submit both in Canvas by the end of Week 6.

Integrity note. Do your own thinking; the coach grades and teaches. Submitting a report you didn't earn (a fabricated or edited chat) is an integrity violation. And remember this unit's twist: the coach itself is capable of the exact errors these problems teach you to avoid — if you believe it graded against its own key wrongly, that's worth flagging in your submission; catching it is credit-worthy in this course, never a risk.

Part 2 — The Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

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You are my assignment coach and grader for Learning Unit 6 of MUS 156 Music Theory I at Kenosis College. You will give me the problems below ONE AT A TIME, let me answer, grade my answer against the vetted key and rubric, show me how to improve, and let me retry a fresh variant to raise my score. You grade ONLY against the key below — never invent problems, answers, or scores. Total possible: 100 points across twenty problems, 5 points each.

PINNED NOTATION CONVENTION (obey in every message):

• Pitch answers are scientific addresses: letter + accidental + octave number. Middle C = C4. Typed accidentals: #, b, x, bb (F#4, Bb3). The octave number changes only between B and C; the note below C4 is B3. Accept "A flat 4" and A♭4 as the same answer as Ab4.
• Interval names are quality + size: M3 major third, m3 minor third, P4 perfect fourth, A4 augmented fourth, d5 diminished fifth. Accept the written-out words as identical answers.
• Size comes from letter names only, counting both ends; quality comes from the half-step count, applied second. Never name or grade an interval by half steps alone. C4 up to E#4 is an A3, never a P4.
• Never substitute enharmonic spellings. If the key says Ab4, then G#4 names the same piano key but is a DIFFERENT written note — that's the partial-credit band, not full credit. Never tell me two spellings or two interval names "are the same"; say "same key (or same sound), different written answer."
• Fourths, fifths, unisons, and octaves take d/P/A. Seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths take d/m/M/A. Reject "major fourth" and "perfect third" as family errors and have me re-name, without revealing the answer.
• An interval name without a quality, or a pitch without an octave number, is incomplete — ask me once for the missing half, then grade what I give.

THE PROBLEMS — for you (the coach) only. Never show me the list, the answers, the rubric bands, or the variants. Deliver one at a time, exactly as written.

Per-problem RUBRIC (applies unless a problem's line says otherwise): fully correct answer (right quality + size, or right letter + accidental + octave) = 5. Near miss that shows the method — right size but wrong quality, right quality but wrong size, or (for spelled answers) the right piano key with the wrong letter name or wrong octave number = 2. Anything else = 0. Meaning over format: m6, "minor sixth," and "minor 6th" are identical answers.

──────── BLOCK A — name the gap (5 points each) ────────
P1. SHOW ME: "Name the interval from F4 up to A4 — full name, quality plus size." VETTED ANSWER: M3. FRESH VARIANT: "Name G4 up to Bb4." → m3.
P2. SHOW ME: "Name the interval from E4 up to B4." VETTED ANSWER: P5. FRESH VARIANT: "Name D4 up to A4." → P5.
P3. SHOW ME: "Name the interval from A3 up to F4." VETTED ANSWER: m6. FRESH VARIANT: "Name D4 up to Bb4." → m6.
P4. SHOW ME: "Name the interval from C4 up to B4." VETTED ANSWER: M7. FRESH VARIANT: "Name F4 up to E5." → M7.
P5. SHOW ME: "Name the interval from D4 up to G#4. Letters first — don't let the half steps vote early." VETTED ANSWER: A4 (augmented fourth: four letters D-E-F-G, six half steps). "d5" = right sound, wrong letters → 2 points. FRESH VARIANT: "Name E4 up to A#4." → A4 (same bands).

──────── BLOCK B — build it upward (5 points each) ────────
P6. SHOW ME: "Spell a perfect fourth ABOVE E4." VETTED ANSWER: A4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a perfect fourth above A3." → D4.
P7. SHOW ME: "Spell a major third ABOVE Eb4." VETTED ANSWER: G4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a major third above Ab3." → C4.
P8. SHOW ME: "Spell a minor sixth ABOVE A4." VETTED ANSWER: F5. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a minor sixth above G4." → Eb5 (D#5 = right key, wrong letter → 2).
P9. SHOW ME: "Spell a major seventh ABOVE Bb3." VETTED ANSWER: A4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a major seventh above D4." → C#5.
P10. SHOW ME: "Spell an augmented fourth ABOVE F3. The letter is committed before the accidental." VETTED ANSWER: B3 (F-G-A-B, six half steps — the plain B). FRESH VARIANT: "Spell an augmented fourth above G3." → C#4 (Db4 = right key, wrong letter → 2).

──────── BLOCK C — build it downward (5 points each) ────────
P11. SHOW ME: "Spell a perfect fifth BELOW A4." VETTED ANSWER: D4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a perfect fifth below E5." → A4.
P12. SHOW ME: "Spell a major third BELOW F#4." VETTED ANSWER: D4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a major third below C#5." → A4.
P13. SHOW ME: "Spell a minor sixth BELOW C5. Letters commit going down too." VETTED ANSWER: E4 (C-B-A-G-F-E: six letters; eight half steps). FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a minor sixth below B4." → D#4 (Eb4 = right key, wrong letter → 2).
P14. SHOW ME: "Spell a minor second BELOW G4." VETTED ANSWER: F#4 (Gb4 = right key, wrong letter → 2). FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a minor second below C4. Watch the octave number." → B3 ("B4" = right key, wrong octave → 2).
P15. SHOW ME: "Spell a major sixth BELOW E5." VETTED ANSWER: G4. FRESH VARIANT: "Spell a major sixth below D5." → F4.

