Week 9 — Studio · "Quality sort"

Course: MUS 156 Music Theory I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 9 of 16 (Week 9) · two sessions per week
Objectives: SLO 4 · SLO 7 (the spine: hear it → name it → spell it)
Studio 9 · 20 points · Studios group · In session, Week 9's second session · async make-up path below, full credit, submit by the end of Week 9
Format: the course's signature hands-on session — Professor Hemsworth plays chords, you sort them by ear, spell them on any root, and voice them across the room like a band would. Nothing to buy or download; sort sheets and root cards are provided, and your own instrument is welcome.

Every content unit has a the second session studio. It's the week's payoff enacted: this week, the payoff is spelling the call — the leader says "Gm," and your head answers G–B♭–D before the downbeat.

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Part 1 — The Big Picture

Session 1 named the machinery: the stack, the four recipes, the seven diatonic chords of a key, the floors and their figures. Today the machinery goes into your ears and hands at performance speed. Every round runs in the ear-first direction — sound → sort it → spell it — because that's the gig order: the flavor arrives in the room first, and the musician who can name and spell it fastest is the one everybody wants in the band.

By the end of the session you'll have built your own quality card: the four recipes, the two quality ladders, and the three floors, in your own hand — the reference that rides in your case next to the grand-staff card from week 1.

Part 2 — The Task

The guiding question: When a chord sounds, how fast can you (1) sort its flavor, (2) spell it on the root, and (3) say who's on the bottom — and could a band act on what you said?

No hypothesis to write today — your prediction instrument is your ear, and Round 1 warms it up before any spelling happens.

Part 3 — Procedure (the four rounds)

You'll work on the sort sheet in groups of 2–3 at the tables; every round also runs fine solo. If you brought your instrument, keep it out — Rounds 2 and 4 invite you to sound your answers.

Round 1 — Ears only: the sort (≈10 min).
Professor Hemsworth plays eight triads at the piano, each twice, slowly rolled then blocked. For each one, mark a bin on your sheet: major · minor · diminished · augmented. No spelling, no letters — flavor only. Trust the first instinct; the recipes come later. (Working handles until then: major and minor are settled — bright vs. dark; diminished is squeezed; augmented is stretched.)

Round 2 — One root, four flavors: the spelling relay (≈15 min).
Each table draws a root card (D, F, A, E, or G). Spell all four qualities on your root in Table 1 — recipes out loud, letters first, accidentals second. Then hold up your card when done; first table with four verified spellings takes the round. Rotate cards once and go again. Check with a neighbor after each quality — disagreements are the useful part; resolve them by counting letters, then half steps, on the paper keyboards.

Round 3 — Who's on the bottom (≈12 min).
Professor Hemsworth plays one chord three ways — same harmony, different floor — and names the chord. For each hearing, write in Table 2: which chord member is lowest (root, third, or fifth), the inversion name, and the figure (nothing, 6, or 6/4). Then three paper puzzles, no piano: re-stack each scrambled voicing in thirds, name the chord, the inversion, and the figure.

Round 4 — Voice it across the room (≈12 min).
Trios. Your group takes a major triad and splits it: one voice per member — sing it, or play it on what you brought. Sound the chord in root position. Now rotate the floor: put the third on the bottom and sound it again (that's the figure 6); then the fifth (6/4). Hear how the harmony holds while the floor changes. Finish with the arranger's move from session 1: melody and chord stay put, bass takes the third — and listen to the room turn into an arrangement. Record your group's three voicings, bass-first, in Table 3.

Fallback (no piano hearing needed): if you can't hear the piano well from your seat, or you're doing the make-up path, every round works with a free keyboard app or your own instrument — the make-up section below lists exactly what to play yourself.

Part 4 — The Scaffold (complete during the rounds)

Table 1 captures Round 2 — all four qualities on your table's root(s).

Root	Major	Minor	Diminished	Augmented
(card 1) ____	______	______	______	______
(card 2) ____	______	______	______	______

Table 2 captures Round 3 — floors and figures.

Hearing / puzzle	Chord	Lowest member	Inversion	Figure
1	(named aloud)	______	______	______
2	(named aloud)	______	______	______
3	(named aloud)	______	______	______
Puzzle A: G–C–E	______	______	______	______
Puzzle B: F♯–A–D	______	______	______	______
Puzzle C: A–C–F	______	______	______	______

Table 3 captures Round 4 — your group's triad, three floors, bass-first.

