Fall 2024 Undergraduate Courses
MUSI 1310 Basic Musical Skills
3.0 credits
Section 1 (Ben Rous): MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 10344
Section 2 (Ayn Balija): MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 13524
Study of the rudiments of music and training in the ability to read music. Prerequisite: No previous knowledge of music required.
MUSI 2070 Popular Musics
Karl Hagstrom Miller
3.0 credits
Section 100: MW / 1:00-1:50 pm / Clark 107
Class Number: 19659
Discussion Sections:
Section 101 (TBD): T / 9:30-10:20 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 19660
Section 102 (TBD): T / 10:30-11:20 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 19661
Section 103 (TBD): T / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 19662
Section 104 (TBD): R / 9:30-10:20 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 19663
Section 105 (TBD): R / 10:30-11:20 am / OCH S008
Class Number: 19664
Section 106 (TBD): R / 12:30-1:20 pm / OCH S008
Class Number: 19665
MUSI 2090 Sound Studies: The Art and Experience of Listening
Noel Lobley
3.0 credits
MW / 9:30-10:45 pm / Wilson 142
Class Number: 19666
When we think about knowing the world through the senses, we are likely to think first of the visible world. But sound, hearing and listening are crucial too and often take precedence in many communities. Recently scholars in history, anthropology, geography, literary studies, acoustics, music, ecology, environmental science, and art have come together in the field of Sound Studies, reflecting on the role of sounds as forces that flow in and beyond human life. How do sound art, technology, and design create the world we inhabit and our everyday social and political experience? How can vibrations both heal and destroy? What does it mean to experience immersive and embodied sound? We will ponder these and other questions, moving between theoretical, experiential, and creative explorations.
Please note: this course is an introduction to Sound Studies, there is no pre-requisite, and students from all backgrounds, levels and experiences are welcome to come and explore myriad ways to engage with sound.
MUSI 2302 Keyboard Skills (Beginning)
2.0 credits, instructor permission
Section 1 (John Mayhood): TR / 11:00 am - 12:15 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 10345
Section 2 (Shelby Sender): TR / 12:30-1:45 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 11161
Introductory keyboard skills; includes sight-reading, improvisation, and accompaniment at the keyboard in a variety of styles. No previous knowledge of music required. Satisfies the performance requirement for music majors.
MUSI 2307 Play Guitar! 1
Mike Rosensky
2.0 credits
MW / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 12530
Fundamentals of playing guitar, with an emphasis on rhythmic training along with some music theory. This class will start from scratch and is meant for beginners. Experienced guitarists are encouraged to enroll in MUSI 3307 Play Guitar! 2.
MUSI 2308 Voice Class
Pamela Beasley
2.0 credits
MW / 4:00-4:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 12531
An introductory course to basic vocal technique; discussion to include those elements essential for healthy singing in a variety of styles. Will involve group and solo singing to apply these elements. No previous voice training or musical background required.
MUSI 2309 Group Voice Class, Popular
Stephanie Nakasian
2.0 credits
TR / 11:00-11:50 / OCH B012
Class Number: 14107
A fun, no pressure singing experience in popular music (pop, rock, jazz, theater, r&b, gospel, singer-songwriter, folk...). Exercises to help you improve tone, intonation, range, breath, power, and flexibility. Ways to develop your repertoire – the right keys, tempos, and arrangements for songs of your choosing. Tips on phrasing, rhythm and improvisation; easy basics of sight reading, piano and theory; tips on performance and marketing.
MUSI 2340 Learn to Groove
Robert Jospe
2.0 credits
Section 1: MW / 10:00-10:50 am / Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 12123
Section 2: MW / 11:00-11:50 am / Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 12124
"Learn to Groove" hand drumming and rhythmic fluency with Robert Jospe. This is a hands on drumming/percussion class using congas, djembes, claves, shakers, etc. This class is designed to enhance ones knowledge of syncopated patterns associated with jazz, rock, African and Latin American music and to improve ones facility in playing these patterns. This course will follow my book "Learn To Groove" and can include music students, non music students and is open to students of all skill levels. The course requires that students have or purchase a hand drum of their own. Congas, bongos, djembes, doumbeks or any other hand drums are appropriate.
