Week 15 — Studio · "The singer says it's too high"

Course: MUS 156 Music Theory I · Kenosis College
Instructor: Professor Hemsworth
Unit: Learning Unit 15 of 16 (Week 15) · two sessions per week
Objectives: SLO 8 (transpose, read and realize a chart, talk harmony in standard terms) · SLO 4 · SLO 5 · SLO 7 underneath, as always
Studio 15 · 20 points · Studios group · In session, Week 15's second session · async make-up path below, full credit, submit by the end of Week 15 (a day early this week)
Format: the term's highest-energy session, on purpose — a live gig scenario: learn a chart, absorb a key-change request from a singer, move the whole chart down a minor third on the spot, write it in Nashville numbers, and hand your chart to another group who must play it cold. Bring your instrument if you have one; voices count as instruments today and always.

Every content unit has a the second session studio. It's the week's payoff enacted — and this week, the payoff is the whole course: fifteen weeks of vocabulary, all moving at once, out loud, under friendly pressure.

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Part 1 — The Big Picture

Session 1 named the tools: transposition with a direction, written-vs-sounding, numbers that survive key changes, the roadmap. Today is a soundcheck simulation. There is a song, there is a singer, and the singer says the thing singers say. Your table is the band. In seventy-five minutes the song will exist in a new key, in your handwriting, in two notations — letters and numbers — and another band will play from your chart without you explaining anything. That last part is the real exam: notation is a memo from one musician to another, and today your memo gets delivered.

Part 2 — The Task

The guiding question: When the key has to change right now, can you move the whole song — melody, chords, chart — without breaking anything your ear cares about, and hand the result to a stranger who can play it?

The song: "Valley Road" — an eight-bar tune written for this course (so nobody can search up a chart; your ears and your arithmetic are the only way in). It's printed below in G major, the key the band "has been playing it in."

KEY: G major    METER: 4/4    CLEF: treble
| G4/q A4/q B4/q D5/q | E5/h B4/h | C5/q B4/q A4/q G4/q | A4/h F#4/h | G4/q A4/q B4/q D5/q | E5/q D5/q B4/h | C5/q C5/q A4/q A4/q | G4/w |

In plain English: an eight-bar melody in G major. It climbs G4–A4–B4 and leaps to D5; peaks on a held E5 that settles to B4; walks down C5–B4–A4–G4; leans on A4 then F♯4; climbs again the same way; falls E5–D5 to a held B4; repeats C5 and A4 in pairs; and lands on a whole-note G4. The chords, one per bar (two in bar 7): G · Em · C · D · G · Em · C D · G.

Part 3 — Procedure (the five rounds)

Tables of 3–4 work well; the rounds also run solo. Staff paper, the studio sheet, and index cards are in the room.

Round 1 — Learn it like a band (≈8 min).
Professor Hemsworth plays "Valley Road" twice. First pass: just listen. Second pass: sing along on doo. Then, from the printed chart, sing the melody once with letter names — and answer two warm-up questions on your sheet: what is the melody's peak note, and which bar does it live in? (Look and listen; they agree.) Sing the chord roots — G, E, C, D — under the instructor's playing once through.

Round 2 — The request lands (≈12 min).
Professor Hemsworth, in character: "Hey — this is sitting too high for me. My top note's about a C♯5. Can we fix it before the run-through?"
Your table answers three questions, in order, on the sheet — direction first, always:

1. Which direction does the chart move? (Say why in one clause.)
2. What exact interval? Use the peak-note test: peak vs. ceiling.
3. Chords first — they're fewer. Move all four chord letters by your answer to #2 and fill in Table 1, including the two-chord bar.

Round 3 — Move the melody (≈18 min).
On staff paper: write the new key signature, then transpose all eight bars of melody, note by note, same interval, same direction, spelled properly. Divide the work however your table likes (bars 1–4 / 5–8 is common), but every member checks somebody else's bar — the checking is the learning. Enter the new bars in Table 2 as you go. Watch the two places the octave arithmetic bites: the peak bar and the last bar.