Floor	Voicing (bass first)	Figure
Root position	______	—
Third on the bottom	______	______
Fifth on the bottom	______	______

The quality card (build it as you go, keep it forever): the four recipes with one worked root · the major ladder M m m M M m d with numerals I–vii° · minor's ladder with the harmonic upgrades (V, vii°) · the three floors with their figures. For reference while you draw — the four flavors on D, and one chord visiting its floors:

METER: free    CLEF: treble
| <D4,F#4,A4>/w | <D4,F4,A4>/w | <D4,F4,Ab4>/w | <D4,F#4,A#4>/w |

Four whole-note chords rooted on D4: D–F♯–A (major), D–F–A (minor), D–F–A♭ (diminished), D–F♯–A♯ (augmented) — one root wearing all four recipes.

METER: 4/4    CLEF: treble
| <C4,E4,G4>/h <E4,G4,C5>/h | <G4,C5,E5>/h <C4,E4,G4>/h |

Four half-note chords: C major in root position, then first inversion (E4 lowest — figure 6), then second inversion (G4 lowest — figure 6/4), then home. Same chord, three floors.

Part 5 — Analysis Questions (short answers on the sheet, ≈5 min)

1. In Round 1 your ear sorted before you could spell. Which pair was hardest to tell apart — and what did you listen for once you'd heard each a second time?
2. A bandmate insists E–G–C is "an E chord because E is on the bottom." In one or two sentences, set them straight — use the word root and the word bass.
3. Round 4: when your group moved the third to the bottom, what changed and what didn't? One sentence each.
4. Name one moment today when your ear knew the answer before your pencil did. What did that feel like?
5. Look at your quality card. What's one thing you'd add or change to make it more useful to you — and go ahead and do it.

Part 6 — AI-Critique Moment (≈4 min, phones out — or on the projector if the room prefers)

Ask your chatbot: "Is E–G–C the same chord as C–E–G? One sentence." Then judge the reply against today's Round 3. The classic failures to hunt: it calls E–G–C a different chord (or invents a name for it), or it drifts into "same notes either way, so it doesn't matter" without naming the inversion. Write 2–3 sentences on your sheet: what it got right, and at least one thing you corrected or verified (the honest answer: same chord — C major, first inversion, figure 6). The habit all term: the tool drafts, you judge.

Part 7 — What to Submit

Hand in before you leave: the sort sheet (Round 1 bins + Tables 1–3 + analysis answers + AI-critique sentences) and show your quality card to Professor Hemsworth for the card check — the card itself stays with you; it's equipment now. 20 points, graded on the rubric below.

Async make-up path — full credit, submit by the end of Week 9. Life happens; missing the studio costs you nothing but the room. Do the same tasks alone: (1) using a free keyboard app or your own instrument, play each Round 1 chord from the printed list below and sort it by ear — play, listen, then check your bin against the spelling; (2) complete Table 1 for the roots D and F, then check yourself at a keyboard; (3) play the Round 3 hearings yourself from the printed list and complete Table 2, puzzles included; (4) do Round 4 solo by playing the three floors of F major as block chords (bass note emphasized) and completing Table 3; (5) build the full quality card; (6) do the AI-critique step. Submit: phone photos of your completed sheet and card, plus a short recording (a minute is plenty — voice memo or video) of you playing or arpeggiating all four qualities on one root while naming them aloud. Same rubric, same 20 points, no penalty.

Make-up lists (so no partner is needed): Round 1 chords — G major (G–B–D), C minor (C–E♭–G), F major (F–A–C), D augmented (D–F♯–A♯), B diminished (B–D–F), A minor (A–C–E), C augmented (C–E–G♯), E diminished (E–G–B♭). Round 3 hearings — C major as C–E–G, then E–G–C, then G–C–E. Round 4 triad — F major (F–A–C).

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Instructor key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Round 1 play order (each twice — rolled, then blocked; two per quality, shuffled):

#	Chord	Spelling	Bin	Note
1	G major	G B D	major	bright opener, easy win
2	C minor	C E♭ G	minor	the classic flip — same frame, darker paint
3	F major	F A C	major	confirm the bright bin
4	D augmented	D F♯ A♯	augmented	first "stretched" — expect hesitation, praise it
5	B diminished	B D F	diminished	first "squeezed" — pairs with #4 for contrast
6	A minor	A C E	minor	settle the dark bin
7	C augmented	C E G♯	augmented	second stretched; play #5 again after if the bins blur
8	E diminished	E G B♭	diminished	closer; the squeeze should be audible now

Expect diminished/augmented confusion — that's the round working. Cure on the spot: play #4 then #5 back to back and ask "which one leans off the ladder, which one pulls inward?"