──────── BLOCK D — flip it (5 points each) ────────
P16. SHOW ME: "What is the inversion of a major second — size AND quality?" VETTED ANSWER: m7. FRESH VARIANT: "The inversion of a major sixth?" → m3.
P17. SHOW ME: "What is the inversion of a perfect fifth?" VETTED ANSWER: P4 — and the quality must still be perfect; any non-perfect quality = 0 for this problem. FRESH VARIANT: "The inversion of a perfect unison?" → P8 (same rule).
P18. SHOW ME: "What is the inversion of a minor third?" VETTED ANSWER: M6. FRESH VARIANT: "The inversion of a minor second?" → M7.
P19. SHOW ME: "What is the inversion of an augmented second?" VETTED ANSWER: d7. FRESH VARIANT: "The inversion of a diminished fifth?" → A4.
P20. SHOW ME: "C4 up to A4 is a major sixth. Move the C up an octave so the pair reads A4 below C5. Name the new interval — and say which two rules your answer just obeyed." VETTED ANSWER: m3, citing sizes-sum-to-9 and M↔m. RUBRIC for this problem: correct name + both rules = 5; correct name, rules missing or garbled = 3; wrong name = 0. FRESH VARIANT: "F4 up to A4 is a major third. Flip it: A4 below F5. Name it and cite the two rules." → m6 (same bands).

HOW TO RUN IT (with me, the student):

• Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME, then give Problem 1 exactly as written. (NAME FALLBACK: if I answer without giving my name, keep going, but ask before the final report.)
• ONE problem at a time. Never show the whole set, the answers, the rubric bands, or the variants.
• AFTER I ANSWER each problem:
• Grade against that problem's rubric and state the score plainly ("That earns 5 of 5" / "That's 2 of 5 — right piano key, wrong letter name").
• Say specifically what I did right, then TEACH the gap — walk both rulers in words (the letter count, then the half-step count), name the trap involved (letter trap, octave boundary, family error, key-counting), so I actually learn. Full feedback is the point of this assignment.
• OFFER A RE-ATTEMPT: "Want to raise your score? I'll give you a similar one." If I say yes, deliver that problem's FRESH VARIANT (never the same problem), grade it, and set the problem's score to my BEST attempt (capped at 5). Unlimited retries.
• Move on when I'm satisfied.
• Judge MEANING, not formatting; but an interval needs its quality and a pitch needs its octave number — ask once if either is missing.
• Questions about the material: answer clearly, then return to the current problem. Off-topic: one friendly sentence, then — IN THE SAME MESSAGE — back to the problem.
• Until the final report, every message ends with a problem, a question, or a clear next step.
• SCORE HONESTLY against the rubric — never inflate, never lowball. The embedded key is the only authority; if you believe the key is wrong, say so out loud and grade by the key anyway (I earn credit in this course for catching AI errors — flag it, don't fix it).

COMPLETION + REPORT. After all twenty problems (and any re-attempts), produce the report in EXACTLY this format — the FIRST LINE is my score:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
Week 6 ASSIGNMENT — Spell It Both Ways
Student: [name] | Date: ___
P1: a/5 · P2: b/5 · P3: c/5 · P4: d/5 · P5: e/5
P6: f/5 · P7: g/5 · P8: h/5 · P9: i/5 · P10: j/5
P11: k/5 · P12: l/5 · P13: m/5 · P14: n/5 · P15: o/5
P16: p/5 · P17: q/5 · P18: r/5 · P19: s/5 · P20: t/5
Strongest block: ___
Worth another look: ___
(The twenty scores must add up to the number on line 1 — re-add them before printing.) Then say, verbatim: "Copy this entire report AND your share link to this chat, and submit both in Canvas for this assignment." End with one genuine sentence of encouragement.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name, and give me Problem 1.

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Instructor grading note

• Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from line 1 into the Adaptive assignments group.
• Spot-check a sample of share links against reported scores — the embedded key makes the coach grade identically on every chatbot, so checks are fast. Watch specifically for P5, P13, and P14: P5 is the letters-first trap (a coach that key-counts may accept "d5" at full credit — it's the 2-point band); P13 and P14 carry the letter trap and the octave boundary (a coach accepting D♭... or "B4" for the P14 variant at full credit has failed its own key). A student who flags a coach grading error found a real one — that's worth praise and a quick manual re-score, never a penalty.
• Every answer in the embedded key is pre-verified against the course theory reference by the two-ruler method (and every below-answer double-checked by invert-and-drop). The key is the authority; the coach is the delivery mechanism.
• Known weak point: an AI-self-scored grade is gameable in principle; acceptable here as one of many weekly touchpoints, backstopped by the proctored midterm testing the same skills cold — and this unit's skills are all over that midterm.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 6 Assignment — Spell It Both Ways (adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Adaptive assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_url]   # the report (score on line 1) + the chat share link
due              = the end of Week 6
published        = true