Week 11 — Studio · "Name that progression"

Course: MUS 156 Music Theory I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 11 of 16 (Week 11) · two sessions per week
Objectives: SLO 5 · SLO 4 · SLO 8, one component (your Chart song's progression, drafted) · and always SLO 7 (the spine: hear it → name it → write it)
Studio 11 · 20 points · Studios group · In session, Week 11's second session · async make-up path below, full credit, submit by the end of Week 11
Format: a gig simulation. Professor Hemsworth plays the loops working bands live on; you call the Roman numerals in real time, spell them on the board, and transpose them by numbers alone. Nothing to buy or download; loop sheets and paper keyboards are provided, and your own instrument is welcome. Bring your Chart song (chosen last unit) on your phone.

Every content unit has a the second session studio. It's the week's payoff enacted: this week, the payoff is calling it — a progression heard twice, named in numbers, playable in any key.

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Part 1 — The Big Picture

Session 1 named the system: numerals carry the root's degree and the quality, chords carry jobs, and the jobs run a cycle — home, away, lean, land. Today the system goes into your ears at gig speed. Every round runs the ear-first direction — hear the loop → feel the jobs → call the numbers → spell them — because that's the order a bandstand actually demands: the song is already playing, and the person who can call "one–five–six–four" after two passes is the person everyone else follows.

By the end of the session your own Chart song will have the start of a number chart — the draft that becomes milestone 2 this weekend.

Part 2 — The Task

The guiding question: How fast can you turn a progression you hear into numbers another musician could play from — in any key?

No hypothesis to write today — but before Round 1, jot an honest guess on your sheet: how many times would you need to hear a four-chord loop before you could play it in a different key? Compare it to what actually happens in Round 3.

Part 3 — Procedure (the five rounds)

You'll work on the loop sheet and your paper keyboard from Week 1. Tables of 2–3 work well for Rounds 1–2 (call together, write separately); Round 3 is a team relay at the board; Rounds 4–5 run in pairs. Instruments out and welcome — checking a chord on your own strings or keys is playing, not cheating.

Round 1 — Home or away (≈8 min).
Ears only, no numerals yet. Professor Hemsworth plays short chord pairs in one key and you vote with one gesture per chord: fist = home (tonic family), open hand = packing (predominant), point = leaning (dominant). Six pairs. No grades on votes — this round proves the room already hears the three jobs before anyone names a numeral. Watch the votes converge by pair three.

Round 2 — The loop board (≈15 min).
Six loops, majors and minors, each played twice slowly and then looped quietly. For each: (1) find home — sing the bass note that feels like the floor; (2) call the numbers with your table, out loud; (3) write the numeral chain in Table 1. After each loop the room calls it together and Professor Hemsworth spells it on the board — mark your own sheet. Loop 6 saves the best trap for last: listen for the chord that means it.

Round 3 — The transposition relay (≈12 min).
The payoff, live. Each table gets one loop from Round 2 and a new key drawn from a hat. At the board: write the numbers, then the chord letters in the new key, then — if your table plays — play a lap of it. The room checks the board against the key's own chords. This is the whole reason numbers exist: nobody "transposes" anything; the numbers were never in a key to begin with.

Round 4 — The dominant-pair corner (≈8 min).
Professor Hemsworth plays V7 → I in C major, then vii° → I, then holds V7 and vii° side by side. You: name the three shared notes and the shared tritone on your sheet (Table 2), and vote which chord feels like "V7 with the engine exposed." Then the minor-key finale: vii°7 in A minor — the four-note chord built on the raised ^7 — resolved to i. One playthrough of v → i versus V → i in A minor closes the round: one sharp, two different stories.

Round 5 — The Chart clinic (≈20 min) · milestone 2 scaffolding.
Pairs. Partner A plays 30–60 seconds of their Chart song (phone speaker is fine) or hums the bass line from memory; Partner B listens for home — the chord the song rests on — and both hunt the section's chord changes together: how many different chords? where do they change (the harmonic rhythm)? which one leans? Pencil a first-draft number chain for one section on the sheet (Table 3). Swap roles. This draft rides straight into this week's assignment, where Chart milestone 2 — progression drafted is graded. Rescue flag for the room: plenty of songs start away from home — if your "first chord" doesn't feel like the floor, it probably isn't I.

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 prints every loop and chord so you can produce the sounds yourself.

Part 4 — The Scaffold (complete during the rounds)

Table 1 captures Round 2 — the key is announced; you supply the numbers.

Loop	Key (announced)	Your numeral chain
1	______	______
2	______	______
3	______	______
4	______	______
5	______	______
6	______	______

Table 2 captures Round 4 — the dominant pair, in C major.