MUSI 2342 Learn to Groove Intermediate
Robert Jospe
2.0 credits
MW / 1:00-1:50 pm / Hunter Smith Band Building
Class Number: 12125
"Learn to Groove" hand drumming and rhythmic fluency with Robert Jospe. This is the intermediate level of the class. It is a hands on drumming/percussion class using congas, djembes, claves, shakers, etc. This class is designed to enhance ones knowledge of syncopated patterns associated with jazz, rock, African and Latin American music and to improve ones facility in playing these patterns.
MUSI 2350 Technosonics: Digital Music and Sound Art Composition
Luke Dahl
3.0 credits
Section 100: MW / 10:00-10:50 pm / Wilson 402
Class Number: 12433
Discussion Sections:
Section 101 (TBD): T / 9:30-10:20 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12434
Section 102 (TBD): T / 10:30-11:20 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12435
Section 103 (TBD): T / 11:30 am - 12:20 pm / CAB 268
Class Number: 12436
Section 104 (TBD): R / 9:30-10:20 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12437
Section 105 (TBD): R / 10:30-11:20 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12438
Section 106 (TBD): R / 11:30 am - 12:20 pm / CAB 268
Class Number: 12439
Section 107 (TBD): 12440 / 9:00-9:50 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12440
Section 108 (TBD): F / 10:00-10:50 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12441
Section 109 (TBD): F / 11:00-11:50 am / CAB 268
Class Number: 12442
This class (www.technosonics.info) explores the history, theory and practice of digital music and sound art. Students learn tools and techniques of music technology that inform many genres and traditions. In addition to historical and theoretical concerns, students will experiment with digital tools for musical creation.
MUSI 2600 Jazz Improvisation
John D'earth
3.0 credits
TR / 3:30-5:00 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 10978
The Jazz Improvisation Workshop explores the basic techniques and procedures for improvising in jazz and other musical contexts. No previous jazz or improvising experience is required but students must demonstrate a degree of fluency on their main instrument, an ability to read music and some familiarity with the basics of music theory. An individual interview/audition with the instructor is required before registering for this class.
MUSI 2993: Independent Study
1.0 - 3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.
MUSI 3020 Studies in 17th- & 18th-Century Music
Bonnie Gordon
3.0 credits
TR / 2:00-3:15 / OCH 107
Class Number: 20159
In 1977, NASA launched the space probe Voyager 1 out of our Solar System. It carried a gold-plated copper record called “The sounds of earth,” that, theoretically, would work until eternity. Should a close encounter of the third kind occur, it would include among other things greetings in 55 languages The Queen of the Night’s rage aria from the Magic Flute. 1791 and 2024 were and are unprecedented times. What do music and sound teach us about those times? What sounds fascinated listeners in the 17th and 18th century? The class will tune in to diverse musical selections including symphony and opera to folk song and free improv for keyboard, by composers including but not limited to Handel, Haydn, Vivaldi, De la Guerre, Mozart, Gluck, and J.S. Bach (and his kids). The class takes a global perspective. Chronologically, it centers the 17th and 18th centuries. The course lingers on the history of sound in Early Virginia. Course work will include reading, writing, listening, visits to special collections, making music, and reflection. The course is taught at the music major level. Majors and non-majors are welcome. There are no prerequisites, and knowledge of Western music notation is not required.
MUSI 3050 Music and Discourse
Scott DeVeaux
3.0 credits
MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 12181
Studies the range of music that has flourished since the end of the 19th century including modernist and post-modern art music, popular music, and world music, through historical, critical, and ethnographic approaches.
MUSI 3307 Play Guitar! 2
2.0 credits
Mike Rosensky
MW / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 19669
The course will have flexibility from semester to semester depending on the makeup of the class. Topics may include: Bar Chord/Power Chord Refresher, (Advanced) Syncopated Strumming, Blues Form, Three-Note Major and Minor Triads up and down the fretboard, Pentatonic Scale Positions, Major Scale Positions, Scale Patterns, Song Analysis, Composition, Improvisation, Seventh Chords, Chords of Higher Tension, Funk Grooves, Introduction to Jazz Guitar.