Round 4 — The napkin chart (≈8 min).
On the index card, write "Valley Road" as a Nashville number chart: one number per bar, two in bar 7, minors marked. Now number the original G-major version the same way. Compare. Write the sentence the comparison proves at the bottom of the card. (You met this sentence in session 1; today it's yours.)

Round 5 — The handoff (≈15 min).
Trade your work with another table: they get your transposed staff-paper chart and your number card; you get theirs. Each table now performs the received chart — sing it, play it, any honest combination — cold, no questions allowed to the authors. While performing, run the two acceptance checks a working band would run, and mark the received chart:

• Singability check: what's the new peak note, and does it sit at or under the singer's stated ceiling?
• Legibility check: could you play it without the authors explaining anything? Flag every spot you had to guess.

Return the marked charts. Authors: read your flags — that's your grade in the real world, and today it's just information. Fix anything flagged before you hand the sheet in.

Part 4 — The Scaffold (complete during the rounds)

Table 1 captures Round 2 — the chord move.

Bar	Old chord (in G)	New chord	Nashville number
1	G	______	______
2	Em	______	______
3	C	______	______
4	D	______	______
5	G	______	______
6	Em	______	______
7	C · D	__ · ____	__ · ____
8	G	______	______

Table 2 captures Round 3 — the melody move, bar by bar.

Bar	Old notes (in G)	Your new notes
1	G4 A4 B4 D5	______
2	E5 B4	______
3	C5 B4 A4 G4	______
4	A4 F♯4	______
5	G4 A4 B4 D5	______
6	E5 D5 B4	______
7	C5 C5 A4 A4	______
8	G4	______

Round 2 header answers: Direction: __ · Interval: _ · Peak-note evidence: ___

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

1. Your direction answer in Round 2: defend it in one sentence a non-musician would understand. (Why down, when "change the key" could go either way?)
2. After the move: name two things about "Valley Road" that did not change, and be specific (an interval, a function, a cadence — anything from the term's vocabulary).
3. The number card came out identical in both keys. Say in one or two sentences why that isn't a coincidence — and which unit of this course it proves you learned.
4. What did the receiving table flag on your chart, and what does that teach you about writing for musicians who can't ask you questions?
5. Fifteen weeks ago, today's session would have been impossible for you. Name the single skill from the term that did the most work for you today, and one place you'll use it in the next month.

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

Type into your chatbot: "Our song is in G major — chords G, Em, C, D — and the singer wants it down a minor third. What's the new key and what do the four chords become?" Judge the reply against the chart your table just verified by hand and by ear. The failures to hunt: the direction flip (an answer in B♭ major means it moved your song up a m3), a wrong interval (A major or F major means it moved a second, not a third), or a spelling collapse (D♭m where C♯m belongs). Write 2–3 sentences on your sheet: what it got right, and at least one thing you corrected or verified. Last studio of the term, same habit as the first: the tool drafts, you judge.

Part 7 — What to Submit

Hand in before you leave: the studio sheet (Round 2 answers + Tables 1–2 + analysis answers + AI-critique sentences), your staff-paper transposition (with the receiving table's flags on it), and your Nashville card. 20 points, graded on the rubric below.

Async make-up path — full credit, submit by the end of Week 15. Life happens; missing the studio costs you nothing but the room. Do the same gig alone: (1) play or sing "Valley Road" from the printed G chart above until it's in your ear (any instrument or keyboard app); (2) run Round 2 in writing — direction, interval, peak-note evidence, chord row (the singer's ceiling is C♯5, same as in class); (3) transpose all eight melody bars on staff paper with the new signature; (4) make the Nashville card both ways and write the sentence it proves; (5) do the AI-critique step; (6) record yourself (a minute is plenty — voice memo or video) singing or playing any four bars from your own transposed chart, saying the new key aloud first. Submit photos of the sheet, the staff paper, and the card, plus the recording. Same rubric, same 20 points, no penalty — the handoff criterion is graded on your recording (you are the receiving band).

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Instructor key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Round 2 vetted answers: Direction: down (too high → down; she asked for relief at the top). Interval: peak E5 vs. ceiling C♯5 → minor third (three letters E–D–C♯, three half steps). New key: E major — four sharps (F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯); one sharp becomes four, and that's fine.