Question	Your answer
The three notes V7 and vii° share	______
The tritone hiding inside both	______
vii°7 in A minor, spelled (four notes)	______

Table 3 captures Round 5 — your Chart song's first number draft.

My song / section	Home chord (letter + "= i or I")	Number chain draft	Chords change about every ___
______	______	______	______

Round 3 relay record: our loop __ · our new key _ · our letters · board check: ___

Part 5 — Analysis Questions (short answers on the sheet, ≈4 min)

1. In Round 1 your ear sorted chords into jobs before any numeral existed. Which job was easiest to hear — home, packing, or leaning? One sentence on how you knew.
2. Round 3: your table re-lettered a loop into a new key without "transposing" anything chord by chord. In your own words, why do the numbers make that free?
3. Round 4: a bandmate says "vii° is just V7 missing a note, so why learn it?" Give the honest two-sentence answer — what they're right about, and what they're missing.
4. In the minor loops, one chord sometimes carried an accidental that isn't in the key signature. Which scale degree was raised, what did it do to the five chord, and what does unit 5's solfège call that move?
5. Round 5: what surprised you about your own song — the number of chords, where home was, or how fast the chords walk? One honest sentence.

Part 6 — AI-Critique Moment (≈3 min, phones out — or on the projector if the room prefers)

Type three facts from today into your chatbot and ask it to check them — for example: "Check these: (1) in C major, the chords C–G–Am–F are I–V–vi–IV; (2) in A minor, the chord on the fifth scale degree is major when the seventh degree is raised; (3) vii°7 is diatonic to harmonic minor, not to any major key." Then judge its reply against your sheet. The classic failures to hunt: it flatly calls minor's five chord "minor" (no raised-^7 story), it treats ø7 and °7 as interchangeable, or it respells A minor's G♯ as A♭. Write 2–3 sentences on your sheet: what it got right, and at least one thing you corrected or verified. The habit all term: the tool drafts, you judge.

Part 7 — What to Submit

Hand in before you leave: the loop sheet (Tables 1–3, the relay record, analysis answers, AI-critique sentences). 20 points, graded on the rubric below. Your Table 3 draft is yours to keep working — it feeds Chart milestone 2 in this week's assignment, due the end of Week 11.

Async make-up path — full credit, submit by the end of Week 11. Life happens; missing the studio costs you nothing but the room. Do the same tasks alone: (1) play each Round 2 loop yourself from the printed list below (keyboard app, guitar, or piano — block chords are fine) and complete Table 1; (2) pick any one loop and do Round 3 solo: write its numbers, re-letter it into a new key of your choice, and play or sing a lap; (3) play V7 → I and vii° → I in C major and vii°7 → i in A minor, and complete Table 2; (4) do Round 5 on your own Chart song and complete Table 3; (5) do the AI-critique step. Submit: phone photos of your completed sheet, plus a short recording (a minute is plenty — voice memo or video) of you playing or singing one loop while calling its numbers aloud. Same rubric, same 20 points, no penalty.

Make-up loop list (keys and letters, so no hearing partner is needed): Loop 1 — C major: C, F, G, C. Loop 2 — C major: C, G, Am, F. Loop 3 — A minor: Am, F, C, G. Loop 4 — C major: Dm, G, C. Loop 5 — C major: C, Am, Dm, G. Loop 6 — A minor: Am, Dm, E, Am. Round 4 chords — C major: G–B–D–F and B–D–F, then C–E–G; A minor: G♯–B–D–F, then A–C–E.

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Instructor key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Round 1 pairs (play in C major / A minor; two chords each; repeat once):

#	Play	Votes to expect	Note
1	C → G	fist → point	the anchor pair; everyone lands it
2	C → F	fist → open hand	packing vs. home — some fists on F; play C–F–G quickly to show F pointing forward
3	G → C	point → fist	the land; shoulders drop, say so
4	C → Am	fist → fist (some hesitation)	tonic family — "home-flavored, not home"; both answers get praised, then named
5	Dm → G	open hand → point	the PD→D handoff, the engine of every turnaround
6	B° → C	point → fist	the little dominant; play it twice — it's V7's top three notes

Round 2 loops and vetted numeral chains (announce the key before each):

#	Key	Play	Vetted chain	Note
1	C major	C · F · G · C	I–IV–V–I	the textbook lap: home, away, lean, land
2	C major	C · G · Am · F	I–V–vi–IV	the fifty-song loop; dominant early, cousin catches it
3	A minor	Am · F · C · G	i–VI–III–VII	all natural minor — smooth, no push; case does the work
4	C major	Dm · G · C	ii–V–I	the jazz handshake; ii packs, V leans, I lands
5	C major	C · Am · Dm · G	I–vi–ii–V	the turnaround; loop it — it never lands, that's the design
6	A minor	Am · Dm · E · Am	i–iv–V–i	the trap/summit: E major in an A-minor loop — the raised ^7 (G♯) at work; the chord that means it

Reference fence for the board (Loop 2, the fifty-song loop):

KEY: C major    METER: 4/4    CLEF: bass
| <C3,E3,G3>/w | <G2,B2,D3>/w | <A2,C3,E3>/w | <F2,A2,C3>/w |

Four whole-note chords on the bass staff — C–E–G, G–B–D, A–C–E, F–A–C: the I–V–vi–IV loop in C major, one chord per bar.