MUSI 3310 Theory I
3.0 credits
Section 1 (Scott DeVeaux): MWF / 1:00-1:50 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 12443
Section 2 (TBA): MWF / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH B012
Class Number: 19670
Studies the pitch and rhythmic aspects of several musical styles, including European art music, blues, African drumming, and popular music. Focuses on concepts and notation related to scales and modes, harmony, meter, form, counterpoint, and style.
MUSI 3332 and 3334 Musicianship I and II
2.0 credit
These lab courses give practical experience with many aspects of musical perception, performance, and creation. These will include sight-reading and sight-singing; dictation of melody, rhythm, and harmony; aural identification of intervals, chords, and rhythmic patterns; and exercises in musical memory and improvisation. Lectures, dictations, exercises, and quizzes will be in person on Mondays and Wednesdays. Singing and rhythm practice will be online on Fridays, and most homework assignments will also be completed online. Please contact Prof. Adam Carter with questions or concerns.
MUSI 3332 Musicianship I
Brian Lindgren
MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 10346
MUSI 3334 Musicianship II
Adam Carter
MWF / 12:00-12:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 11421
MUSI 3350 Deep Listening
Fred Maus
1.0 credit
Online Asyncronous
Class Number: 12466
Exploration of collective activities that involve listening and making sound together, and other interactions, at the intersection of music-making and contemplative practices, drawing on the work of Pauline Oliveros, the Fluxus artists, and other musicians and thinkers. Weekly reading assignments for conceptualization in relation to the experiential component; weekly email responses to readings along with several brief reflective papers.
MUSI 3372 Writing Rap
A.D. Carson
3.0 credits
TR / 8:00-9:15 am / New Cabell 398
Class Number: 19671
This course focuses on the craft of writing raps. It is not necessary that students have previous experience writing raps to take this course. Students will listen to, attempt to deconstruct, and evaluate a broad range of rap music while learning the basics of composing lyrics. Along with writing raps, students will learn songwriting techniques and some theoretical approaches to composing larger works such as a “mixtape” or “album” through examinations of music, criticism, and literature.
MUSI 3380 Introduction to Composition
Nicole Mitchell Gantt
3.0 credits
Lecture: W / 4:00-6:30 / OCH B011
Class Number: 20262
This course explores compositional techniques in Western concert music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will explore and experiment with innovative approaches to harmony, rhythm, timbre, texture, and compositional form. We will improvise, listen to, analyze, and discuss new music and compositional techniques. The goal of this course is to expose you to multiple compositional techniques and let you experiment! Coursework will primarily focus on creative and composition exercises, as well as readings, listening, analyses, and short writing assignments. Students will learn to compose in varying styles and will apply their knowledge towards a final composition project.
Prerequisite: MUSI 3310. The course can be repeated for credit with approval of instructor.
MUSI 3390 Introduction to Computers and Music
Leah Reid
3.0 credits
Section 100: TR / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 13096
Discussion Sections:
Section 101 (TBD): M / 9:00-9:50 am / OCH B011
Class Number: 12726
Section 102 (TBD): M / 10:00-10:50 am / OCH B011
Class Number: 12727
Section 103 (TBD): M / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH B011
Class Number: 12728
Introduction to Music and Computers is an upper-level introductory course in music technology. Students gain theoretical, historical and practical knowledge of electronic and computer music. An emphasis is placed on creative hands-on experience composing music via digital technologies. Theoretical and practical topics include acoustics, recording, editing and mixing, MIDI, sound synthesis, and audio DSP. Students learn a host of skills and technologies useful for working with digital audio.
3390 fulfills the composition requirement of the Music Major. This is a composition class and key assignments are creative in nature. Note that you MUST register for the Lab (0 credits), as well as the course.
MUSI 3410 Orchestration I: Anatomy of the Orchestra
Ben Rous
3.0 credits
MWF / 11:00-11:50 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 19672
This course will examine the symphony orchestra in detail, equipping students with all necessary skills to arrange or compose for any ensemble. We will learn the capabilities of every orchestral instrument, and study how they are combined by master composers. Students will create arrangements for string quartet, woodwind quintet, and full orchestra. The majority of these projects will receive readings by ensembles.