Table 1 key (chords + numbers):

Bar	In G	In E	Number
1, 5, 8	G	E	1
2, 6	Em	C♯m	6m
3, 7a	C	A	4
4, 7b	D	B	5

Numbers are identical in both keys — the sentence the card must prove: the letters changed and the numbers didn't, because the numbers name relationships, not addresses (any honest wording; "Nashville numbers are Roman numerals in street clothes" earns a smile).

Table 2 key — the full transposed melody:

KEY: E major    METER: 4/4    CLEF: treble
| E4/q F#4/q G#4/q B4/q | C#5/h G#4/h | A4/q G#4/q F#4/q E4/q | F#4/h D#4/h | E4/q F#4/q G#4/q B4/q | C#5/q B4/q G#4/h | A4/q A4/q F#4/q F#4/q | E4/w |

"Valley Road" a minor third down, in E major: E4–F♯4–G♯4 leaping to B4; peak now a held C♯5 (the singer's exact ceiling — say this out loud when a group discovers it) settling to G♯4; A4–G♯4–F♯4–E4; F♯4 then D♯4; the climb again; C♯5–B4 to held G♯4; A4 and F♯4 in pairs; whole-note E4.

Bar-by-bar for fast checking: 1) E4 F♯4 G♯4 B4 · 2) C♯5 G♯4 · 3) A4 G♯4 F♯4 E4 · 4) F♯4 D♯4 · 5) = bar 1 · 6) C♯5 B4 G♯4 · 7) A4 A4 F♯4 F♯4 · 8) E4.

Predictable errors, and what they mean: D♯4 written as E♭4 in bar 4 (enharmonic collapse — same key on the piano, wrong spelling in E major; send them to the signature); bar 2 or 6 peak written B4 (moved a M3, not a m3 — re-run the peak test); chords right but melody moved up (direction inverted under time pressure — the exact error this studio exists to extinguish; fix it warmly, it's why we practice); Nashville card with 6 instead of 6m (quality dropped — numbers carry quality too).

Handoff acceptance keys: new peak = C♯5, at the stated ceiling — passes. A received chart is "legible" if the reading table never had to ask the authors anything; flags are information, not deductions, unless the flagged spot is a genuine pitch/spelling error (then it's Table 2 accuracy).

AI-critique full credit: names a specific claim checked against the verified chart, with either a caught error (most common: B♭ major — the direction flip) or a real verification ("it said E major and C♯m; I checked C♯m against our Table 1 and the m3 arithmetic"). "The AI agreed with us" with no checking shown earns the partial band.

Energy note: this is the term's peak session — run it like a soundcheck, not a seminar. Keep the piano loud, let tables sing, and when the first group discovers the new peak lands exactly on the singer's ceiling, stop the room and make them say why. That moment is the course.

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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 (handoff criterion graded on the recording).

Criterion	Full	Partial	None
Round 2 — direction + interval named with peak-note evidence (down · m3 · E5→C♯5) (3)	3	2 (right call, thin evidence)	0–1
Chord row (Table 1): all four chords correctly moved, two-chord bar included (4)	4	2–3 (1–2 slips)	0–1
Melody move (Table 2 + staff paper): correct signature, ≥20 of 24 notes correct and properly spelled (5)	5	3–4 (a few slips, or right keys wrongly spelled)	0–2
Nashville card: both keys numbered, minors marked, the "numbers didn't move" sentence present (3)	3	2	0–1
Handoff round: performed the received chart honestly + ran both acceptance checks (3)	3	2	0–1
AI-critique: 2–3 sentences with a specific catch or a real verification (2)	2	1	0

Quality gate (self-checked): every key entry re-verified against the course theory reference (G→E down a m3; chord map G/Em/C/D → E/C♯m/A/B; all 24 melody notes; E major = four sharps; peak E5→C♯5; up-a-m3 counterexample B♭); both fences parse and every bar sums to 4/4; rubric sums 3+4+5+3+3+2 = 20; async make-up carries full credit; no purchased or downloaded materials; "Valley Road" is original to the course, so no copyright exposure in printing it. ✓

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 15 Studio — The singer says it's too high"
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 15's second session; make-up by the end of Week 15
published        = true

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