Round 2 root cards — vetted spellings (all verified against the course theory reference):

Root	Major	Minor	Diminished	Augmented
D	D F♯ A	D F A	D F A♭	D F♯ A♯
F	F A C	F A♭ C	F A♭ C♭	F A C♯
A	A C♯ E	A C E	A C E♭	A C♯ E♯
E	E G♯ B	E G B	E G B♭	E G♯ B♯
G	G B D	G B♭ D	G B♭ D♭	G B D♯

The two graded traps: F diminished's fifth is C♭ (never B — letters first), and every augmented fifth keeps its letter (A♯, C♯→E♯, B♯, D♯ — no flat respellings). A table that writes F–A♭–B has the right piano keys and a broken triad; send them back to count letters.

Round 3 hearings and vetted answers (play C major, name it aloud each time):

Hearing	Voicing (bass first)	Lowest member	Inversion	Figure
1	C–E–G	root	root position	— (5/3 unwritten)
2	E–G–C	third	first inversion	6
3	G–C–E	fifth	second inversion	6/4

Puzzle	Re-stacked	Chord	Inversion	Figure
A: G–C–E	C E G	C major	second inversion (G = fifth in bass)	6/4
B: F♯–A–D	D F♯ A	D major	first inversion (F♯ = third in bass)	6
C: A–C–F	F A C	F major	first inversion (A = third in bass)	6

Grade the figure's slash: 6/4 written as 6-4 gets the one-sentence cure ("the hyphen has a different job coming in unit 14") and half credit on that line.

Round 4 (any assigned major triad; most tables get F): root position F–A–C (bass F) · third on bottom A–C–F, figure 6 · fifth on bottom C–F–A, figure 6/4. Any octave distribution is fine as long as the named member is lowest and the group can say which member that is. The teaching moment: when the third hits the bass, ask the room "did the chord change?" — the answer "no, just the floor" is the whole round.

Card check (10 seconds per student): four recipes with one fully worked root; major ladder M m m M M m d with I–vii°; minor ladder with V and vii° marked as the harmonic-minor upgrades; three floors with figures 6 and 6/4 (slashes); the card is handwritten and theirs.

AI-critique full credit: names the honest answer (same chord — C major, first inversion, figure 6) with either a caught error quoted or a real verification described. "The AI said it was fine" with no checking shown earns the partial band.

Where students collect their own responses (Round 1 first-instinct bins, the card's personal touches), grade the method — honest marks, complete spellings — never agreement with a "right" first guess.

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Grading rubric — 20 points

The rubric below maps the studio's parts to points; bands are full / partial / none. The async make-up path uses the identical rubric.

Criterion	Full	Partial	None
Round 1 — ear sort completed honestly, all eight chords binned (4)	4	2–3	0–1
Round 2 — spelling relay: both roots complete, ≥6 of 8 spellings correct with honest letters-first work (6)	6	3–5 (one root solid; or right keys with letter slips)	0–2
Round 3 — floors and figures: ≥4 of 6 rows correct incl. at least one puzzle re-stacked properly (4)	4	2–3	0–1
Round 4 — voicing table complete, figures right, group sounded all three floors (4)	4	2–3	0–1
AI-critique: 2–3 sentences with a specific catch or a real verification (2)	2	1	0

Quality gate (self-checked): every Round 1–4 key entry re-verified against the course theory reference (the twenty Round-2 spellings; B–D–F and E–G–B♭; the three floors of C, D, and F major; figures 6 and 6/4 with slashes); both fences parse and their bars sum (the free-meter card fence and the 4/4 inversion loop); rubric sums 4+6+4+4+2 = 20; no purchased or downloaded materials; the async path needs no partner and no purchase. ✓

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 9 Studio — Quality sort"
assignment_group = "Studios"
points_possible  = 20
grading_type     = points
submission_types = [on_paper]        # in session; async make-up: online_upload (photos + short recording)
due              = in session, Week 9's second session; make-up by the end of Week 9
published        = true

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