MUSC151 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Gretchen Horlacher MUSC151 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2025	Dr. Horlacher is a good professor. I would say her lecture style is decent, she answers students' questions, and she gets students involved in class activities. She replaces major exams with projects, them being correcting two weekly homeworks each, following her feedback. She breaks work outside of class into smaller chunks compared to other professors, making homework take less time, but having a small, completion grade mini-homework due many classes. The general consensus amongst my classmates is that Dr. Layton is the preferred professor for this class, as some people feel her lectures are unclear. I didn't have this issue, but I am also more interested in theory than your average music student, so keep this in mind.
Richard Layton MUSC151 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2025	Dr. Layton is definitely the most enthusiastic professor in music theory I've come across. He makes learning music theory very fun and interactive with the class. He is very humorous and is a very positive person and every class you'd see his enjoyment for music and music analysis. I think you want to learn the actual theory in MUSC151, you should take Layton as for me he explains it in a very intuitive way for me personally and takes fun examples to help people better understand the class. I think people should take this class if you want enjoy the class and learn the rules of theory. The only negative I will say is that for grading he can be a little harsh with the errors you make in your homework and for the final exam, it will definitely be an incredibly hard final for most people. If you're not a pianist and can't easily read bass clef, the final becomes a lot harder and you definietely need to be able to analyze fast to keep up with the time given.
Gretchen Horlacher MUSC151 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/01/2025	If you can, take Dr. Layton instead. I had him for 150 then Horlacher for 151 and the difference is night and day. She is a nice person but her lectures are so scattered and I find myself more confused when I DO listen to her than when I don't.
Richard Layton MUSC151 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 08/15/2024	A very nice teacher . You will not be bored in his class. I will say that this class can be pretty challenging for voice majors due to majority of his terminology and teaching being centered around instrumentalists understanding and knowledge, so unless you have background knowledge regarding being an instrumentalists I don’t recommend you take this course with him. I also do wish that more resources were provided for those who have challenges with his lessons. Overall a good class.
Richard Layton MUSC151 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/04/2024	I love this teacher! He is so funny and nice. Homework is easy and straightforward, but you will lose some points for being careless. I would love to have him for every single theory class!

Gretchen Horlacher
MUSC151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2025

Dr. Horlacher is a good professor. I would say her lecture style is decent, she answers students' questions, and she gets students involved in class activities. She replaces major exams with projects, them being correcting two weekly homeworks each, following her feedback. She breaks work outside of class into smaller chunks compared to other professors, making homework take less time, but having a small, completion grade mini-homework due many classes. The general consensus amongst my classmates is that Dr. Layton is the preferred professor for this class, as some people feel her lectures are unclear. I didn't have this issue, but I am also more interested in theory than your average music student, so keep this in mind.

Richard Layton
MUSC151

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2025

Dr. Layton is definitely the most enthusiastic professor in music theory I've come across. He makes learning music theory very fun and interactive with the class. He is very humorous and is a very positive person and every class you'd see his enjoyment for music and music analysis. I think you want to learn the actual theory in MUSC151, you should take Layton as for me he explains it in a very intuitive way for me personally and takes fun examples to help people better understand the class. I think people should take this class if you want enjoy the class and learn the rules of theory. The only negative I will say is that for grading he can be a little harsh with the errors you make in your homework and for the final exam, it will definitely be an incredibly hard final for most people. If you're not a pianist and can't easily read bass clef, the final becomes a lot harder and you definietely need to be able to analyze fast to keep up with the time given.

Gretchen Horlacher
MUSC151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/01/2025

If you can, take Dr. Layton instead. I had him for 150 then Horlacher for 151 and the difference is night and day. She is a nice person but her lectures are so scattered and I find myself more confused when I DO listen to her than when I don't.

Richard Layton
MUSC151

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
08/15/2024

A very nice teacher . You will not be bored in his class. I will say that this class can be pretty challenging for voice majors due to majority of his terminology and teaching being centered around instrumentalists understanding and knowledge, so unless you have background knowledge regarding being an instrumentalists I don’t recommend you take this course with him. I also do wish that more resources were provided for those who have challenges with his lessons. Overall a good class.

Richard Layton
MUSC151

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/04/2024

I love this teacher! He is so funny and nice. Homework is easy and straightforward, but you will lose some points for being careless. I would love to have him for every single theory class!

Reviews for MUSC151