Projects may be completed with notation software or may be handwritten. No previous composition or arranging experience is necessary, but fluency in musical notation and familiarity with the basics of music theory are required.
MUSI 3559 New Courses in Music
MUSI 3559 / Topic: The Woodshed: Practice Methods for Musicians
JoVia Armstrong
3.0 credits
Section 1: W / 3:00-5:30 pm / OCH B018
Class Number: 19675
This course is designed to help musicians of all levels practice their instruments more effectively while strengthening their skills in ear training, theory, private lessons, and other music classes. Students will learn to set and achieve performance goals regardless of the instrument or musical style. The course covers playing mixed meters, polyrhythms, and scale exercises at various tempos and teaches methods to improve the execution of dynamics, tempo accuracy, and articulation.
MUSI 3559 / Topic: Creative Strategies for Indie Artists
JoVia Armstrong
3.0 credits
Section 2: TR / 9:30-10:45 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 19845
This course provides a platform for students to develop successful strategies for advancing their careers in music. Students will gain knowledge about multiple aspects of being an independent musician, including the songwriting process, copyrights, PROs, marketing, booking shows, live production, tour management, and more. Additionally, the course will feature several guest speakers, such as entertainment lawyers, artist managers, and publicists, who will provide valuable insights into the world of DIY music.
MUSI 3559 / Topic: Oral, Hybrid, and Non-Western Notational Musics
Nicole Mitchell Gantt
3.0 credits
Section 3: T / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH B012
Class Number: 20118
Outside of the lines and spaces are a significant number of musical practices utilizing oral transmission, graphic scores, non-Western notation, text and sign language. Through both analysis and performance, this class will venture into multicultural music approaches to explore both old and new architectures of music making, as a way of gaining tools for sonic expressivity, flexibility, enhanced musicality and intercultural collaboration. What are some of the connections between differing music traditions? What is the role of oral transmission in the embodiment of sonic representation? How do ensembles today utilize hybrid approaches to learning and sharing music? Students are required to have a performance background of some kind, but all instruments and voices are welcome.
MUSI 3570 Music Cultures
Topic: Curating Sound: Art, Ethnography, and Community Practice
Noel Lobley
3.0 credits
MW / 2:00-3:15 pm / Wilson 142
Class Number: 19678
This practical and discovery-driven design course explores the intersections of curatorial practice, sound studies, ethnography, composition, sound art, and community arts practice, through a series of engagements linking archival collections, local and international artists and art and community spaces, and the method and philosophies of embodied and experiential deep listening. Drawing from both the histories and potential affordances of sound curation we engage with practical examples ranging from sub-Saharan Africa to Australia, from Europe to New York, and right back here to the Charlottesville and UVA communities, asking what it means to curate local sound within globalized arts circuits. We will explore multiple and diverse case studies where artists, curators, communities, industries and institutions have both collaborated and clashed, as we ask whether it is desirable or even possible to curate the elusive, invasive and ephemeral object, medium and experience of sound.
Throughout the entire course we will be working closely with professional artists and curators most notably Around HipHop Live Café and the Black Power Station based in Makhanda, South Africa, the Kluge Ruhe Museum of Aboriginal Art, and the UVA Scholars Lab.
Less a lecture format, and more of an interactive workshop, critical and creative content will be explored in an open-pedagogical model where students apprentice as curators and eventually take an active role in curating the class itself. Expect a mix of group project work, individual reflection and portfolio curation, and real-world collaborative work with professional partners.
MUSI 3993 Independent Study
1.0-3.0 credits
Instructor permission and instructor number required to enroll.
MUSI 4065 The "Black Voice"
A.D. Carson
3.0 credits
TR / 11:00 am - 12:15 pm / New Cabell 398
Class Number: 12540
This course focuses on critical analyses of and questions concerning “The Black Voice” as it pertains to hip-hop culture, particularly rap and related popular musics. Students will read, analyze, discuss a wide range of thinkers [artists included] to explore many conceptions and definitions of “Blackness” while examining popular artists and the statements they make in [and about] their art.