And Loop 6's dominant moment (the raised ^7 in context):

KEY: a minor    METER: 4/4    CLEF: bass
| <A2,C3,E3>/w | <D3,F3,A3>/w | <E3,G#3,B3>/w | <A2,C3,E3>/w |

Four whole-note chords on the bass staff — A–C–E, D–F–A, E–G♯–B, A–C–E: i, iv, V, i in A minor, with the G♯ of the raised seventh degree turning the third chord major.

Round 3 — relay assignments and vetted answers (draw keys from the hat; these are the combinations in it):

Loop	New key	Vetted letters
I–IV–V–I	G major	G · C · D · G
I–V–vi–IV	G major	G · D · Em · C
I–V–vi–IV	F major	F · C · Dm · B♭
ii–V–I	F major	Gm · C · F
I–vi–ii–V	D major	D · Bm · Em · A
i–iv–V–i	E minor	Em · Am · B · Em (B major — D♯ is E minor's raised ^7)
i–VI–III–VII	E minor	Em · C · G · D

Board-check reminders: case on the board must match quality (Em not E for vi in G); the E-minor dominant is B major (B–D♯–F♯) — expect and praise the table that flags the D♯ out loud.

Round 4 vetted answers (Table 2): shared notes B, D, F; shared tritone B–F (^4–^7); vii°7 in A minor = G♯–B–D–F (spelled with G♯, never A♭ — the raised ^7 is the root). Play v → i (E–G–B → A–C–E), then V → i (E–G♯–B → A–C–E); the room votes which one "means it." Vote is unanimous every year.

Round 5 — clinic coaching: circulate. Common rescues: (1) the song starts on IV or vi — have them hum the ending of the section, home usually lives there; (2) a student hears five chords where there are three (color notes, not new chords — "does the bass move?"); (3) harmonic rhythm confusion — have them tap the beat with a foot and raise a hand only at chord changes. Table 3 is graded for an honest, complete draft (home named, a chain written, a change-rate estimated), never for whether the numbers survive next week's coach session unrevised — drafts are supposed to be wrong somewhere.

AI-critique full credit: names a specific claim checked, with either a caught error (most common: the flat "minor v" answer or an ø/° collapse) or a real verification ("it agreed, and I re-spelled E–G♯–B myself before believing it"). "The AI said it was all correct" with no checking shown earns the partial band.

Where students collect their own responses (Round 1 votes, the Part 2 guess, Table 3, analysis answers), grade the method — honest marks, numerals with case and symbols, complete drafts — never agreement with one "right" hearing of their own song.

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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 — home or away completed honestly, all six pairs voted and marked (2)	2	1	0
Round 2 — the loop board: numeral chains with correct case/symbols, ≥4 of 6 chains correct (6)	6	3–5 (chains right but case sloppy, or 2–3 correct)	0–2
Round 3 — the relay: numbers → correct letters in the new key, checked at the board (4)	4	2–3 (right idea, one chord misspelled or case slip)	0–1
Round 4 — the dominant pair: shared notes + tritone + vii°7 spelling all correct (3)	3	2 (two of three)	0–1
Round 5 — Chart clinic (Table 3): home named, number chain drafted, change-rate estimated (3)	3	2 (draft present but a column blank)	0–1
AI-critique: 2–3 sentences with a specific catch or a real verification (2)	2	1	0

Quality gate (self-checked): every loop chain, relay answer, and Round 4 entry re-verified against the course theory reference (C major: C/Dm/Em/F/G/Am/B° = I/ii/iii/IV/V/vi/vii°; A minor natural: Am/B°/C/Dm/Em/F/G = i/ii°/III/iv/v/VI/VII; raised ^7 gives E–G♯–B = V and G♯–B–D–F = vii°7; G major relay letters G/C/D/Em; F major Gm/C/F and B♭ = IV; D major Bm/Em/A; E minor's V = B–D♯–F♯); both reference fences parse and sum to their meters; rubric sums 2+6+4+3+3+2 = 20; no purchased or downloaded materials; Chart milestone 2 itself is graded in the assignment, not here. ✓

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 11 Studio — Name that progression"
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 11's second session; make-up by the end of Week 11
published        = true

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