Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

English and Italian Dictation and Repertoire (Face-to-Face)

MUSC 1170-01

Course: MUSC 1170-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: MUSC
CRN: 31267

Course Description

This course is designed to teach students the correct standardized pronunciation of English and Italian by utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet. Students will learn pronunciation rules as well as study American, English, and Italian art song literature. (Fall) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll

Required Texts

Required texts and other Materials:


  • International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers: A manual for English and foreign language diction by Joan Wall

  • Gateway to Italian Diction A Guide for Singers with complete CD recording of Italian Text by John Glenn Paton

  • Gateway to Italian Art Songs An Anthology of Italian Song and Interpretation by John Glenn Paton and published  by Alfred Publishing with CD ***Available in High and Low voice but you only need one***

  • Please obtain and bring:
    • a large three ring binder notebook in which to keep notes on composers and other information.
    • a small handheld mirror that can be used in class when the class is dealing with diction  exercises.

  • Canvas access is required as many course materials will be provided there.

It is expected that you will have these things at each class.

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes


Diction
  • The student will develop a basic understanding of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
  • The student will learn rules for transcription of singing English and Italian.
  • The student will learn the pronunciation of singing English and Italian while developing a style free of regionalisms and affectations.
  • The student will use these skills to perform works in English and Italian in a manner intelligible to knowledgeable  listeners.
  • The student will gain a better understanding of vowel formation and utilization.
  • The student will gain a better understanding of consonant formation and utilization 

Literature
  • The student will become familiar with some English and American composers and representative literature.
  • The student will become familiar with some Italian Art Song Composers and representative literature.

These outcomes will be assessed by both written and oral examinations, diction worksheets, and a final repertoire database project.

Course Requirements

Course Requirements


Examinations (60% combined)
  • English Diction Written Examination (15%) - This written examination, which will occur around midterm, will test your knowledge of basic IPA and English diction using multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching formats. It will include questions about rules regarding IPA transcription. It will also include a section for you to transcribe orthographic spellings into IPA, a section for you to translate IPA into orthographic spellings, and a section regarding "R" rules.

  • English Diction Oral Examination (15%) - This oral examination, which will also occur around midterm, will test your ability to sing an English piece with proper singing diction. In a one-on-one setting with the instructor, you will sing a prepared English piece with the sheet music. You will be graded on your diction and not on your technique. I will hand out the sheet music for the piece and we will go over it together in class.

  • Italian Diction Written Examination (15%) - This written examination, which will occur during the Final Exam time for this course, will test your knowledge of Italian diction using multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching formats. It will include questions about rules regarding IPA transcription. It will also include a section for you to transcribe orthographic spellings into IPA.

  • Italian Diction Oral Examination (15%) - This oral examination, which will occur on the last week of classes, will test your ability to sing an Italian piece with proper singing diction. In a one-on-one setting with the instructor, you will sing a prepared Italian piece with the sheet music. You will be graded on your diction and not on your technique. The sheet music for the piece will be from your textbook and we will go over it together in class.

Diction Worksheets (10%) - These worksheets will be assigned as homework throughout the semester. They will each give you the opportunity to practice applying your knowledge of IPA rules and they will normally be on topics which we have just covered together in class.

Composer Presentation (10%) - These presentations are due Friday, October 17 on Canvas. You will submit a ten minute video presentation on an assigned composer focusing on the following:

  •  Composer information
    • Time period they lived in
    • Important events from their life (don't take too much time on this)
    • Interesting facts about them
  • A summary of their compositional style (focus on their vocal works) including:
    • Melody
    • Harmony
    • Accompaniment
    • Text Painting
    • Genre/form
    • Range, tessitura (did they write for one voice type or many?)
  • An image of your reference page

Please dress professionally (ask if you are unsure of what that means) and use a space in which you will not be distracted or interrupted. You may get as creative as you would like and are allowed to use brief (a few measures) musical examples to demonstrate their compositional style.

If you need help finding good sources to draw from, please do not hesitate to ask!

Repertoire Database Project (20%) - Throughout the course of the semester, you will be completing listening assignments. These assignments, as well as their respective due dates, will be posted on Canvas. Each assignment will consist of you listening to a list of songs by various composers, and then making a database entry for each song. The tracks/Youtube links for the songs, and the template for the database will all be available to you on Canvas. Each listening assignment will add to your database until, at the end of the semester, you submit your completed database which you can then use as a valuable resource for research, performing, and teaching!!!

Grading Policy
100–93 % | A
92–90 % | A-
89–87 % | B+
86–83 % | B
82–80 % | B-
79–77 % | C+
76–73 % | C
70–72 % | C-
69–67 % | D+
66–63 % | D
63–60 % | D-
59% and below | F

Course Outline

Course Schedule


Week 1
Aug. 27, 29
  • English Diction, IPA

Labor Day No Classes Sep. 1

Week 2
Sep. 3, 5
  • Art Song, English Diction

Week 3
Sep. 8, 10, 12
  • English Diction
  • ***Listening Assignment 1 Due***

Week 4
Sep. 15, 17, 19
  • English Diction
  • ***Listening Assignment 2 Due***

Week 5
Sep. 22, 24, 26
  • English Diction
  • ***Listening Assignment 3 Due***

Week 6
Sep. 29, Oct. 1, 3
  • American and British Song Literature
  • ***Listening Assignment 4 Due***

Week 7
Oct. 6, 8, 10
  • Oct. 6 - English Diction Review
  • Oct. 8 - English Diction Oral Examination
  • Oct. 10 - English Diction Written Examination

Fall Break No Classes Oct. 13-14

Week 8
Oct. 15 ***No Class Today***
  • Work on Composer Presentation

Oct. 17 ***No Class Today***
  • Composer Presentations (record and submit on Canvas for credit)

Week 9
Oct. 20, 22, 24
  • Italian Diction
  • Listening Assignment 5 Due

Week 10
Oct. 27, 29, 31
  • Italian Diction
  • Listening Assignment 6 Due

Week 11
Nov. 3, 5, 7
  • Italian Diction
  • Listening Assignment 7 Due

Week 12
Nov. 10, 12, 14
  • Italian Song Literature
  • Listening Assignment 8 Due

Week 13
Thanksgiving Break No Classes Nov. 24-28

Week 14
Dec. 1, 3, 5
  • Dec. 1 - Italian Diction Review
  • Dec. 3 - Italian Diction Review
  • Dec. 5 - Italian Diction Oral Examination

Final Exam
Thursday, Dec. 11 @ 11:00am - Italian Diction Written Examination

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Assignment Policy


Late assignments will generally not be accepted. Exceptions include: accomodations from the Disability Resource Center, and prior communication from you to me which results in an extension.

Attendance Policy

Attendance Policy


Attendance is critical for this class!

This class has a skill component to it that can only be properly learned through monitored practice. Therefore, while attendance is not a graded category in this class, the following scale will be used to adjust your final grade at the end of the semester:

0 absences - add 4 percentage points
1 absence - add 2 percentage points
2 absences - no change
3 absences - subtract 2 points
4 absences - subtract 4 points
5 absences - subtract 8 points
6 absences - automatic failure

My hope is that we all remain healthy and well throughout the semester. However, the Disability Resource Center can help you negotiate the effect of an absence due to a health emergency if necessary.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.