MUSI 4331 Theory III
Michael Puri
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH 113
Class Number: 19679
Studies in 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century techniques and styles through analysis and composition. Prerequisite: MUSI 3320 or instructor permission.
MUSI 4509 Cultural & Historical Studies
Topic: Music in Relation to Sexuality and Disability
Fred Maus
3.0 credits
W / 2:00-4:30 pm / OCH 113
Class Number: 19680
MUSI 4533 Advanced Musicianship
Topic: Advanced Musical Skills: Hearing and Understanding
Michael Slon
2.0 credits
MW / 2:00-2:50 pm / OCH 107
Class Number: 19960
The class provides excellent training in practical musical methods and skills, with a small faculty-student ratio, and will focus on further developing:
- the ear for harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic dictation from played excerpts and recordings
- audiation skills (listening mentally - see this website for more info: http://giml.org/mlt/audiation/), and aural error detection
- score reading ability on several lines and in multiple clefs
- advanced rhythmic security and sight-reading
- understanding of form and musical analysis
- basic improvisation/composition skills
Prerequisite: Completion or placement out of Musicianship I or II
MUSI 4545 Computer Applications in Music
Topic: Designing Audio Effect Plugins
Luke Dahl
3.0 credits
MW / 2:30-3:45 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 12107
Audio effects are common and useful tools used in the recording, mixing, and mastering of music and sound, as well as in sound design.
This course focuses on understanding, designing and implementing audio effects, and using them for musical projects. We will cover the signal processing involved in effects such as EQ, delay, chorus, flanger, reverb, distortion, and compression, and we will implement these effects as VST or AudioUnit plug-ins by programming in C/C++ and using the JUCE framework. We will emphasize the musical application of our designs, and as a final project students will create a unique new effect that addresses their own musical goals.
Enrollment is by instructor permission. Students are expected to have experience using digital audio tools, and to have a music-making or sound-based practice. Previous programming experience is _very_ helpful, but not required if you are enthusiastic and able to learn quickly!
MUSI 4559 New Course in Music
Topic: The Sound of Film
Nomie Dave
3.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 9:30-10:45 am / OCH 107
Class Number: 19681
How do we listen to film? What is the relationship between sound and images? What stories does sound tell? This course will explore the role of sound and listening in film, from lo-fi to hi-fi, from sound effects and ambient noise to voiceovers, music, and sound design. We will consider the history of sound recording in film and will listen to and watch several different examples and techniques of sound story-telling. Students will also learn about different types of microphones, experiment with making recordings, and create their own short sound films. No musical experience necessary.
MUSI 4581 Composition I
Leah Reid
3.0 credits
TR / 9:30-10:45 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 19682
MUSI 4581 is an upper level music composition course. Students will receive a combination of individual online lessons and synchronous online group sessions. The course will provide a forum for students to listen, discuss, workshop, develop, and explore inspirations, compositions, and ideas.
Over the course of the semester, students are expected to compose a large-scale work or a series of smaller works in the style of their choosing. Students may compose electronic, acoustic, or electroacoustic music.
4581 fulfills the composition requirement of the Music Major. The course can be repeated for credit with approval of the instructor.
Prerequisite: Students are expected to have some prior composition experience and should be comfortable with standard music notation or DAWs. While not required, it is recommended that students have taken MUSI 3380, 3390, participated in UVA’s Composers Collective, or taken another music composition course prior to taking MUSI 4581.
MUSI 4600 Performance with Computers
Matthew Burtner
4.0 credits
Lecture: TR / 2:00-3:15 pm / OCH B011
Class Number: 13981
Lab (TBD): T / 3:30-4:30 / OCH B011
Class Number: 13982
The course teaches a blended approach to performance, composition and computer programming through the context of a computer music ensemble. Students from various backgrounds work collaboratively in a technological ensemble context while building skills in interactive media programming, sound art design and human-computer interaction. They explore a new way of making ensemble music in collaboration with interactive and networked computer systems.
4950 Performance Concentration Seminar
Daniel Sender
3.0 credits
TBA
Class Number: 11869
MUSI 4993 Independent Study
1.0-3.0 credits
Instructor permission required to enroll.